Page 18 of Hot Ice, Tennessee

His glare was pure fire. “You know exactly what I mean.”

He could try to fuck with me all he wanted, but I wasn’t afraid to call the shots as I saw them.

“Hey, cowboy,” I said, “I didn’t say I wanted you to call me daddy. But don’t lie and say you didn’t like when I said it—oh, and when you fuckinglovedputting those cherries on my tongue. I think you liked getting manhandled, too—”

He reached for the passenger side door handle and shoved the door back open. He stepped out into the rain again and I let out a frustrated sigh, taking off my seatbelt.

“Didn’t want to fucking get wet, but you’re going to make me,” I said under my breath.

I got out into the pouring rain. I made my way to the other side of the car and he was already trying to take off down theroad again, but I caught up with him easily. I grabbed his arms and spun him around, pointing him back to the car.

“Get back in, you stubborn fuck.”

“You’re a lot more stubborn than me. I’m walking.”

“Goddamn. You’re not a hot mess, you’re a nightmare.”

A loud crack reverberated throughout the air, and in the field next to us, a far-off tree lit up as it was struck by lightning. It was so close that I swore the hairs on my arms stood on end.

“Holy shit,” Mason muttered, stopping in his tracks.

My arms were still around him, both of us soaked and pressed up against each other.

I leaned close to his ear and dropped my voice low.

“Get in the car.”

He finally listened. We ran back to the car, which was half-wet inside now, the doors left open in the rain.

I sat down after he finally got back into the passenger seat, and I shook my head. “Can’t believe you’d rather die than take a ride from me. Put your seatbelt on.”

At least he listened when I told him what to do. I threw the car in drive and tapped the off button for my hazards, pulling out slowly again onto the road. My shirt clung to my chest, soaked with water.

“Where am I heading?” I asked him.

“Minton Ranch. It’s just up here. Take a right at the next light. There’ll be a sign once we’re close.”

“Got it.”

We were all business now. The sound of my windshield wipers filled the car. My breathing evened out, and after a while, I finally started to relax. A moment passed before I saw him looking at me in my peripheral vision, and he spoke again.

“Why did you stop for me?”

“How could Inot?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Most people would probably just laugh at me and keep moving.”

“You think I was going to leave you on the side of the road? Pretty sure it’s common decency to give someone a ride when they’re about to be struck by lightning.”

“Come on. The lightning is far enough away.”

As if the skies themselves were mocking him, the air suddenly lit up again in a flash as a bright strike of lightning hit just ahead of us. The thunder crack afterward shattered through the air.

“God, Maisie and Chomp are probably terrified,” he said softly.

“Horses, I assume?”

“Yes. They’re well protected. They just don’t like the sound of it all.”

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