Page 53 of Playing for the Dark

Zamir is in the front with him, and I take the back. He’s flying through the city, heading out into what looks like the desert. I usually don’t like other people driving, but Marcello seems like he can handle a car.

My one-track mind pops a question into my head that I need answered. “Have you been in Area 51? Have you seen the aliens? You have to have clearance, right?!”

Zamir chimes in before Marcello can answer me, “You would think Nash is the goddamn stoner and not me.”

He answers me, already sounding exhausted, “No, I don’t have clearance, Nash.” He didn’t say he’s never been in there, though…Or that aliens aren’t real.

We pull up to what looks like a huge warehouse. Hip to hip, Zamir and I walk in behind Marcello after he scans his hand on the high-tech reader.Fancy.

This is the biggest fucking shooting range I’ve ever seen, and lining the wall is any and every kind of gun you can imagine. I spot the McMillian sniper rifle up on the wall and immediately grab it down. I turn around and beg, “Can I pleaasseeee…” I give Marcello the puppy dog eyes and my world-famous bottom lip.

He just chuckles. “Go for it. Do you know how to use it?”

“Of course I do! I could take apart every gun in here, clean it, and put it back together.” Guns may or may not have been a special interest of mine. It didn’t helpthat my dad pushed the shit on me, but I at least got enjoyment out of this part of my childhood. How fucked is it that guns are one of my happier memories?If that’s not Texas, I don’t know what is…

He shows us where we can get set up, the ear protectors, and anything else we may need in each shooting stall. I’m in the long-shot stall. Marcello said this is the longest shot in Vegas in a range, and I know I can hit it. My dad trained me as a sharpshooter—well, I wouldn’t say trained; I had a natural grab to it, he just nudged me along to keep at it until I was untouchable at pretty much any distance.

I lay down, getting into position, aim, breathe out, and pull the trigger. Zamir hits the button, bringing the target up to us.

“Who would’ve known Mr. Good Boy would be a goddamn sniper?!” Zamir wonders out loud.

“Well, we have our sharpshooter. You’re going to do so well protecting our girl.” The praise coming out of Marcello makes my stomach do flips, and the “our girl” is just the icing on the cake. It feels like yesterday he just had his hand around my throat while threatening me.Maybe he can have it around my throat for another reason…

“Does this mean I get to drive the McLaren?!”

Marcello huffs, “Of course you’d want to drive my favorite and most expensive goddamn car.”

1. Consume (feat. Goon Des Garcons) - Chase Atlantic, GOON DES GARCONS*

Chapter 40

Ellinor

Ihad to talk Marcello into letting me go to my apartment to pick up some of my shit. I only got out the door by taking Nash with me. Apparently, they all went to Marcello’s range while I was at the gym, and he’s a good shot. I’m not questioning it as long as it gets me out of this godforsaken apartment.

We’re walking up to Marcello’s line of fucking stupid-expensive cars, and I pick out the Dodge Viper I’ve had my eye on since he bought this thing. I think this is the car he’s had for the longest, and I’m dying to test this baby out. I unlock it, walk to the door, and climb into the driver’s seat. I hear Nash hesitantly ask, “Do you know how to drive a stick?”

1 “Get in and see, BigBoy.”

He does exactly what I say, buckling up, and looks like he could piss himself at any moment.He does listen so well.

I toss out a praise I know his ass loves. “Good Boy.”

Starting up the car, I sit back, basking in the roaring engine for a minute. Once I’m buckled in, I lay my hand on the gear shift and push it into reverse. Whipping out of the parking spot I slam it into first. I pull up to the gate in the parking garage and wait for the arm to lift, then speed through onto the road.

Before I even blink, I’m throwing the ass end of the car out to the side from stepping on the gas a little too hard while pulling out. I straighten the car out, hammering through gears while melting into the seat. Fuck, I love feeling the hum of the car under my body. I decide to let off the gas and look over at Nash, and he’s pulling his head off the seat; I look down at the goddamn tent in his pants and ask him, “Big Boy, why is your dick hard?”

“That was hot as fuck, Ellie. How the fuck did I not know you could drive like that?!” He’s so cute when he’s excited like this. I want to see that smile lighting up his face more often. He has this innocence about him.Well, that is until you get him into the bedroom…But sometimes, I see that innocence fade, and I find myself wondering why. It did there for a minute back at the apartment when Zamir was handing the Glock over to him before we left. I also have one strapped to my thigh,just in case. I’m still not convinced that people were trying to get to me.

“My dad taught me how to drive.” Right when I mention my father, that innocence that was covering his whole essence disappears right before my eyes. I’m looking between the road and back at him, trying to read him. “What switch just flipped, Nash?”

“I hate putting all this out in the air between us, but after the explosion, it really made me realize that I don’t want to be without you…” He trails off for a minute, and I sit in silence, letting him come to terms with what he needs to say. “My home life wasn’t the best. My mom made it what she could, but she passed away unexpectedly during my senior year of high school. My dad wasn’t great before her passing, but without her there to be the buffer, he really took a turn for the worse. Drinking, yelling, and eventually physically abusing me, I had to get out, and I did when I went to college.”

He’s turned away from me, facing the window. I place my hand on his thigh and convey to him, “I had the opposite… my dad is great, and my mom was the narcissist. I don’t tell anyone about this either. Especially because I cared for my Mom until she passed, and the only thing I could think about was how badly and self-absorbed she was to Lyla and I growing up. All while I was wiping her ass and giving her sponge baths.” He looks over at me with sympathy in his eyes, but also I can see his body visibly relax. “We don’t get to pick our parents… Oursouls needed them for one reason or another.” Mine may be slowly getting tied to the three of theirs, but I keep that to myself. “The life you live is full of lessons no matter how you look at it. You have to come to terms with the fact that you can’t change how people react to things or decide to live their lives.”

We both have tears lining our eyes, but I blink and look back to the road to turn into my apartment’s parking lot. I throw the car in neutral and pull the E-break, then look back at Nash.

Barley above a whisper, he asks, “How did you deal with the trauma your sister went through and not blame yourself? That’s what I fight with daily… I left her there with him, Ellie.” His voice is quivering, and I know that pain all too well. I stayed taking care of my mom and pausing my own life so it wouldn’t all fall onto Lyla.

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