“Yes?”
“Well, for a moment you didn’t look like enemies.”
“No?”
“No. You looked like lovers.”
Chapter 13
TWO THINGS WERE CERTAIN in this world.
The first one was that Hayden Black hated me.
The second one was that Hayden Black hated me.
No one in their right mind would say he felt even a fragment of anything warm toward me. If he did feel this way, he wouldn’t make me suffer each day of my life, and he wouldn’t control me and do anything to prevent me from achieving happiness. He wouldn’t destroy me as a person, making me completely unable to be who I am. He wouldn’t destroy my social life, sentencing me to spending my time within the walls of my own room.
He wouldn’t have tried to kill me.
I hated him.
Jessica didn’t know our long and complicated history.
The writing club meeting after my classes lasted much longer than usual, so the parking lot was almost vacant when I finally got out of school. I was on my way to my car, planning to finish with my reading assignment and spend some time drawing, when Hayden stopped his bike directly in front of me, preventing me from moving forward. He was dressed in gray jeans and a black leather jacket, and I had to admit this combination suited him more than well because he looked sexy.
His hair was wet, as if he’d showered recently. He probably had his football practice until now, and I internally chided myself because I’d completely forgotten to pay attention to that. I could’ve avoided him if I knew he was still on the school grounds.
I scanned my surroundings and saw absolutely no one. We were all alone.
This was bad.
“Get on my bike.”
As always, his order caught me completely off guard. “No way.”
I tried to move past him, but he hit the gas and stopped in front of me again, almost running over my feet. Screaming, I jumped back. “Are you crazy?!”
“Your stupidity really gets on my nerves. Do you want me to hurt you that badly? You know what happens when you don’t follow my orders. You. Get. Hurt.”
“You hurt me anyway, whether I follow your orders or not.”
“Yes, but playing dumb will only make things worse for you. What you did today was incredibly stupid, and I have a lack of patience since Saturday. Now, sit behind me, or I swear I’ll upload those nudes online. You won’t know what hit you when I finish with you.”
I was trembling, seeing the truth in his eyes. He would do that, and he wouldn’t even blink.
I sized up his Kawasaki and grimaced. How in the hell did he expect me to climb on that monstrosity? I was afraid of bikes, and I certainly never wanted to ride on one.
“Is it safe?” I asked, studying the back part of the seat. That wasn’t even a seat. It was so tiny with barely any place left to sit. It wasn’t safe at all, and I would have to sit right behind him...
I shuddered, cornered. I didn’t want this. No.
Our gazes locked, and the contempt in his eyes was too much for me to handle.
“Nowhere is safe for you.”
Oh God...
He put his helmet on, but I didn’t see the one for me. “And the helmet for me?”
“I don’t have one for you. You’ll ride without it.”
The nerve of him! I wanted to scream at him for such imprudence, but what was the use? It was futile to argue that if we ended up in an accident, I would be dead on the spot. I clenched my teeth, trying to prevent bile from rising up my throat. I felt like I’d sealed my destiny. I was going to die and there was nothing I could do.
You can run, Sarah.
And risk what? Another twisted retribution? Either way, I was doomed.
Grinding my teeth in all my hopelessness, I stopped next to his bike with no clue how to climb on it.
“I... Um, I don’t know how...”
He rolled his eyes. “Step on a foot peg with your right leg.” He pointed his hand at it. “Put your hands on my shoulders for support and bring your left leg to the other side.”
I didn’t want to touch him. I wanted to run away.
But I knew there was no escaping as I did what I’d been told. I grasped his shoulders for support and climbed up, sensing the hard muscles beneath his jacket. Against my will, I was amazed by the sheer strength that radiated from his body. I put my leg on the foot peg, sensing the hotness coming from the exhaust pipe, which almost burned me.
“Ouch!” I yelped, the pain biting into me when I thudded on his seat.
“Ooops. I forgot to tell you to be careful not to get burned. That pipe is extremely hot.”
Jerk. I hated him.
Feeling utterly vulnerable on his bike, I wrapped my arms around his waist. I couldn’t believe I was holding him like this.
To my surprise and embarrassment, Hayden pried my hands off him. “You don’t get to put your hands on me like that. You’ll hold the handles in front of me.”
He placed my hands none too gently on said handles. With no warning, he started the bike and sped off, and I barely had time to grab the handles, screaming when inertial force pulled me backward.
“Slow down!” I shouted, but he did quite the opposite.
“Not on your life. Stop giving me orders.”
He drove way above the speed limit as we went from one road to another, passing other cars one by one. I closed my eyes since I couldn’t stand watching everything move in a blur, expecting us to crash any moment.
I made an effort not to touch any part of his body with mine, but it was barely possible with my chest almost touching his back. I was too uncomfortable on the hard seat, positioned at a strange angle. I could sense his scent, which was a mix of his cologne and cigarettes, but I refused to define it as alluring. I hoped the football practice had sobered him and he wasn’t drunk anymore.
I flinched when some drivers honked their horns at us, my eyes flashing open. I was terrified, thinking we were seconds away from a horrible accident. He swerved to the left, and I couldn’t stop my shriek of horror.
“Stop fucking screaming!”
“We’re going to die!”
“The only person here who’s going to die is you! I’m personally going to throw you off my bike if you don’t shut up!”
“It was you who wanted me here! Why don’t you stop the bike and let me go home?”
“And have you miss all the fun I have in store for you? No.”
He entered I-91, and he almost doubled his speed. I continued whining as he zigzagged, switching lanes and passing vehicles dangerously close to them.
Like a bolt from the blue, a laugh barreled out of his mouth. It was dark, and it was feeding itself on my wretchedness, making me even more scared. The only reason Hayden ever laughed in front of me was to intimidate me, just like now.
“Don’t you want to live on the edge?”
Was that what this horrible ride was for him? Living on the edge? Did he get off on the possibility to lose his head? It was like playing with death made him feel alive. How could he be so careless?
I didn’t understand him at all.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll find out very soon.”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“You already know that.”
“No, Hayden, I don’t know. I want you to stop acting like a madman. I’m tired of not being able to make a single step without you tripping me and messing me up.”