Page 180 of Dare To Break

He understood me in ways no one else does. When I wasn’t with him, I wished he was there. When we were together, I wanted the moment to last forever. I’d wanted to live in the feeling. Wrap myself up in it.

It aches because I’m in love with him.

The truth just makes me feel worse.

I zip up my hoodie, lift the hood and tug it over my head, and wheel my suitcase out into the hallway. I pause long enough to lock the door, and then head outside. Jace and Evan are waiting for me in the parking lot, beside a big silver car.

“You’re in front,” Evan announces, and takes my suitcase around to the trunk.

I don’t move. “I don’t mind being in the back.”

Jace opens the driver’s door. “I’d rather have you up with me.”

Has Sin already left? Where is he now? Why do I still care?

Rounding the car, I open the passenger side and get in. The smell of expensive leather teases my nose, the seat cocooning me as I do up my seatbelt. Jace is already behind the wheel, and Evan is installed in the back. He maneuvers the vehicle smoothly out of its bay and takes off down the driveway.

“Are you looking forward to alone time with Eli?”

I press my lips together at Jace’s question. “No.”

“I bet he is.” Evan chuckles from the backseat. “Do you know Travers has fucked half the girls in the school? They whisper about it because they don’t want to get caught having sex with him.”

I keep my gaze locked on the road through the window. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Just thought you should know.”

“I’m not interested in Eli.”

The car surges forward as Jace puts his foot down, sending us shooting along the road.

Heart in my mouth, I clutch at my seat. “Slow down!”

He takes his eye off the road for a second to flash me a grin. “What’s the matter? Don’t you like fast cars?”

“No.” My voice is shrill.

“Dude, enough. We don’t want to get pulled over by the cops,” Evan huffs.

“I’m just messing with her.” Jace laughs but slows down.

I dig my earbuds out of my pocket, and I put them in, desperate for a distraction. The lyrics of ‘Break the Spell’ by Daughtry saves me from any further conversation. As much as I want to sleep, I’m too tense to attempt it. I don’t trust Jace and Evan not to mess with me. The song ends transitioning into a different one, and I relax into the music.

We’re two hours into the journey when Jace slows the car and pulls over in the middle of nowhere.

I pull one of the earbuds out. “Why did we stop?”

“Evan needed a piss,” Jace says.

The other jock gets out of the back.

Minutes tick by in silence before he returns.

Jace doesn’t start the car.

I glance his way again.

He’s staring at me with a smile that puts me on edge. “Seeing as I’m driving you home, I think I should get something in return.”

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