Page 2 of Fatally Yours
“Even with the whole murder thing?” August questioned. She sighed and returned to her previous position with her hands tucked behind her head.
“He wouldn’t kill me. I’d be the special one he keeps around because he likes me so much.”
“Dude.” I stared her in the eye through the mirror. “You are whack.” August couldn’t suppress his laughter, and I caught her turning towards him and sticking out her tongue.
“You have such a way with words,” he chuckled. Mandy’s boots were on the floor beside her, and she nudged me with her foot.
“Come on, Natasha. Don’t pretend you wouldn’t love it if August worshipped you like that,” she said with a smirk. I turned back to her, giving her a small smile. I wouldn’t change her tastes, but of course, I could try on the rare occasion it didn’t feel hopeless.
“He already does, just without all the murder,” I replied. August nodded, his light brown hair swaying with his movements. He set his hand on mine, drawing my attention to him.
“Yeah, she’s my home, my temple, my sky, she’s my everything,” he said. I felt my heart skip again. He’d always had a certain talent for words, but when he wrote about me, I wished he would ask me to marry him.
Maybe one day…
Right on command, he turned to me with a grin, leaning over and pressing his lips to mine again. I could feel his scruffy face prickle against my skin,but it was the most wonderful feeling in the world. And just like before, the tires scraped against the shoulder. The radio blared again, and I noticed Mandy’s face twist as we separated.
Archer’s crimes were said to be satanically motivated…
“Ugh, I’m gonna be sick, you two.” She was holding her hand over her eyes. “And not because they’re talking about Mark.” The hint of a grin peeked across my lips as I looked back at her through the mirror.
“I can’t believe you’re on a first-name basis with a serial killer,” I said.
“I can’t believe you’re not,” she countered. “You don’t know what you’re missing.” Before I could retort her ridiculous statement, we zoomed by a familiar black and white vehicle, making my stomach flip. August muttered something vulgar under his breath and turned to me.
“Get rid of that,” he said flatly, placing the joint in my palm. “Please.” I nodded, crushed away the ash at the end, and shoved the remains into my pocket. As long as he behaved himself, we shouldn’t have an issue. Getting him to adhere to that was another story, however.
The red and blue lights flicked on, and a siren echoed through the empty valley. Maybe if there were a robbery or murder, we would cease to matter, but most everyone in this town was god-fearing, law-abiding people.Mostof them.
August sighed and veered over to the shoulder, and the familiar feeling of tires pressing against gravel was now more prominent than ever. We came to a halt, and I glanced at him with an expression that was begging him to comply and be polite. After I noticed the pink tint to his eyes, I pulled his sunglasses down, and he gave me a quick smile before leaning back and waiting for the inevitable lashing that was about to be delivered by one of the jerks who had a little too much power.
“This fucker always pulls me over,” he muttered as we all heard a door slam from behind us.
“You shouldn’t speed so much,” I said.
“I don’t when I have my girl and her best friend in the car.”
“Maybe he’s got a crush on you.” Mandy sat up. August turned back to her before narrowing his eyes.
“Would you buckle your damn seatbelt, please?” he said. She gave him a sly smirk but complied. Crunching footsteps grew closer, and I looked back to see who was so unjustly interrupting our day.
My heart dropped as I cranked up the air conditioning, hoping that something would go right and it would start pumping out cool air instead of the usual mediocre temperature we were used to. A familiar balding head in the mirror made me want to shrivel up, and my heart rate began to speed up slightly.
“Ah, great,” I said. “Is that Officer Wilson?”
“Yeah,” August huffed. “Aren’t your folks friends with him and his old lady?”
“Back when they were living here.” I shrank down in my seat. “I hope he doesn’t notice me.” August pulled out our paperwork as I did my best to keep my gaze opposite as a knuckle rapped on the half-cracked window. With a sigh, he wrapped his hand around the handle and rolled it down, his knuckles screaming with white. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Officer Wilson peeking through the car.
“Evening, officer.”
“Do you know why I pulled you over, August?”
“No, sir.” Of course, his voice had a hint of aggression behind his mask of complacency.
“Your tail light is out,” he said. When my gaze wandered for a moment, I noticed August give me a puzzled look. I shrugged, still trying to avoid any interaction. Last time I checked, there was nothing wrong with the lights on our car.
“I was just on my way to the store to get that fixed.”
