Page 21 of Ends of Being

Tony and Chief Shields both chuckle, giving each other rather knowing looks as Tony and I head toward the door. Dare walks over toward us, and I scurry behind Tony so he can’t get near me. It’s not that I’m afraid of Dare or worried he’ll hurt me, I just feel like if he touched me, I might either fall into him or explode at him, and neither scenario is ideal at this moment.

Dare leans into Tony, once again saying something that I can’t quite make out, and Tony nods his head in agreement before motioning for me to exit the room ahead of him.

I can’t say I fucking care about anything at this point. I’m exhausted, and my entire body hurts, and I just want to get out of there as quickly as possible.

So, I walk out of the house, not even flinching as the door slams shut behind me.

Chapter Nine

Dare

Let’sjustsaythingshave not gone according to plan.

Hindsight being the little bitch that it is, I probably should’ve known things wouldn’t have gone as smoothly as anticipated, given nothing that pertains to Antoinette has ever gone smoothly. She’s the opposite of smooth. She’s a rough-and-tumble, abrasive, intentionally aggravating firecracker. Right now, I want to murder her almost as much as I want to ravage her. Sometimes, it’s a fine line.

Obviously, I knew I should’ve secured her better than I did, but frankly, my heart wasn’t in it. I want her to bend to my will, but I also want her to do so comfortably. I couldn’t have her sitting in that chair for hours with her hands and feet numb. Then I got concerned she wouldn’t be able to get out of the building if there was an accidental fire or a flood, so I unlocked the doors so they would release from the inside.

So, it’s official; that woman has made me go soft. Not just soft but also sloppy, amateurish, and outright inept. Tony will have a complete field day with this when he sees me next, and I should be glad for the reprieve of having him stay with Antoinette whilst Matt got to have the joy and privilege of fake arresting me.

Matt decided to cuff and stuff me, somewhat for effect, because he thought her witnessing the whole ruse might make her feel a little better, but also just because he thought it was funny as fuck. I could also see Tony attempting to cover his own smirk as he sat watching the show, but he couldn’t give too much away in case Antoinette noticed. And Matt definitely secured those cuffs a little tighter than they needed to be, given the odds I was going to attempt to escape were nil. Even if I was, I would’ve waited to choke him out when we got to our destination.

Of course, now that he has me in the back of his car, he’s refusing to pull over and uncuff me and allow me to sit up front with him. Because as he says, and I quote, “Bad kids get to ride in the backseat.”

The fucking prick.

He’s been mostly silent for the ride up, which is incredibly annoying because Matt is not a quiet person. He basically never stops running his trap, and even when he does, he’s normally humming, singing, tapping, or just being annoying in general. Which means he’s sulking over something.

Finally, growing tired of the quiet, I sputter, “For fuck’s sake, man. Just spit it out already.”

Matt glares at me in the rearview mirror, making a rather rude sound before saying, “I don’t really think that there’s anything to be said here, Darius.”

Oooh, he brought out theDarius, which means he’s big mad.

I still can’t help but roll my eyes. Matt has always been the drama queen of our group, and man, can he hold a grudge. Unfortunately, we don’t have time for grudges right now because we have some serious problems on the horizon, and they don’t give a fuck about grudges.

So, I give him my most innocent look and say, “Sorry, Matt.”

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say because the next thing I know, the car is pulled over on the shoulder of the road, and I’m being yanked out of the back of the car and tossed about. I can’t help but laugh, even though I’m sure there’s nothing remotely funny about it. And, of course, my laughing only incenses him even further, which leads to a couple of extra kicks he otherwise would not have inflicted upon me.

“Fuck, okay. Matt—stop!” I shout, attempting to get my feet underneath me. “I think that’s quite fucking enough! If you’ve got something to say, then by all means, say it; otherwise, we have bigger problems to deal with right now than your hurt little feelings. And frankly, if anyone should be pissed off right now, it should be me because you brought my girl to my house when you had explicit instructions never to do that!”

Matt reaches out in an attempt to give me another swat as he yells, “Your girl? Your fucking girl? Seems to me, you deluded fucking asshole, that all of this could’ve been avoided if you had just been truthful with me in the first place!”

Okay, so maybe he has a point. But in my defense, messing with Matt Shields has been one of my favorite sports for most of my life. Actually, Tony and I have even turned it into a betting game, a game that Matt is none too impressed with.

I nod my head in agreement. “You’re right. In this particular case, I shouldn’t have dicked you around about it, and if I had just told you the truth in the first place, none of this would’ve happened.”

He gives me a shocked look, his hands coming up to fist on his hips as he retorts, “Seriously? You’re just going to admit you’re wrong that easily?”

I simply nod and say, “Yes. I was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

Matt gives me a pained look and groans loudly as he mutters, “Fuck me. This must be bad if you’re going to apologize without a fight. And I knew this was going to happen. I knew our little plan to keep you in check wouldn’t last, and you’d go off half-cocked and do something completely unhinged and then I’d be the one stuck here holding the goddamn stick as if I was the asshole who fucked us again with his diabolical fucking urges to possess someone who doesn’t even fucking remember anything!”

I stand there for a moment, my hands on my hips, watching Matt completely lose his shit on the side of the damn road. Now, I have no idea what the hell he’s talking about, and he’s so wrapped up in his ranting that it takes him a minute to realize I’m just staring at him in confusion. He pauses for a breath and then continues. “Of course, you have no fucking idea what I’m talking about. Why can’t anything ever be easy with you? For fuck’s sake, this is totally a Dare thing to do, I can’t even look at you. You know what, I can’t do this right now, so just spit it out and tell me what’s going on, so I can decide what I’m going to do next.“

“You gonna uncuff me?” I ask hopefully. Because even though he seems to accept my apology, that doesn’t mean he won’t take advantage of the situation and still attempt to pound the snot out of me at every turn.

He hesitates for a moment, obviously considering said pounding, then finally gives me a small nod and walks over behind me, removing the handcuffs.

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