Page 69 of Delta

After a few minutes of this, she says goodbye and ends the call, tossing the phone at me. “Good lord. He can be such an uptight jackass, sometimes."

"He cares." I give her a long, hard look. "Be grateful you have that, Bryn. No one on the planet has ever given a single solitary flying fuck what I do or what happens to me except as it affects them."

She scrubs her face. "You're right, I know you are. He just can't help himself."

"So. Is there a plan?"

She nods. "There is. We have to get to Lisbon—there's a contact there who can get this thing out of me."

“And then?"

She shrugs. "Kill Pugli. Go home."

I growl. "Still pissed that the fucker had a vest. Shoulda put ‘em in his fucking forehead, but he was a good distance away and I didn't want to miss. Won't get that chance again." I shake my head. “He didn't plan beyond deactivating the tracker?"

She eyes me, shrugging again. "That's step one."

I feel my heart sink. "Meaning you don't trust me with the rest."

She stares at me. "And why should I, Rush? You fucking sold me for a goddamned pittance. If I knew why, I might understand. I don't think you did it maliciously, and I believe it wasn't about the money. But if you won't tell me the fucking truth, what am I supposed to believe?"

My tongue is adhered to the roof of my mouth—I couldn't speak if I wanted to, and I don't want to. I don't dare trust anyone else with that secret. Not even Bryn.

She shakes his head, hissing in disgust. "Fine. Just put me on a bus to Lisbon and go fuck yourself."

"I'll drive you," I rasp.

"I don't fucking want you to."

"Too bad."

We're rounding a curve, going fairly slow, but still fast enough that I panic when she shoves open her door and unbuckles.

"Pull over," she snaps.

"No, Jesus. Shut the fucking door, you daft bitch!"

"I know how to tuck and roll, Rush. I swear to fucking god I’ll jump out of this car and you can explain to my dad what happened to me."

I jam the brakes and haul the wheel over. We skid to a halt on the shoulder. Bryn is out of the car before it's even stopped, marching furiously away from the highway toward the rooftops in the distance to the east.

I get out and jog after her. "Bryn, wait!"

"Fuck off, Rush."

"Just wait! God, just fuckin' wait a goddamn second!" I jog past her, turn and grab her shoulders.

She does a hold-break move followed by a viciously hard shove that sends me stumbling backward several steps. "Do not fucking touch me." She flips me off with both hands, thumbs out, putting her hands directly into my face, spitting snarled words. "You can fuck all the way off, love.”

"Bryn, just—"

"You're a liar, Rush. You used me." She shakes her head, holds both hands up. "This isn't about the sex, by the way. I knew going in that it was casual. I was and am fine with that. We were in a whole…situationship. I'm not mad because we fucked. I'm a big girl and I knew what I was getting into before I jumped into bed with you."

"Bryn, I—" I can't find words to explain anything I’m thinking or feeling. "I ain't good at this shit."

"What, telling the truth? Being forthcoming about literally anything?"

"Yes. Well, no. Talking about myself."