Page 44 of Thunderstruck
Carissa squeaks.
“Uh, she’s here with me by the way.”
“Hi.” Ethan waits a moment. “What did you do, Cole?”
“Nothing. But…”
“They think I’m his new girlfriend,” Carissa says. “I’m not, by the way.”
“Why do they think that?”
“Because it’sHot Scoop,” I snap, taking another sharp turn. “And I might have been close to her.”
“Close,” Ethan repeats, and I glance at Carissa. “Cole, you’re going to have to give me more than that if I’m going to know what needs to be done here. What happened?”
I came dangerously close to kissing her.
I see the stop sign too late and slam on the brakes. The car skids to a halt at an angle and partway into the intersection right as a huge pickup passes in the other direction and swerves around us.
I nearly drove right into it.
My heart rate skyrockets, flooding my body with panic and dizziness. My mouth goes dry, my vision hazy. Fumbling for the door, I stumble out just in time to vomit onto the road and sink to one knee as my chest constricts, painfully tight.
“Cole!” Carissa’s voice is muffled. Like she’s speaking from above while I’m at the bottom of a pool. “Cole, are you okay?” Hands press on my shoulders, hot and uncomfortable.
I shake my head, wishing I could shake away her touch too. “Give…give me a sec.” I’m going to need more than a second. I could have killed her. I’m such an idiot.I could have killed her.
“Cole, you need to get out of the road.” She tries to lift me.
I’m an immovable rock, frozen in place as my mind rushes back to prom night. The Jeep that ran a red light. The shards of glass and metal that flew from the passenger side. I still have the scars. My girlfriend ended up far worse.
Why am I not over this by now? I’ve hadyearsof therapy. Bianca never blamed me.It wasn’t my fault. And I know that.
Today would have been my fault.My fault. I’m too dangerous for anyone to get close to me.Too dangerous to love.I could have killed her.
“Cole.” Carissa crouches in front of me and plants her palms on my cheeks, forcing me to look at her. “Please. Stand up. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. Please.”
The heat of the asphalt burns into the skin of my knee, but I barely feel it. I’m too focused on the heat of Carissa’s gaze. Her fear is gone. Now there’s nothing but determination and strength in her lightning-studded eyes.
She’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.
Dangerous. And I could have killed her.
“Please,” she says again.
The tension in my body crumbles. Exhaling weakly, I nod and struggle to my feet. I’m pretty sure she helps me stand, which is ridiculous becauseshe’s tiny. But as she guides me around to the passenger seat, holding some of my weight, I realize she’s stronger than she looks.
I collapse into the seat and bury my face in my hands, willing myself to breathe. To calm down. My heart is still racing, trying to beat out of my chest.
Carissa doesn’t say anything as she moves the car out of the intersection and drives a block or so, pulling onto a side street and parking along the sidewalk. By some miracle, we remain alone, but I know better than to think that will last. Someone will have noticed me in the street.
“I’m sorry.” The words come out of me in a breath because that’s all I have the strength for. My chest is too tight to let me breathe.
“It’s okay, Cole.”
“No.” Though I’d love to keep hiding, I turn to look at her. She still has that strong look in her eyes, and now I can’t look away. “It’s not okay. I should never have… I put you in danger.”Idid that. Not a curse.Me. “This is why we can’t…why I won’t… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Her fingers adjust their hold around the steering wheel, fair and slender. Everything about her build suggests she’s delicate, but there’s not even a tremor in her hands. Whatever fear she had while I was driving like a maniac, it faded quickly. “I told Ethan we would call him back. He sounded pretty worried about you.”
