Page 43 of Chaos

Yuck. So muchyuck. “Can I help you with something?”

That smirk amps up another disgusting notch. “Sure you can.”

Even though revolt cloys at the back of my throat, I laugh again. I smile too because I know it’ll piss him off, I know he’s just trying to rile me up. “Really? That’s the best you’ve got? Grotesque innuendo?”

Because he wasn’t acting sleazy enough, Clint drops a hand to his crotch, fucking fondling himself over his jeans like that’s something that has ever, in the history of the universe, attracted a woman. “You wanna see what I got?”

My smile widens, teeth flashing. “I’d quite literally rather die.”

His mouth drops into a scowl. “Bitch.”

“Ouch.” I click my tongue, drawing my brows together in an expression of mock hurt. “That one hurt my feelings.”

Clint’s face is almost the exact shade of red I’m going for, and the glorious sight of a rather large vein popping out in his forehead makes me truly, happily grin. A few more antagonizing jabs and I’m sure I can get him as bright as my hair after a fresh dying session.

Unfortunately, someone ruins my fun.

Instantly, I know something is wrong. For starters, Finn doesn’t say anything as he yanks open the driver’s side door and joins me in the truck. He starts the engine without a word too, white-knuckling the steering wheel, looking about half an impatient second away from taking off with me still hanging out the passenger side.

Another millisecond later, he deigns to cut me a fleeting glance that’s almost as harsh as his tone. “Let’s go.”

I purse my lips at the command, but I don’t argue. Why would I? The second we got to this place, I was itching to leave.

“Well, it’s been lovely,” I lie, not-so-gently kicking one of my least favorite people in the world out of the way so I can shift to sit properly and shut the door. “But you can get fucked now, Clint.”

It’s the wrong choice of words and he knows it, I know it, his brother who’s suddenly lurking within earshot knows it too. Both men visibly gear themselves up to crack a vile joke, but luckily, if they do, it gets drowned out by the rev of the Ram’s engine. And then we’re gone, going from zero to one-hundred like there’s someone on our ass, chasing us down.

And still, Finn says nothing.

It makes me squirm. I might excel at dishing out the silent treatment, but I’m fucking horrendous at being on the receiving end of it. Blame my mom for that; I have more than one hazy yet strangely vivid memory of her and her cold shoulders. “Are you mad at me?”

He doesn’t deny it. And hey, at least he’s honest. “You give everyone else in the world hell, but that asshole, you’re nice to. Him, you smile at.”

Nice?Ha. Did Carl bonk him in the head or something when I wasn’t looking? “Careful, cowboy. Sounding a little jealous.”

“I’m not kidding around.” He takes his eyes off the road just long enough to frown at me. “They abuse their animals, Lottie. Ruin hates men because he’d never seen one without a whip in his hand before he got to Serenity. That mare I saw today is so emaciated, she’s probably gonna lose her foal. Earlier this year, one of their horses got to us too late and we had to put it down.”

Fuck. That’s… worse than I expected yet somehow not surprised at all, knowing the Webers. “I wasn’t being nice.”

“You sounded nice.”

“You clearly weren't listening”

“Yousmiled,” he repeats, and I don’t know why he’s so hung up on that. “You laughed. You looked nice.”

Despite the circumstances, the corner of my mouth quirks. “I looked nice?’

Finn casts me another sideways look. “You know what I mean.”

Yeah, I do. God forbid I try to alleviate the unbearable tension suffocating us. “I was being civil, not nice.”

“Why?” he’s so quick, too quick, to snark. “You’re not with anyone else.”

As pesky, unwanted hurt stabs me in the gut, I sigh dramatically. “Here we go.”

“What?”

“I’ve been waiting for this.” The lecture. The follow-up togo easy on them. “This is about my family, right?”

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