Page 103 of Flipping the Script

“Don’t think so.” He flipped his hair back from his forehead and wiped his dirty hands on his mud-covered jeans. “I started it a few times while I was waiting and it was fine, but obviously couldn’t try driving, so…” He shrugged.

“Test it.”

Nodding, he got into his car and cranked the engine. It started immediately, his headlights lighting up the road ahead of us.

I took a few steps back as he put it in gear and drove about twenty feet down the road, then stopped and rolled down the window.

“I think it’s fine,” he yelled, sticking his head out of the window like my parents’ dog liked to do.

“I’ll follow you,” I shouted to him. “Go slow.”

“Slow? I was planning on working on my street racing skills. See if you can keep up!” he called back, then stuck his head back in his car and did up his window.

“Jackass,” I muttered, trudging over to my truck.

I was completely soaked and coated with mud. Thank god I had a couple of old towels in the back seat. Otherwise I’d be cleaning dirt out of my cab for the next six months.

I took a moment to spread them out over my seat, then climbed in, ready for tonight to be over.

16

SEBASTIAN

The five-mile drivetook what felt like eleven and a half hours as we inched along at a snail’s pace.

The rain hadn’t slowed at all, but the thunder and lightning were thankfully long past us. I didn’t mind storms, but not when I was driving on busted, tiny roads surrounded by eerily dark woods.

Finally, my cabin came into view as we broke through the tree line and approached the small clearing in front of the building. I pulled into one of the parking spaces and shut down my engine with a weary sigh.

Jesse parked his truck next to me, and we both climbed out of our vehicles and headed toward the cabin, going slow because of the near darkness now that our headlights weren’t lighting the way.

“Slowpoke,” I commented when Jesse joined me on the porch.

“Not everything is a competition,” he muttered.

“But it’s so much more fun when it is.” I unlocked the front door and pushed it open.

“Why bother locking it?” He followed me into the cabin and closed the door behind him. “This is as close to the middle of nowhere as you can get around here.”

“To keep Goldilocks and the three bears out.” I flicked the light switch.

Nothing happened.

“Bas?” Jesse asked warily.

I could only see his outline now that the door was closed.

“Um.” I flicked the light switch a few more times. “Do you have your phone?”

He pulled it out of his pocket and unlocked it. “What’s going on?”

I took it without answering and opened the internet, the screen blindingly bright even in night mode.

“Bas?” he asked again. “Is the power out?”

“Yeah.” I handed him his phone back. “It looks like the whole area has been out for hours,” I added grimly.

“Any chance it’ll be fixed soon?” he asked, his voice devoid of any hope.

---