Noxious (Anathema #1) - Yolanda Olson Page 0,17

I’ll handle that however I need to.

Once I’ve dried my hands, I grin at my reflection, run a hand back through my hair and exit the building.

I can see Wills standing impatiently against her SUV in the not-so-far distance and I roll my eyes.

Clearing my throat, I begin to walk down the path leading to where she’s waiting when I see something out of the corner of the eye that catches my attention.

Something beautiful.

Something innocent.

Something that looks a little lost.

“Hey!” I call out, the grin returning to my face.

The beautiful, innocent, lost thing turns to glance at me over its shoulder and the grin on my face widens.

Maybe now is the time for Willa to find out what competition for attention feels like.

I walk over and sit down on the edge of the sidewalk next to her and offer her a smoke which she declines with a smile on her face.

This goddamn trip is finally about to get fun.

Thirteen

Sugar and Spice and Not Very Nice

Daphne

"Hey!"

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.

There's just nothing quite like sitting on a curb at a rest stop to bait the next wannabe gentleman to come to my rescue, but normally they're a lot older and a lot less attractive than the one who drops onto the edge of the sidewalk beside me.

He offers me a pack of cigarettes, and I glance at him for a second, shaking my head with a bit of a smile. Demure, face angled down, eyes up. Just long enough to get a look at him, and let him take one too, then I turn back to the parking lot, wrapping my arm tighter around my backpack.

"You need a ride?" he asks, popping a cigarette between his teeth and lighting it up. The cloud of smoke he releases taints the smell of fresh trees around us, but I'll allow it since he might be my ticket out of this parking lot. Still, there's something to be said for playing hard to get.

"Um..." I peek at him quickly before hitching my shoulders up. Defensive posture, nervous little girl... it's like ringing a goddamn dinner bell. Even if this guy falls through, there's another in a red shirt hovering around the back end of his Honda Civic that's been trying to build up the balls to talk to me for at least ten minutes. "I— Maybe?"

The guy laughs and blows out another stream of smoke, his blue eyes sparkling with something more than just the same old boring attraction. "Come on. You're coming with us."

Us?

"Where are you headed?" I ask, and he smirks at me like he thinks the question is cute.

"Away from here." He hooks his arm through mine and lifts me off the ground easily, but I have my backpack in my other hand, and that's all I really need as he half-drags me down the path. I look around for the skinny guy he went to the bathroom with, but I don't seem him anywhere. Instead, it looks like we're heading to a shiny new SUV where an irritated looking blonde is waiting for him.

Ah, us.

Tall, dark, and handsome has a pretty little girlfriend. Great.

"What the fuck, Aftyn!" she screeches, and he opens the backdoor for me with a grin, tilting his head toward it as the girl behind him fumes. "Aftyn! Who the hell is this? Where's Dexter?"

Biting down on my urge to smile at the chaos he's brewing, I climb into the backseat and buckle in, tucking my backpack into my lap. Aftyn slams the door and then struts around the front, dropping the cigarette beside the driver's door before he hops in. The blonde is still standing outside the car when he buckles his seatbelt and turns the car on.

The passenger window slowly slides down and he leans across the seats. "Willa, get in the goddamn car."

"Fuck off, Aftyn. Where's Dexter?"

"He decided to find a new beau in the bathroom," Aftyn answers with a laugh that dies a little too fast. "Last chance to get your ass in the car before I leave."

"We're not leaving without Dex. Stop being such an asshole."

"Okay, then." Aftyn shifts the SUV into drive and pulls forward a few feet, breaking hard when the girl screeches again, catching up to slam her hand on the door.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Sighing heavily, he looks over at her and pats the passenger seat. "I already told you that was your last chance, Willa, but I'm graciously giving you one more. Get in