Page 49 of EverGreene
“Then I plead the fifth.” She stared at me, unamused, telling me that I wasn’t going to get away with not answering her question. “Look, if you say he’s an asshole, he’s probably an asshole. All I’m saying is don’t judge someone based on who they share a gene pool with. He may not be so bad.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it. Although I will say he’s been a little less assholey lately.”
“See? That’s progress, right? Bet that uncle of his would never apologize to anyone.”
He’d just as soon shank himself in the dick, actually.
“You’re right there. He’d probably set the whole law firm on fire before—” Ever trailed off, her eyes widening as she looked over my shoulder. “Shit. Shit. Shit. We have to get dressed.”
I turned my head to look behind the seat, seeing the flash of red approaching us.
Oh, fuck.
I pulled up my shorts while Ever climbed over the center console, pants in hand. How she’d managed to slide them overher heels to get them off was a mystery worthy of narration by Robert Stack.
As for me, I was fucked. I’d have to take my mask off, which, up until five minutes ago, I had been planning on doing, anyway, until Ever confessed her undying disdain for, well, me. The way I saw it, I had two options: I could leave the mask on and get arrested when the officer identified me as one of the illegal fighters from the raid, or I could take the mask off and be the subject of some not-so-kinky knife play by Ever.
“Do you want a shirt?” Ever asked, having successfully tugged her pants on over her shoes. “I have a sweatshirt in the back that may fit you.”
I nodded, my eyes wandering to the swiftly approaching red beam of light. Ever reached behind her seat and tossed a sweatshirt to me, which I shrugged over my head. It was tight in the arm area and shorter than I would have liked, but it still fit.
“V, you’re going to need to take your mask off.”
I sighed. “We’ll see.”
“V?”
I watched the light approach from behind, gradually slowing down, and my heart hammered inside my chest. This was it. I was going to be outed, whether I wanted to be or not. I may as well come clean before I take off the mask to a bloodcurdling shriek from Ever, not only losing her, but also getting hauled to the county jail in the process.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” I began, inadvertently still concealing my real voice. “I’m?—”
Before I could say another word, the cruiser pulled out from behind us, turning into the median and hauling ass back down the other side of the highway with sirens blaring.
“There must have been something more urgent to dealwith than two people getting it on in a vehicle parked on the shoulder of a highway.” Ever observed.
I exhaled harder than I’d ever exhaled before, slumping back in the seat, having aged a decade in the last three minutes.
“What were you going to tell me?” Ever asked, seemingly just as relieved as I was.
“What? Oh, um. Just not to mention the names of the other guys if I were to get arrested. Malachi and Cole have a lot more to lose than I do.”
“I wouldn’t rat out your friends.”
“Really?” I feigned contempt. “Even if it saved me?”
“Especially if it saved you.” She chuckled.
“I suppose I deserve that.”
“Glad we agree on something. Now where to?”
Twenty minutes later,Ever pulled in front of a pizzeria that had closed for the night, its storefront just as dark as one would expect the entire strip of the downtown area of a Midwest town in the middle of the night in November to be. Apartment buildings were scattered around the city center, making it hard to pinpoint exactly where V actually lived.
“V, it’s been a night. Why can’t I just drop you off at your place like a normal human being?”
“How do you know I don’t live here?” I asked, opening the door to the car and stepping out of Ever’s vehicle onto the curb.
“Do you sleep in the oven?” she asked, annoyed. “Come on. You know where I live.”
