Page 76 of Jerk

He’s killing us both. Holy fuck, this is it.

Closing my eyes, I lean into it. Into his warmth. Into his scent.

The tires squeak as he makes another sharp turn. My body sticks to the side of the car again, my eyes squeezing to stay closed.

Then the car comes to a stop.

No crash. No bang.

After a beat, I open an eye, turning my head to the passenger window.

There’s no road. No trees. Just the lights from The Valley off in the distance.

My head whips to Rye, his hands still on the wheel, his head hanging. All I can hear is my heart pounding in my ears.

“Are you psychotic?” Looking around, we're on the edge of the cliff, his headlights still beaming. “Hello?" I'm too afraid to move, but I want answers. "Is this another one of your fucked up games?"

His eyes shoot to mine. “You still think I’m playing?”

“I wouldn’t if you stopped treating me like a toy.”

“You think so highly of yourself,” he spits. “It’s always about you."

“You almost drove us off a fucking cliff.” It’s wild I have to point that out. “Excuse my concern.” Finding my nerves, I reach for the door to get out, but he has me trapped. Peering out the window, it’s a long way down, and I’m not dying rolling into The Valley. “Excuse me for being startled that you almost killed us.”

“I should have,” he says, his voice lowering before his head hangs again. He still grips the wheel, his knuckles turning white. “It was my job to watch her. The camera was live, and I ignored her. For you. You don’t give a fuck about that.”

My brows knit. “So this is my fault?”

“Isn’t it?” He stares out ahead, silence taking over us save for the whistle of the wind.

Then he bangs on the wheel. Again. And Again. The car shakes with each slam, each one making me flinch. I’m not worried he’ll hurt me, but Ryung is the collected one. The headstrong one. Sharp. Held together by money and impeccable style. He doesn’t crack. Ever. And now he’s doing it in front of me.

Before I can think it through, I reach for his arm, wanting to stop him from slamming on the wheel another time. When I touch him, that jolt fires through me again as he freezes. After a moment, he pulls my hand away, but I move it to his face, my palm landing against his cheek.

“Your father’s death isn’t about me,” I say, catching those eyes with mine. They look darker today, like a bottomless hole. “You can’t blame me.”

“Then stop acting like you didn’t leak that video to the press.”

My throat dries, an elephant on my chest. It’s the first time he’s directly mentioned the catalyst for this war.

“Stop acting like you don’t know why.” Silence takes over again, our eyes unmoving. He doesn’t move my hand, hiswarmth still against my palm. I don’t know how we got this close, his lips so close to mine I can feel his breath. I know what those forbidden lips do to me. They claim me. They destroy me. “We can’t keep going until the other person collapses. This war will break us. For good.”

“How the fuck do we stop?”

A lump forms in my throat. One I ignore. “Let me go.”

His eyes drop to my lips. “I can’t do that.”

Those words tell me this isn’t a war, it’s an obsession. A twisted one we both have. “Tonight, you will.”

On cue, headlights approach. Turning towards it, Ember’s head of curly frizz comes into view. That weight lifts off my chest, but not completely.

Climbing over Rye isn’t easy, especially when I straddle him.

“Don’t you dare leave,” he growls, his hand coming to my ass. It’s possessive, the way he pulls me towards him, the air around us heating up by the second. Our lips linger inches from each other, but I drop my head, deciding against it as I reach for the door and step out. “Hannah, I swear?—”

Slam!