Page 19 of Wilde's End
“Your nice looks a lot different to where I come from.”
“Then go back there!” He leans closer, right in my face like he was last night. If he thinks his size and wild-man glare are going to do anything but make me more stubborn, he’s going to learn the hard way. “Take your brothers and fuck off.”
“So much for small-town hospitality.”
“We don’t do that around here.”
“But your house visit was so wonderfully welcoming.” I swear I hear his teeth crunch.
“Thisisn’ta game.”
“You sure?” I drop my voice. “Because I’m having the most fun I’ve had in years.” Fun is a stretch. I’d like nothing more than to pick up one of these boulders and cave his face in with it, but I keep my fists locked at my sides where they can’t do any damage. Wilde can warn us away until he’s blue in the face because I have a feeling it’s all talk. He won’t hurt us, and the two people he’s brought with him won’t even bother to get out of the car.
The most they can do is this.
Make our life hard.
Well, I’m used to a hard life, and if they want to start this, I’m going to meet them at their level.
“Lack of self-preservation skills won’t do you any good out here,” he says.
“We’ll see, I guess.” I tap the top of the wall and take a step back. “See you soon, cutie.”
Wilde bristles, and I bottle that victory for later. Big, burly mountain man doesn’t like being called cute. I’m not sure if it’s the nickname that got him or that it came from another man, but it doesn’t matter. I can use it.
For now, I have to deal withthisfucking mess.
My mind is spinning out with solutions as I storm to the car and throw myself back into the driver’s side. I sit there, trying to keep the anger from my face as I glare across at Wilde. He hasn’t moved, and I know he’s waiting for whatever the hell I’m planning, but even I don’t know what my next step should be.
We need the wall moved.
Technically, the three of us could shift it piece by piece, but despite how long it will take, I get the feeling Wilde isn’t going to sit pretty and let us work. I’m still confident Kennedy could take him, but given my wimpy brothers also stayed planted in the car, I can’t rely on that.
I need to solve this. And it needs to be in a way that doesn’t ask for Wilde’s permission.
“Thanks for the support out there,” I snap.
Anxiousness rolls off Kennedy’s buzzing limbs. “That man is terrifying.”
“He’s just a man.”
“He looks like he wants to murder us all with his bare hands.”
“Well, until he does that, why don’t we focus on how to get the stupid road clear?” I glance back at Hart, but he’s lying across the back seat, Kennedy’s hat over his face. “Hartwell?”
“Sleeping.”
“You’re the smart one. Think you could attempt to be helpful once in your life?”
He sighs like my request is inconveniencing him. “We don’t have a car built for this.”
We don’t … ohhh. That gives me an idea. This SUV is technically able to go off road, but there’s no denying it’s a city car, not a work car. The trucks we drove back home could have handled this easily, but since we don’t have time to make the day-long round trip, we’re going to have to make do.
And I have an idea.
I throw the car in reverse, jerk the wheel strongly to the right, and when we’re facing the other way, I step on the gas.
“We should have bought those fucking guns,” I throw Kennedy’s way.
