Page 77 of Temptation
I could see Ash grinning in the rearview mirror, and the urge to turn around and slap it away from his face was far too strong.
“I don’t like this.”
“You don’t have to like it,” Skylar murmured. “You just have to listen to me. We’re going to meet them.”
“I’m meeting them tomorrow in Emercroft Lake.”
“Seriously?” I huffed.
“Yes, Dylan, seriously,” Ash answered. “If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to go.”
“I didn’t say I’m not going to go,” I mumbled.
“Then stop complaining.” Skylar grinned at me, and it was the first time that her eyes didn’t look glassy since we left the crypt. “What time, Ash?”
“I’ll text you the address and the time. You can drive with me—”
“She’s driving with me,” I grunted.
“Or maybe we could all drive together,” Skylar added, her eyebrow arched. “The lights are off,” she suddenly said, and I realized we were in front of our house. “They’re probably not home.”
“That or Joanna turned them off,” I murmured. The mere mention of her name left a bad taste in my mouth, but I bit down the bitterness trying to take over and slowed down. “Stay in the car,” I said, turning off the engine.
“Dylan!”
“Stay in the fucking car, Skylar,” I ordered.
“You can’t just—”
“What?” I looked at her. “Tell you what to do? I know I can’t, but when it comes to your safety, you will fucking listen to me or else.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously. Now, stay in the car and fucking run if you see anything.”
“I’m coming with you,” Ash said and opened his door before I could protest.
“Why can he come and I can’t?”
“Because he doesn’t have a bounty on his head.”
I jumped out of the car, locking the door behind me. Skylar’s furious gaze slammed into me as I rounded the car toward Ash, but I couldn’t pay attention to her feelings right now.
Joanna hated her, and if she saw her here, I had no idea what she would do. If having Skylar angry at me meant she would get to stay safe, then so be it. I could take her anger, but what I couldn’t take was her getting harmed.
“Are we gonna go inside or are you going to keep standing there staring at the house?” Ash asked, mocking me.
“Fuck off.”
“Gladly, but you have something that belongs to me.” He looked at Skylar then back at me.
“I don’t think that she belongs to any of us, buddy.” I grinned and started walking toward the gate. “I think we belong to her.”
He started mumbling, but he followed me. Punching in the code for the front gate, the iron gates slowly opened, letting us in. I just prayed that no one was home.
I didn’t want to face Joanna when both Skylar and Ash were with me. I didn’t want them to see that part of my life. It was already bad enough that everybody now knew what happened to me. Putting out our dirty laundry was the theme of the day apparently, but with all these other secrets we’d been keeping out there, I felt lighter.
Dried leaves and the puddles of water splashed around our feet as we walked toward the front porch. I pulled out the spare key I kept with me, and unlocked the door, the creaking sound enough to announce that we were here.
