Jess
It was easy to spot Brent where he had pulled off to the side of the road. For a wild moment, I wondered why no one else had stopped to help him when he very clearly needed help. But then again, with the way he was sitting on the open trunk of the car, maybe they thought he was just waiting for a tow company or something like that. It wasn't as though he was sitting out there in his wheelchair.
Thorn carefully eased my car over to the side of the road in front of Brent's car and threw on the hazard lights. I was out of the car almost before we had fully come to a stop.
“Are you okay?” I asked, scanning his body for signs of injury. He had said over the phone that it was just a flat, but I knew he wouldn't want me to worry. It could have been much worse than what he'd let on.
“I'm fine,” Brent said exasperatedly, rolling his eyes a little. He tugged his wheelchair out of the trunk next to him and dropped it unceremoniously onto the ground, dropping down into it with a little grunt. “I probably just hit a rock the wrong way or something like that. These things happen, you know.”
“I know, but—”
“Who's this?” Brent interrupted, his brows furrowing as he caught sight of Thorn. He looked back and forth between the two of us.
“This is Thorn,” I said after a beat, trying to think how to explain who exactly Thorn was and what he was doing there.
“Thorn Riley,” Thorn said, moving forward and holding out a hand to my brother. “Jess here says you need help changing a flat? You've got a spare somewhere back in here?”
“But seriously, who is he?” Brent asked me in an undertone as Thorn worked to change the tire, his strong hands moving deftly to jack up the car and remove the screws holding the wheel in place.
I glanced over at Brent. It would have been so easy to tell him right then, to get him to call the police and tell them that Thorn Riley was holding me captive ... but something held me back. I shrugged a little. “He's just a friend who happened to be around when you called.”
“What about Emmanuel?” Brent asked.
I was surprised for a moment that Brent had asked about Emmanuel, since I knew that the two of them didn't get along. But I supposed that was why Brent was asking. I shrugged again. “Thorn isn't ... that sort of friend.”
Soon, Thorn was wiping off his hands and putting the tools back into the car. “That should do it for now,” he said. “Of course, you'll want to get it changed out for a real tire at some point instead of just a spare, but—”
“I know,” Brent said, bristling a little. “Just because I can't change the damn thing myself doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing. I've been driving on my own for years now, and—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said, holding my hands up even though I understood my brother's ire. I had seen people write him off more times than I could count. But I knew deep down in my gut that Thorn didn't mean it that way, that he actually was just trying to look out for my brother. The thought warmed me in ways I wasn't ready to examine.
“I'm sorry,” Thorn said, further cementing my thoughts that he hadn't really meant to slight my brother.
We all stared at one another for a moment. Finally, I leaned in and gave Brent a hug. “Enjoy the rest of your day, and be safe out there.”
“Love you,” Brent said, hugging me back. In an undertone, he added, “Be careful. I don't know what you're doing, but...”
I gave him a tight smile as we broke apart and turned back to face Thorn. “Ready to go?”
“You've made your brother a liability,” Thorn pointed out as we drove home. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the headrest.
“No, I haven't,” I argued wearily. It was something I'd been going over in my own head since Thorn had agreed to drive me over to where Brent was. “He doesn't know who you are — or even that you were just supposed to be renting my place for a couple nights while I was out of town. He thinks you're a long-lost friend. Probably thinks we're sleeping together or something, I don't know.”
Thorn gave me a skeptical look. “Sure, because you look like the type of person who will sleep around with someone like me,” he said.
I blushed and ducked my head a little. “I mean, I know I'm not the most attractive—”
“That's not what I'm talking about,” Thorn interrupted, leering sidelong at me. “You've got nice curves. But those clothes...”
“I'm a librarian,” I said defensively.
He snorted but didn't say anything else.
“Anyway, Brent needed my help,” I continued, shrugging. “He wouldn't have called me unless he was really desperate, and I couldn't just ... leave him there. And he's a student; it's not like he has the money to just throw around getting a tow company to come help him out or something like that.”
Thorn was silent for a long moment, tapping his fingers against the edge of the steering wheel. I wondered what was going on in that head of his. Of course, I could tell he wasn't really the type of person to really think things through — he was brash, impulsive… That was part of why he appealed to me, beyond his firm muscles and total masculinity. That sort of attitude was contagious, and I wanted desperately to be more adventurous.
Speaking of adventure… “I have a flight to catch,” I said, glancing at the clock. In fact, it was just about time that I left for the airport again.
Thorn frowned. “That ... isn't a possibility at the moment,” he said finally. He glanced over at me, looking even more agitated. “As I said, I don't like the idea of taking hostages; it just makes everything messier. But I can't have you going to the police and foiling my mission.”
“Which is…?” I asked. I shook my head impatiently. “Look, I don't know what you think I overheard. I mean, I'm starting to realize that whatever it is, it's probably not legal, but for all I know, you were discussing a video game or something like that.” I laughed nervously. “What would I even tell the police? I'd sound like an idiot — 'oh, just my gut instinct says that he might be doing something wrong at some point soon…' I don't think so.”
Thorn slammed his hand against the edge of the steering wheel. “I know you must have heard worse than that, or else you wouldn't have tried to run when you saw me.” His brow furrowed. “You weren't even supposed to be there. Everything was supposed to be done cleanly.”
“Well, I didn't exactly want to get caught up in some sort of illegal thing either,” I pointed out, rolling my eyes. As we stopped in my driveway, I climbed out of the car, pausing for a moment on the front walk and then heading towards the door. The thing was, I was pretty sure I should be screaming for help — surely one of my neighbors would be able to help me out. But for some reason, I still walked meekly into my house, letting Thorn follow behind me.
What I didn't expect was for him to catch me the moment the door closed and pin me against the wall. “Unattractive,” he snorted, shaking his head in amusement. He stroked a gentle line down my side, slowly trailing his fingertips against my breasts and my thin waist before letting the hand rest warmly against my hip. “The things I'd do to you, if you would let me,” he said, his voice lustful and slightly deeper than usual.
“What kinds of things?” I breathed, even though I knew I should be pushing him away. It was one thing to desire the man, to have my own private thoughts of all the things I'd like him to do to me, all the ways that he could make me come undone. But it was another thing entirely to allow him to run with those fantasies. I wasn't the type of woman to have sex with random strangers in the first place, and I couldn't help thinking guiltily about Emmanuel and what he would make of this whole situation… He'd told me he wouldn't date me unless I was more adventurous, but I didn't really think that sleeping with a random guy was going to get Emmanuel to date me either.
Thorn caught my wrists easily in one of his strong hands and pinned them up above my head. “For starters, I'd like to tease you,” he purred, leaning in to nip at my earlobe and then tracking his lips down along my jawline. Just before he reached my mouth, though, he pulled away, leaving me aching for a kiss that wasn't coming. Thorn grinned wickedly, as though sensing my need.
Then, he pulled away entirely, leaving me shaking a little where I was still pressed against the wall. “Predictable,” he muttered under his breath.
I blushed and ducked my head a little. “I'm trying not to be,” I told him, the words rushing out of my mouth. “I'm trying to be more adventurous. That's what this whole thing was about. That's why I opened up my home to you on AirBnB. And look where all of this has got me.”
Thorn stared at me and then finally shook his head, exhaling noisily. “You're going to have to come with me on the road,” he told me.