Page 5 of Fatally Yours
“Hey man, I can make music just fine,” he said. “And I’ll prove it to you now,dweeb.” Mandy clapped and leaned on Wes’ shoulder, placing the pillow she stole back into his lap.
“Yeah, August, sing for us,” she said. “I sleep like a baby listening to your voice. Don’t you, Tash?” My face shaded again. It was funny how Scott said he wasn’t a fan of the romantic sadism theme August seemed to string into all his lyrics, but I thought it was hauntingly beautiful. Maybe I was more like Mandy than I wanted to admit. It seemed like he was performing for everyone else, but when our eyes met, I knew he was speaking just for me.
“If I smoke your ashes, I’d hope you’d still love me. Even if dying is more than a dream, it’ll feel so good to hear you scream…” Just as he began singing, I caught Devin rolling his eyes and buried my head in my hands. Really, I didn’t want to deal with this now or ever again.
II
August was behind the wheel again as I leaned back in my seat, wishing the wind was stronger and would wick away the layer of sweat clinging to my forehead. We hadn’t even reached Wes and Scott’s house, and I was already damp. It was unpleasant, but I couldn’t say that I wanted to go home. This was my idea, after all.
We finally pulled up to the house and parked the car. Our regular group of friends crowded the driveway—all except one. I glanced at August, wiping my forehead with the back of my hand, but stayed quiet.
“We’re late again,” I muttered. He turned to me with a sly grin.
“Wouldn’t be the first time someone didn’t want to get out of bed,” heteased.
“It’s not my fault you kept me up so late.”
“Only because my voice drives you wild.” He leaned in and gave me a quick kiss, and our eyes met. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you like my mouth for more than just my voice.” My cheeks felt hot as our lips connected, and I thought back to the previous evening. Out of the corner of my gaze, I noticed multiple sets of eyes staring at us in anticipation.
“You better behave yourselfandyour mouth in front of our friends,” I smirked as I climbed out of our sweltering car.
“I can’t help it when you’re so damn irresistible,” he said as he joined me outside. To my dismay, being freed from our cage did nothing to help the heat. The sun was arguably worse out here since we were directly in it. We wandered over to the others as I felt my mouth begin to dry.
“Sorry we’re late,” he said. “Natasha slept in—again.”
“Guilty.” I raised my hand and then glanced around, pretending like I hadn’t noticed someone was missing. “Where’s Devin?” I already knew the answer—he bailed because of August.
“Work,” Mandy shrugged. “He got called in, I guess.” August chimed in before I could laugh at the absurdity of that excuse.
“I hate that guy, anyway.”
“Hey—”
He turned to me. “I swear if I were to drop off the face of this planet, he wouldn’t even give a fuck. He has googly eyes for you, Natasha.” My mouth clamped shut. Mandy, Scott, and Wes shared a look of discomfort and slithered away to the van. I sighed. He was right, but we all just pretended to ignore it.
“It’s harmless, really.”
“Maybe to you, but if I had some girl drooling all over me, I don’t think you’d be too happy.”
“Yeah, you’re right…” And that was the truth. For as reserved as I was, the idea of someone else doing that to him made my blood boil. Suddenly, I felt quite guilty for letting this go on for so long and my head sank in an attempt to avoid his gaze.
The sound of a horn beeping caught my attention, and when I looked up, Mandy was reaching over Wes’ lap with her palm against the wheel. “We better hurry up.” I silently thanked her for cutting this conversation off. But before I could scamper away, August gave me a look.
“I’ve been complacent with this for far too long,” he said. “Get him to stop, or I will.” Without hesitation, I nodded hastily, knowing he was never one to bluff. It would probably end up with Devin knocked on the floor. Without another word, we climbed into Wes’ van. I sat next to August, and he set his hand on my thigh.
At least everything is still okay.
Mandy gave me a reassuring smile in the rear-view mirror as Wes put the van in gear and spun the wheel. I leaned my head on August’s shoulder, but before I could close my eyes, a loud thump jerked me from my rest, and everyone cried out. Sitting up, I noticed the front of the van smashed in against a boulder that lined the driveway.
“Sorry,” Wes muttered.
“Are you high or something?” Mandy snapped with fire in her eyes, rubbing her neck.
“Maybe a little.”
August sighed and gave me a pat. “Dude, let me drive,” he said. Wes pried open the door and climbed out with his head ducked as August took his place behind the wheel. “Sometimes I think my neck is still fucked up from when you crashed after we got wasted that one night,” he said as he looked back and reversed.
“I still feel bad about that,” Wes mused as we headed down the road.
