Page 60 of The Second Deal

Thecar lurches.Theengine sputters and stalls before rubber even has a chance to touch the asphalt.

Istare at the dashboard in disbelief. “You’vegotta be fuckin’ kidding me.”

Turningthe ignition once, twice, and once again—because a third time’s a charm, right?—the damn thing refuses to make any sound, mechanical or electric.

Mycar’s totally fucking dead.

Ifume and grumble in the direction of the bridge.Withouteven the slightest bit ofAC, heat overwhelms the cabin and turns it into an oven.Iswipe my keys and phone and climb out—at least home isn’t too far away.

Slammingthe door shut behind me,Iwait for a truck to pass by beforeIcross the road.Butit starts slowing down, andIrecognize the driver and the passenger in the gun metal greenGMC.

“Hey, sweet pea,”Dadcalls out when he rolls the window down.Hethrows his salt-and-pepper bearded chin towards my car. “Youbeen keeping up with taking care of that?”

Igrimace.Zakwas always the one to take my car in for an oil change andI… kinda dropped the ball on keeping up with it.

Dadtuts knowingly. “C’mon.I’llgrab a chain from the house and we’ll come back for it in a minute.”

Isigh in relief and cross the street, opening the door behindDadand hop inside a blissfully cool cabin.

Justto be greeted withZakstaring at me.

Chapter22

The Enemy Inside

–Dream Theater

Ifreeze in place,debating the negatives of walking five minutes in the heat and risking rattlesnake bites versus being stuck in a vehicle with my parents and my ex for one minute.

“Hurryup, you’re letting theACout,”Momcomplains.

Gnawingon my bottom lip,Iplop down ungracefully inside the truck and shut the door, careful to stay as close to it as possible to avoid any and all contact withZakeven though this is a big truck and we wouldn’t touch unless one of us reached over the console.

Dadglances in the rearview as he turns onto our road. “Missedyou comin’ toMasswith us,Steph.”

“Sorry,”Igrumble.

“You’renot missin’ next week,”Momstates. “Youcan get the partyin’ outta your system before next weekend.”

ThankGodhome isn’t too far away.Iflee the momentDadparks, heading straight for the house.

“Z, you mind helpin’ me get her car after breakfast?”

Ispin around. “I’llhelp.”Myglare sets in onZakasDadpasses by me. “Youcan go.”

“AndmissMom’scookin’?”Zaksays incredulously, followingDad. “Nah.”

Withoutthinking,Ireach out and grabZak’swrist, yanking him back.Myglower settles on his neck and the bandage replacing the gauze.Atleast he’s not bleeding out over his navy button-down and dark jeans straining over his musculature.

Thesun beams over his shoulder. “Guessyou’re not a vampire after all, huh?”

Heforces a tight-lipped smile that spreads gold lip studs apart. “Guessnot.”

Hetries making a move, butIpull him back. “Whatthefuckdo you think you’re doing?”Iwhisper furiously.

“WhatI’vedone almost everySundaysince you’ve been gone,” he sneers, pulling away. “Havingbreakfast with your parents after church since you think you’re too good for ‘em.”

Iglare holes into his back before quickly catching up, shoving past him asIbite back, “SoIguess sending flowers to your parents’ graves even thoughIwas hundreds of miles away don’t count for shit, huh?”

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