when I first met him three years ago, it was an instant dislike. I honestly wouldn’t mind never seeing him again, ever, but he just has this way about him. While it’s pretty an annoying way, it also seems to get under my skin and not in the way I’d like.
Then there is the fact that he’s far too cocky for his own good. Is it wrong that I take great pleasure in constantly putting him in his place? No, yes, maybe...doesn’t matter, because I totally do.
With Matt not around to act as a buffer, all I need for tonight is to have Gabe tease me. He tends to be tamer in his torture techniques if Matt’s around. If memory serves me right, then I swear Gabe got a Motorcycle this past spring. I’m one to know, he’s always asking me to ride with him so he can be a bad influence. Or so he says.
So what’s all this needing a ride nonsense.
“Doesn’t he have his own death trap to drag him to the party?” I ask Dan, as I try not to sound overly irritated.
“He does, but it’s in the shop. I offered for him to come along, so stop whining. He’s not that bad.”
I snort in disbelief and shake my head. Not that bad, my left foot.
Figures his motorcycle would break down, now of all nights, not that I’d ever trust those things. But, as to not let it show that he bothers me so much, or to come off as whiny, I just shrug. Yup that’s me, not bothered by punk boys.
Is it believable though?
Dan just laughs.
Nope, I’m more see-through than a three-way mirror.
By the time he ushers us out to Marias car, where he immediately calls for shotgun by the way, I’m convinced there is literally steam pouring out of my ears. Shivering, I reach for the backseat door wishing I had remembered to snag a jacket. It’s oddly cool for a late June night, or maybe it’s not really. We do live in Maine, so no one can ever try to guess how the weather will turn out.
What really makes me feel cold is the fact that it’s too quiet out.
Usually at this time of night, I can hear crickets and frogs going at it, but tonight it’s silent. I have to wonder if maybe a storm is coming, usually things get quiet around these parts before something happens. I just hope we’re home before the floodgates open.
Getting in the car beside Claire, I push these thoughts out of my head.
Chapter Three
What could have been a quick twenty minute drive to party headquarters turns into an extra half hour detour to pick up the devil, even though he lives in the same subdivision as us. That’s just the way it is in our town though, it’s small, but for all its space the homes have a lot of land in between. Maria smoothly pulls the car into Gabe’s dark driveway. As the headlights shine over his house I see that he’s already sitting on the porch.
He rises before the car is even in park and saunters over to us.
I steal a moment to take in his appearance. It’s a shame he’s so downright rotten. He’s taller than me, but then most everyone is, and he is well built. In a habit I’m too acquainted with, he has to toss his head to shake the mess of dark hair out of his eyes as he leans toward the door on my side. When he moves to open the door, his light eyes shine brightly in the reflective headlights.
He doesn’t say anything, just stares at me through the open door, only then do I realize that he’s waiting for me to move over.
Great, I’m going to be stuck in the middle.
That’s what I get for daydreaming over the enemy. Not to looking at him again, I scoot over next to Claire. Not that she realizes anything is going on really. She’s been texting Brian, the lucky guy of the night, the whole drive. She pushes herself closer to the door to make room and the whole time I seriously hope it’s too dark for Gabe to see me blushing.
Not that I am, because I’m totally not.
He slams the door behind him and even though he has ample room in the back with me and Claire practically sitting in each other’s lap, he chooses to squeeze in closer to me. His knee brushes mine I can as he