Page 165 of Chasing Hadley

“Why’s that?” Rhyland asks, his eyes stained with tears of laughter.

“Because, during this car ride, I’ve wanted to punch you in the balls twice, but I have some self-control. Although, if you keep it up, I may lose it.”

He scoots forward again, a wicked grin playing at his lips. “Those are some big threats coming from yourcutemouth.”

Shaking my head, I ball my hand into a fist. “You know what? Screw this whole self-control thing.” I move to hit him.

Again, I’m not really going to. I just want to make him flinch, which he totally does, but then laughter tickles his lips again. I give him a nasty look right as the driver’s side door swings open and Blaise climbs in.

His gaze skates between the two of us, and then a crinkle forms at his brows as his eyes settle on Rhyland. “Why does it look like Hadley’s about to punch you and you find it amusing?”

Rhyland lifts a shoulder, a mischievous glint sparkling in his eyes. “Because that’s exactly what’s happening.”

“You didn’t find it amusing.” I smirk. “You totally flinched.”

“I had an itch in my eye,” he insists, reclining back.

“Liar,” I argue, on the verge of smiling.

A real smile, too.

How that’s happening with everything going on is a mystery, but I’ll enjoy it while I can.

The smile is short-lived, though, as Blaise pulls back onto the street and I spot the same car I saw this morning behind us.

I’m about to ask Blaise if he knows who it belongs to when he mutters a string of curses.

“What’s up?” Rhyland asks, casting a glance back.

Blaise shakes his head, his gaze flicking to the rearview mirror. “I think one of dad’s lackeys is following us.”

My heart slams against my chest. “That car was following me this morning.”

Blaise’s attention snaps in my direction. “What?”

I nod. “When I drove to school this morning, I noticed it.”

His grip on the wheel constricts. “Why didn’t you say anything about this earlier?”

I shrug. “It slipped my mind.”

“How did a car following you slip your mind?” he asks in astonishment.

I give him aduhlook. “Because I have a bunch of other shit taking up space in my brain.”

A look of understanding crosses his face, but then he suddenly tenses, his gaze darting to the rearview mirror. “Shit.”

When I twist around to see what he’s looking at, my muscles ravel into knots.

The car is no longer tailing us but is in the other lane, pulling up beside us.

“Should you maybe try to outrun them?” Rhyland asks with a hint of worry.

Blaise chews on his bottom lip. “I’m not sure …” He trails off as the car zooms by and swings in front of the SUV.

As the brake lights of the car flash on, Blaise curses and slams on his breaks, the tires skidding as he struggles to get the SUV to stop.

“Motherfucker,” Blaise growls as he steers the SUV to the side of the road and skids into the gravel, dirt lacing the air as he stops.

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