Page 13 of Furious
Lev agrees. “We beat him once before, and we can do it again. We just need to make sure we don’t get caught.”
Chapter 4
Don’t Hurt Me
ZARA
Ares’s Jeep makes a shrieking sound, like chalk scraping on a blackboard. Or like something is being ground to dust.
I hit the brake and the car jolts to an abrupt stop. The seatbelt does its job, but it digs painfully against my chest.
“You need to step fully on the clutch, princess. This is what happens when you don’t. The gear won’t be engaged.” Ares explains, his tone is way more patient than I would have given him credit for.
“Sorry.” I groan. “I thought I did.” I wipe a sheen of sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand and I exhale.
I’m so tense that all my muscles hurt right now. “What I don’t understand,” I whine. “Is why are you teaching me to drive a stick? If I get a license and I can borrow Mom’s car, or eventually get my own, it isn’t going to be a manual transmission.”
“It’s a family tradition,” Ares chuckles, pulling up the handbrake. “My brothers and I all learned how to drive in this car. Dad was adamant that if we knew how to drive a stick, driving an automatic transmission would be a breeze. And I’mpretty sure once he comes back, he’s going to insist that you learn the same way we did.”
I let go of the steering wheel, flexing my stiff fingers. I’ve been holding on with a death-grip and my joints hurt like hell.
“I didn’t even know you guys had a manual transmission vehicle.”
Ares’s smile widens. “This belonged to Dad when he was in high school. He had to work a part-time job to buy it and he had to fix it up to make sure it ran properly. He bought a few more cars once he got his NHL contract, but he loves this old beat up Jeep. So he kept it, and he made sure we all learned how to drive in it.”
This family tradition is actually very sweet. I miss doing things with my dad. Riding with him was my favorite thing in the world. I would have spent all my time with him on the racetrack or in the garage, to Mom’s chagrin. Once Dad moved out, I missed the noise of his race bike, the scent of gasoline in the air. But the thing I missed the most was the sense of freedom when you’re going over a hundred miles an hour on two wheels. In reality, Dad’s race bike's top speed would exceed two hundred miles per hour, but he never went that fast with me on it. No matter how much I begged. I guess he knew that Mom would have literally killed him if I had gotten home with so much as a scratch after riding with him.
He taught me how to ride on a bike he bought just for me; something not nearly as fast as the bikes built for racing. A lot of them aren’t even street legal. But I loved it anyway. It was our little secret.
“I love family traditions.” I smile. “But I wish your tradition wasn’t learning to drive on something way more difficult. I don’t want you to think that I suck at this and give up on teaching me.”
Ares smiles, taking one of my hands into his much bigger, slightly rough one. “It’s your first time driving, princess. And you’ve been at it for five minutes. Give yourself some credit.”
His tone is soft, and he’s rubbing the space between my thumb and index finger while he speaks to me.
He’s trying to calm me down, but his touch has the opposite effect. My skin comes alive under his touch and the way he’s looking at me makes it hard to breathe.
Ares’s blue-gray eyes are a glittering silver right now and if I get to look into them, I don’t care if driving the Jeep blows. I mean, not that I get to look into his eyes while I’m driving. But I love spending time with him, no matter what we’re doing.
“Thank you for being so patient.” I say, wishing he was touching much more than my hand.
“I just like to spend time with you, Zara.”
My heart expands in my chest at his words. The last time Ares and I were alone together, he was seconds away from kicking me out of his apartment. His dad’s demands that we treat each other like siblings had made him decide that spending time together wasn’t a good idea.
I can still hear him telling me that we should just be friends. Right before he kissed me.
All of a sudden, I couldn’t care less about driving. The seatbelt is keeping me pinned to my seat and I toy with the idea of unfastening it and leaning closer to my stepbrother.
The only thing that keeps me from acting on my urge is that I like the way he’s looking at me right now; the tone of his voice. The last thing I want to do is to ruin this moment.
Ares releases his own seatbelt before unbuckling mine.
Maybe the universe is listening to my wishes, and he’s going to kiss me again.
“I really like spending time with you, princess.” He repeats. “But I have to tell you something.”
Ok, so maybe I spoke too soon, and the universe isn’t listening after all. Nothing good ever followed the words “I have to tell you something.”
