Page 11 of Devious Vows

Staring down at him for just a beat too long, I don’t know what to tell him. I look at Gavino before answering, “It’s fine. Gavino and I were going to see a movie.”

“You and Gavino, huh?” I hear the long breath he lets out, watching him pull a Zippo from his back pocket, lighting a cigarette a moment later. “Don’t you have other plans, brother?”

My gut churns at the tension in the air, the hair on my arms rising with every passing second. My fingers run over the skirt of my dress, smoothing out invisible wrinkles as the silence between us grows. I’ve never understood their relationship, but it always makes me uncomfortable.

Gavino stands, drawing my attention. “You’re right.” His eyes find my confused frown, lips ticking up at the corner in an attempt to ease any worry. “Sorry, Bev, I totally forgot.”

“Oh,” I finally say, swallowing as I shake my head. “You’re fine. We’ll go see that film another time.”

“You got it,” he says, his smile fading as he looks at Remy. He gives him a curt nod before turning and walking back inside of the house. The sound of the door closing is loud, the brass knocker banging lightly as my eyes find Remy still leaning against his car door.

“Now that you don’t have plans,” smoke blows through his nose as he speaks, disappearing into the night air as I purse my lips at him, “just get in the fucking car, Beverly.”

He has the perfect bad-boy image wrapped in an actual bad-boy life. Almost black hair shaved short on the sides and longer on top, a light scruff on his face, covered in an array of dark ink all painted across a body that’s hard as rock and scarred from his job—a job he does exceptionally well at.

It’s annoying to me how attractive I find him.

I bristle at his tone, my fingers finding the edge of my skirt. “I don’t like to be told what to do, Remy.” My eyes narrow on him and his smirk. “So why don’t you kiss my ass?”

He stands from the car, more smoke blown into the sky as he glares up at me. The honey tone of his eyes glimmers in the light from the porch, making them look softer than usual. A trick of the light that vanishes when he takes a step closer. He drops the cigarette onto the gravel, crunching it beneath his boot, and I scramble to stand up, looking down at him as he responds with, “Get in the car on your own or you can kiss mine while I toss you into the back.”

I scoff, but my gut coils.

There is no doubt in my mind that this heathen of a man would do just as he threatens.

After a brief silent standoff I give in, hands clenched into fists as I stomp down the steps. He picks up his cigarette butt and sticks it in his pocket, watching as I toss my dad’s SUV keys into the cab’s open window as I pass. Heels crunching around the front of Remy’s car, my eyes briefly meet his as we open the car doors in unison.

My velvet skirt rises as I settle into the leather seat and I nervously tug it lower on my thighs, frowning over at Remy as his eyes trail along my outfit until he meets my narrowed gaze. I clear my throat when he says nothing, his slow perusal making my skin feel hot. “Can I help you?”

He shifts the car into drive, pulling forward and driving for far too long with his eyes on me before looking at the road ahead of us. “You were going to the movies dressed like that?”

“No.” I swallow, feeling my skin grow hot under his attention. “Prom. It’s being held at the Addison.”

He hums, honey eyes finding mine for just a moment. “You’re not going to that either.”

Crossing my arms, my skin prickles under his gaze in a way that makes me uncomfortable, anger burning along my ribs. “Excuse me?” I raise my brow at his profile before continuing, “That’s not for you to decide, actually.”

“You don’t have a date,” he says, the tone of his voice telling me that he’s annoyed with just the idea of me having one, evening knowing I don’t. “And you still want to go?”

Looking out the window instead of his face, I consider not answering him, but eventually do, resting the back of my head against the headrest. “Not really, no.” I’m not sure why I tell him that, but it’s not like it really matters if he knows—he already said I wasn’t going. “That’s why I was going to go to the movies with Gavino instead.” I roll my head to face him when he doesn’t immediately respond like I thought he would.

He’s already looking at me. “You want to spend tonight with me, though, yeah?”

A small snorting laugh escapes my chest. “Full offense, Remy, but I don’t particularly like spending time with you.”

His dimple winks at me in response. “Is that a yes or no, Bev.”

I sigh, looking out the front windshield instead of him when I answer, “I suppose.”

He chuckles, the sound warm and gravelly as it fills the small space between us. It’s annoying how much I like it. It’s not the first time just the two of us have hung out together, one of many actually, but it’s almost always because it was forced on us by our parents. Even so, he still has a way of making me nervous.

“Where are we going?” I finally ask, biting my lip at the silence that stretches after the question.

The smirk in his voice makes my heart pound. “To get a tattoo.”

I can’t get a tattoo, my mother will kill me.

“Based on the way you said it, I’m assuming you think I won’t get one.” I look back over at him, his face glowing intermittently with the passing lights. My heart thumps loudly in my chest, fingers lightly shaking in my lap. The challenge hanging between us. I surprise myself when I say, “Once again you’d be wrong.”

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