dash

As I watch her face morph into a scowl, I can’t help but stare at her full lips and swallow hard.

When the fuck did Evie get so hot?

Last time I’d seen her had been a couple years before and she was still the same old fresh-faced pain in the ass she’d always been. Tonight, though, before she opened her mouth anyway, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t noticed little Evie had grown up.

Turning on her heels to storm away from me as she stomps toward the passenger door of my truck, my eyes inadvertently fall onto her ass. Her jeans are skin tight, the slight dip of her ass cheeks making the blood rush toward my cock as I release a hiss of frustration.

I know what would shut her up…

“Motherfucker, son of a bitch,” I groan under my breath as she closes her door, slamming the tailgate shut in irritation. “Don’t get any ideas,” I whisper toward my already swelling dick. “We don’t want any of that crazy.”

Swallowing hard, I shake my head clear and make my way around the driver’s side, sliding in behind the wheel. I glance over to see her tapping away on her cell phone, the light illuminating her features just enough.

“You got your seatbelt on?” I mumble, fastening mine.

“Aww,” she croons, her saccharin sweet voice sending a chill of irritation through me. “I didn’t know you cared.”

“I don’t,” I admit, wiping the sarcastic smirk off her face as I check my mirrors. “But I don’t need another ticket and against my better judgment, I promised your mom I wouldn’t leave you on the side of the road or let you die.”

She grumbles something I can’t hear and don’t care enough to ask about as I pull away from the curb and slip into traffic, heading for interstate. The bulk of the ride is made in silence, only the low radio and the taps coming from her cellphone filling the cab. Twenty minutes later, we’ve hit bumper-to-bumper traffic and the tapping has become mildly infuriating.

“Would you move your big blue ass?” I ground out at the van in front of me, shaking my head and glancing toward Evie when she begins to laugh.

“Sounds like someone needs to get laid,” she snorts.

“No, what I need is for these people to pull their heads out of their asses and drive,” I disagree. “And for you to stop with that fuckin’ tapping over there. Shit’s annoying.”

She glances over at me, then out the windshield before she looks back at her phone.

“Neither of those are looking good for you, grumpy ass.”

“Grumpy ass?” I smirk. “You wanna see grumpy ass, you’ll cool it with that tapping or you’ll be tapping your little ass the rest of the way in those ugly ass boots of yours.”

“First of all, I know with that shitty ass attitude of yours, it’s likely been months since you knew the touch of a woman, but don’t you dare take your lack of play out on my amazing boots. Everyone on the planet knows how amazing these boots are, Dash. Everyone,” she starts, making me roll my eyes. “Second, we both know you’d never do that to my mother,” she counters, raising her eyebrow as she stares down at her screen. “Bet you’re regretting that promise now, aren’t you?”

“Shut up,” I scowl, staring back out at traffic and moving less than two feet before we’re at a stop once more. “And don’t fuckin’ worry about me. I’m getting plenty.”

“You’d never know it by listening to all that whining.”

“Whatever,” I spit cleverly, turning the volume up on the radio as I shut the heat off and settle in. “Why’d you even fly home anyway? It’s only a two-hour drive.”

“My mom had frequent flyer miles that were about to expire, but not enough for any of us to get to Colorado, so she let me use them to come home instead,” she explains quickly before whipping her head around at me and staring back in disbelief. “Why are you turning off the heat?”

“Because it’s plenty warm in here.”

“Are you kidding me, Dash? It’s freezing!”

“It probably is a little chilly for someone who comes from the underworld,” I jab, internally high-fiving my own cleverness. “But to us regular people, it’s fine. Besides, if you’re so cold, why’d you take your coat off?”

“Because you had the heat on. Why would I leave it on if you were running the heater?”

You know those moments when someone says something so stupid, you can feel your face morph into some crazy shit?

Yep. I felt it.

“That doesn’t make any fuckin’ sense. If you’re cold with the heat on, why would you take your jacket off?”

“You do that when you’re in the car,” she argues through clenched teeth. “Otherwise, your seatbelt gets too tight and you can’t get comfortable.”

“What?” I gape. “Evie, what the hell are you talking about? Do you hear yourself?”

“My jacket’s too thick to comfortably wear a seatbelt over,” she explains irritably, her thumb slipping under the belt and snapping it against her chest. Jesus, her chest. I guess she is cold. Her nipples are hard, pressing against the fabric on her shirt. Fuck me hard, she’s got some great tits. One good swipe of my tongue over that left one and I bet she’d shut the fuck... “I’ll feel like I’m suffocating.”

“I should be so lucky,” I grumble, shaking my head clear.

“I heard that.”

“Wasn’t trying to hide it.”

“Come on, Dash,” she starts, releasing a low breath before she faces me again, the forced calm in her features obvious as she speaks through her clenched teeth. “Dash, would you please turn the heat back on?”

I glance over, the lights from the traffic illuminating her skin enough to see the small goosebumps forming over her arms and I move my eyes back to hers.

“This is legit the stupidest shit I have ever heard in my entire life,” I shake my head, continuing to study her for another moment before I reluctantly switch the heat on.

“Thank you,” she says sarcastically. “See? Isn’t that better?”

“No,” I disagree. “It’s still dumb as ass, but you’re not going to shut the hell up about it and I’d rather sweat to death than listen to your mouth for the next forty-five minutes.”

“How the hell did this happen to me? I’m a good person. Why am I stuck in traffic with you?” she demands, smacking her hand down on the seat between us, releasing a dramatic huff. “I thought Mason was picking me up.”

“Yeah, well so did I, but apparently even he didn’t want to hang out with you.”

I’m expecting a snide rebuttal, but when nothing comes, I glance over, surprised to find her wearing a sad look.

After a few seconds of silence, I’m surprised when I start to feel guilty for having hurt her feelings. Evie and I have always treated each other like shit, it’s kind of our thing. It all comes from a place of genuine distaste. I annoy the hell out of her because I refuse to bow down to her diva, princess bullshit and she nitpicks me constantly, finding sincere bliss out of annoying the ever-loving shit out of me.

That being said she’s tougher than any other girl I’ve ever met and I’ve met plenty. I’ve never dished out more than I thought she could take because honestly, I never thought I could actually hurt the little princess. I’m about to apologize to her for maybe the first time ever, but her hurt feelings are shorter-lived than my guilt.

“Dammit, I knew not sending him a birthday present was going to come back and bite me on the ass,” she sighs, wiping the look off her face before plastering on her trademark evil sneer. “He must have known an hour locked in this heap of shit you call a truck with your sorry ass would be any woman’s worst nightmare.”

Oh, my God. I fuckin’ hate her.

 

evie

The rest of our trip consists of our usual banter and when we pull up to the bar an hour later, I can’t get away from him fast enough. What I’d really love more than anything would be to go home and lick the wounds this awful day has left behind, but my mom’s not home and in my hurry, I’d forgotten my spare key. Besides, despite the fact I’d like to claw his eyes out for leaving me alone with Dash, I’ve missed my brother.

“You’re welcome for the ride, by the way,” Dash sighs sarcastically as he makes his way to the sidewalk beside me. “It wasn’t an inconvenience at all.”

“Thanks,” I reply dryly, my best fake smile slipping over my lips. “It was a real pleasure.”

“Shut the hell up,” he mumbles, pulling the door open and waiting for me to walk inside before following after me.

The place is packed with the weekend crowd and despite the heels on my boots, with my short height, I find myself standing on my toes as I search for my brother.

“Mason’s over by the bar. I gotta take a piss. Get me a beer, will ya?”

“Eat me,” I mumble, struggling to push my way toward the front.

This pub had always been known as one of the more rough-and-tumble places in town, but even before Mason and Dash stepped behind the bar, we’d never gone anywhere else. We loved the eccentric patrons, the shitty seating and the too-quiet flat-screen the owner, Walt, had put in a few years back for the college games. Outside of my family, there wasn’t much I missed more than this shitty old pub since I’d been away.

There are a ton of people in here tonight, much more than I remember from my last visit. My small frame combined with the exhaustion coursing through me makes it difficult to make much headway through the crowd. I’m on the verge of screaming when I feel a hand grip my wrist, making me jump slightly in surprise.

“Come on,” Dash shouts over the crowd, surprising me despite the exhausted tone in his voice. “You’re never going to make it through just standing there.”

Before I can come up with any clever quips, he pulls me behind him, using his elbows and the sheer width of his broad chest to push his way through the sea of people. Eventually, we make it to the front, Dash releasing his grip on my wrist and positioning my small frame in front of him. His large hands rest firmly on my shoulders, a strange comfort that has me swallowing hard. I’m about to step forward when his forearm flies up, shielding me from a massive guy swinging his arm toward the television.

“Duck!” he calls out, cupping the back of my head with his palm and pulling me toward him, the rough and sudden movement causing me to press against his chest. There’s a small crash behind us as a behemoth of a man stumbles into a bar stool that is now lying exactly where I’d been standing. I glance up to find Dash staring down at me, his green eyes holding mine as his hot breath washes over my face. “You good?”

“Yeah,” I nod, pulling away and glancing up at him, still surprised. His scent surrounds me, making me light-headed. Holy ovaries. He smells really good. Super manly. Like a baby-saving lumberjack. “Thanks.”

“Evie!” my brother shouts, pulling my attention toward his place at the bar, Dash’s hot breath on my neck making me lightheaded. Mason’s brown eyes crinkling slightly in happiness despite the heavy, inebriated lids framing them, pull me away as he gestures for me. “Hey, sis! Come here!”

Before I can reply, he pulls me close, squeezing me into one of his famous bear hugs, nearly suffocating me.

“Fuck, I missed ya, kid!” he beams as he sways slightly, replacing himself to his stool. “You wanna drink?”

“Don’t forget my beer,” Dash reminds me quietly before slipping back into the crowd toward the bathroom.

“Yeah, okay,” I nod, mostly to myself as I try to shake the weird feeling bubbling up inside my chest.

“Did ya hear me?” Mason shouts, pulling my thoughts back to him and away from the direction Dash had just gone.

“No, sorry. It’s uh… it’s really loud.”

“Yeah, it’s nuts in here, right?” he asks with a smirk. “What are ya drinkin’?”

“Oh,” I shake my head clear. “Um… whatever. I guess I’ll have a beer?”

“Atta girl,” he beams.

My brother, the beer enthusiast.

“Oh, yeah,” I remember. “Dash wants one, too.”

He gives me a look, surprised I’d do anything nice for his best friend. If I’m being honest, I am, too, but I shake it off, replacing my face to the usual deadpan reserved for all things Dash.

“Throw one of those umbrellas in there,” I add with a smirk, trying to play off whatever post-breakup insanity is going on inside my head. “It’ll go nice with his tampons.”