Page 100 of Deceptive Games

I blew out a breath and pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head.

“Yeah?”

“You okay?”

I should’ve said yes, not wanting to bother her with my bullshit, but I shook my head as if she could see me.

“No. Nightmares.”

She pressed closer to me, kissing my neck. “Want to talk about it?”

“No, go back to sleep. I might get up and hit the gym or something,” I answered, but when I went to move, she clung to me.

“Do you want a distraction?” she offered, my dick waking up to that idea.

She’d pulled a muscle or something in PE, I’d seen the way she was moving stiffly before bed, so I couldn’t lose myself in her. I already felt bad enough for when she’d blown me after school and definitely hurt herself.

“You can’t handle the distraction I need,” I joked, sitting up slightly. “Maybe I’ll go for a drive.” I got out of bed, frowning when I heard her get up too. “What are you doing?”

“Coming with you. I’ll drive,” she said, pulling her sweats on in the dark before flicking the lamp on to find a hoodie.

“You don’t have?—”

“I want to. Your car’s not here anyway. I’ll take you to the Heights,” she insisted, my frown deepening.

“What for?”

“Lots of ways to blow off steam in the Heights,” she grinned, walking over to me and kissing my cheek. “Go on, get dressed. I’ll tell Caden we’re sneaking out so he doesn’t worry.”

I watched her leave the room, then I quickly got dressed and crept into the hallway, just as Rory was leaving Caden’s room.

She took my hand and led me downstairs, and she didn’t say anything until we were in the Corvette and on the road.

“Do you want to break stuff? There’s a few abandoned houses I know of that we can fuck up a little.”

“I usually set fires, but I almost got arrested last time, so I’ve had to rein it in,” I said with a cringe, my fingers itching to set something ablaze. It had been too long.

“I can do fire,” she said without hesitation, glancing over at me in the dark car. “Small, or big?”

“We can’t just set things on fire,” I argued, but excitement bubbled below my skin already at the thought.

“Sure we can. It’s the Heights, Ty. No one gives a shit out there. We won’t burn someone’s house, just an empty one that’s already being torn down or something.”

I fell even more in love with her, staring at her as she drove, and I almost told her to pull over so I could drag her onto my lap.

Caden wasn’t buying the period thing, and neither was I, but if she was avoiding sex because of her trauma, then I didn’t want to push her. Something was definitely on her mind, so maybe coming out with me tonight was what she needed too?

She parked in a quiet street and shut off the engine, climbing out and motioning for me to follow. I had no idea where we were, but she navigated the dark easily, walking through an alley and onto another street.

The smell of smoke lingered in the air, telling me something had already burned tonight, and the sound of screeching tires in the distance almost made me second-guess what we were doing.

Surely the cops would be out looking for reckless drivers and would be here in seconds if a fire broke out.

She put her hood up and I did the same, walking past a few houses until she stopped in front of one that’s roof was caving in, turning to face me. “Will this do?”

“You sure we won’t get arrested? Josie will flip out if she comes home today and has to bail us out of jail,” I warned, making her wink.

“Promise.”