Page 60 of Fire Fight

“No need,” I reiterate, sparing her the bother of correcting herself. “Arnold would kill me if I didn’t get you safely home.”

I watch the arguments rise and fall in her eyes as she tries to find a way out and can’t. The push and pull that’s been betweenus, growing stronger with each passing day, is playing havoc on her tonight.

She melted under my fingers, then immediately ran away to her inconvenient little friend.

I would have preferred to be chosen, but this is good, too. This is a different type of power.

“Don’t,” I warn her as she turns back to Hudson. “Leave him alone so he doesn’t scream more insults at you he can’t retract.”

Cadence appears defeated as she gets into my car and, not gonna lie, it looks good on her. The slumped shoulders, the tiny gasps of her breathing.

Her dull eyes stare sightlessly ahead, bursting into flame when I lightly caress her shoulder and her body remembers what we’ve already done tonight.

Remembers… and wants more.

“Happy to be rescued?”

The sharp sideways glance could cut steel. “You’re not the hero in this story.” She shakes her head, ticking her tongue against her teeth. “Hudson did nothing to you.”

“He did nothing for you, either.” Her deepening frown makes me laugh. “I’ve never seen someone look as bored as when Hudson kissed you, earlier. Is your hand still itching to wipe his slobber from your lips?”

She bares her teeth at the mention and my jeans feel tighter. I plant my foot, the engine roaring as it obeys my command.

“There are speed limits,” she grumbles, hands clinging to her seatbelt.

“And when you’re the one driving, you can obey them to your heart’s content.”

As we make the journey home, a pulse hits behind my right temple. The steady throb that means another headache is due to land. Ignoring it, I steer the car up the hill, smirking at herregretful gasp as I drive straight past Arnold’s, parking in a rest area at the top of the hill.

“Fucking hell.” Cadence’s eyes widen at the view over the harbour, then she twists in her seat, staring at the valley behind us where sheep are dotted about, grazing between the tussocks and the sparse patches of gorse. “This is incredible.”

I get out of the vehicle, walking to a public bench not far away. After a minute of hesitation, she follows, hands tucked into her armpits as she chooses the side of the bench farthest from me.

“Do you come up here often?”

“A bit.” I reach into my blazer pocket for a half-smoked blunt, curling my shoulder against the wind to light it.

“Are drug laws also something you think are for other people?”

“It’s medicinal.”

Her jaw clenches. “You attack me for taking anti-anxiety medication but smoking a random joint is just A-OK?”

“Funny, I don’t recall seeing your name on the prescription.”

She nods at my hand. “And that does?”

“My doctor recommended it. The only reason I don’t have a prescription is because it’s far too fucking expensive.”

She rolls her eyes, giving a soft snort. “And here’s you, with barely a cent to your name.”

I pluck a stray scrap of leaf from my lip, inhaling a lungful and holding it, lidding my eyes against the fragrant smoke. “A cent is overstating things. Why?” I arch my eyebrows at her. “Has Arnold filled your bank account to overflowing?”

A wrinkled nose is her answer.

“He has money. I don’t.”

She shifts on her seat, leaning forward as she twists to the side, eyes trying to see everything at once. As the minutes pass,she relaxes. Finally asking, “Was it weird? Finding out you had a rich dad all along.”

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