7. Relic

Chapter seven

Relic

G ianna was close to dead-body drunk. Yeah, she was still breathing as drool dripped from her mouth and her feet shuffled poorly on the sidewalk, but she supported none of her weight as I helped her to her car. Macie led the way, scanning the street like a Navy Seal who'd parachuted into enemy territory.

She also reminded me of a cartoon character with their head swinging back and forth as though she couldn't decide if she should cross a busy street. I wouldn't give her shit, though. The girl was casing the area, assessing the threat. Most people were too stupid and na?ve to realize the dangers of the real world. Unfortunately, her lessons came from the school of harsh reality.

Between maintaining her constant pattern of left, right, straight ahead, she also looked back at me and continued on in this nervous narrative that I found oddly adorable.

"Gianna's car is the gray one. The third one from here, parked on the street. It's a stick, can you drive a stick? I don't know why she got a stick. Her parents wanted her to have an automatic, but I think it's because Ariel has one and Gianna thought it was cool. Can you drive a stick?"

I shrugged as I followed her down the sidewalk. "Start the car, press the clutch, then the gas, and switch gears. Restart if it stalls out. Did you know if you press the clutch, the gas, and the gearshift at the same time, the car will take a screenshot?"

Macie spun in my direction so quickly that her hair flew across her face. She had this mad scientist look of horror upon her angel face, and I had to temper the grin fighting my lips because I had a feeling this girl had a firecracker spirit if prodded.

"Please tell me you're kidding me."

"About the screenshot? I don't know. We should try it and find out."

Her exquisite mouth popped open, and her spine straightened, making her taller, as if that temper were curling up from her toes to explode out of her head. "Do you or do you not know how to drive a stick?" I could tell it was taking a massive amount of energy to keep her tone even, and I had never wanted to chuckle more in my life.

Yeah, I was an asshole, but I wasn't a complete dick, so I gave. "Yes, I can drive a stick. Open the back door for me."

Seat-belting Gianna in was akin to strapping in a half-octopus, semi-conscious toddler, but I eventually got her in, careful that all her arms and legs were secure before I closed the door. Macie stood at the front of the car, and the complete panic ingrained on her face twisted my gut.

It had to be messed up to be her. I'd been through some crap in my life, some of it so twisty and mind bending that my internal compass would never stop spinning, but I had never been shot at point blank range, and I sure as shit was never left to bleed out on the street. That was shit that contorted in you ways that could never be smoothed out.

"I need your cell," Macie said in a tone that indicated she meant what she said and would back that shit up if push came to shove. Even though her voice shook toward the end, I respected her strength.

I took my cell out of my back pocket and held it toward her. She accepted it and made the screen come to life. "What's your passcode?"

"One-one-one-one."

She lifted a disbelieving eyebrow. "Are you for real? Your passcode is one a toddler could figure out if they were playing with your cell?"

"I'm all about easy." Because everything else in my life was damn hard.

With a shake of her head, as though she were a disappointed teacher, she punched in my code and brought up the dial pad. "I'm going to have 911 up on your cell and my dad's number up on my mine, and if I even think we're traveling in the wrong direction, I'm going to call both."

A surge of pride that she wasn't playing with either her safety or her friends'. Life wasn't some movie where it all worked out in the end. Shit did and would happen. "Fair enough."

She sucked in the corner of her bottom lip. "This doesn't upset you?"

"You were doing great up until that last question. Don't ever ask anyone's permission to protect yourself or the people you love. At the end of the day, you are your first and only line of defense. Don't trust anyone else to protect you; that's shit you need to do for yourself."

Macie glanced down. "Yeah, I'm learning that."

Yeah, I had a feeling she was. "Let's go before Sleeping Drunk Beauty starts puking."

Macie groaned as her shoulders rolled forward. "I hate my life."

Funny, I hated my life, too. For two people who were night and day, we oddly had more than I could imagine in common.

Macie eased into the passenger side as I took the driver's seat, and after we shut our doors, I held my palm in her direction. "Keys."

Keeping eye contact with me, Macie held up the key fob and pushed the remote start. The engine purred to life, and she gave me an innocent shrug. "I'm going to keep the keys."

Points awarded to Macie. "Tell me Mazie Hutchinson, do you hustle pool, too, on your down time? Maybe run long cons involving millions of dollars?"

"You're being silly, and we already established my name's Macie Hutchins."

"Naw, I'm not playing with you anymore. Fess up, you lead a double life. Macie Hutchins, the girl with straight A's, member of all the clubs, and doer of all the right things, is not the girl sitting next to me. Nope, the woman currently sitting next to me knows how to play. She's definitely a Mazie Hutchinson. Now, tell me where to go. The ball's in your court."

Macie messed with the touchscreen, and when directions popped up to a destination a mile away, I sagged with relief. I could easily make the walk back here to drive Marsh home in his beat-up car. Otherwise, I was up against creative hitchhiking, and I didn't have the energy for that.

I shifted into gear and pulled out onto the street. Gianna had a nice ride that still had that new car smell. I wondered if I would ever own a new car or if I'd ever own a car that didn't leak oil or gasoline. What would it be like to drive something where I didn't have to avoid people who tossed lit cigarettes out their window?

"This is twice you've helped me, and I really do appreciate it," Macie said.

"It's nothing," I replied.

"No, it's something. If there's anything I can do for you, let me know."

The way Macie looked at me with those big eyes, like I was some type of savior, made my insides feel jacked up and twisted. I was no hero. I lived by my rules in order to survive, and be damned any morality system put in place by people of power and money.

Needing a switch up, I dropped a bomb on the conversation. "Know any place that will hire a felon?" Okay, I wasn't a felon. In fact, when I turned eighteen, as long as I fulfilled the requirements set by the judge, my record would be wiped clean. But part of my plea deal was that I had to show steady part-time employment by having a boss sign off on my hours. Those hours, I turned into the judge each week. That meant I'd have to tell any employer what I had done, and no one had time or patience for someone like me.

"I thought you worked construction," she said.

Aw, so she did pay attention to me. "The company went under."

"I'm sorry."

"You apologize for things that aren't your fault. Don't."

"I'm not apologizing, I'm saying that I hurt for you."

So, my bid for a switch in conversation that wouldn't make me feel all tangled up had officially failed. I became one more knot after another. She hurt for me? No one hurt for me. Not even Lyra. And this girl…this beautiful, witty, intelligent, out-of-my league girl…

I shook my head, not able to continue the thought anymore. "Not a lot of jobs for people who steal."

"Bluegrass Mountain is hiring. We're desperate for people."

That caught my attention, and I glanced over at her. "You work at the amusement park?"

She grimaced. "I did. I probably will again. I don't know. Point is, we never have enough people."

"How much does it pay?"

"Fifteen an hour, but you make time and a half in overtime, and you'll always get overtime."

It was less than I made in construction, but my options were limited until I could ditch the employer signature. "Can you get me on over there? They have to be cool that I stole money out of a car because whoever I work for has to sign papers to the judge to prove I'm working."

She studied me for a moment, without an ounce of trepidation. "Are you serious about the job?"

"As serious as the judge who gave me the plea deal." Then I paused. "Is there a bus route that goes to Bluegrass Mountain from here? I also need specific hours."

"We're so desperate for people, they're flexible on hours, and I have no idea on the bus."

Yeah, she wouldn't. Reliable transportation wasn't an issue for her.

"But I'll ask about the job and the bus routes. I'm good friends with the hiring manager."

Neither could hurt. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. See, was that so hard? You said thanks, I said ‘you're welcome.' I didn't deny my part of the exchange."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Mazie Hutchinson." I did. As I pulled into her drive, my breath was taken aback at the stunning house before me. "Nice place."

Macie beamed with pride. "My dad's an architect. He designed it himself. In fact, he designed almost all the houses in the neighborhood."

My dad sold drugs that killed people. I'd take her dad over mine any day of the week. I turned off the engine. "Have I earned the privilege of owning my phone again?"

She gave me a shy smile as she handed it to me. "Sorry about that."

"As I said, don't apologize for protecting yourself."

"I hope you don't mind, but I put my number in your phone. If you're serious about the job, text me."

Not waiting a beat, I sent her a quick text: I'm serious.

Macie went from smiling that shy smile I had been enjoying to blinking repeatedly. "How are you going to get home?"

"I'll walk."

She turned toward me. "You can't walk. It's late. It's night. It's not safe. It's—"

"It's a mile back to the party, only a half mile from home. I walk all the time. It's not a big deal. I promise."

She slowly shook her head and there was a wild fear in her eyes. "I don't know."

"I do," I pushed. "I grew up on the streets. I can take care of myself. If you want, I'll even text you when I get there to prove it, okay?"

She scratched a new section of welts forming on her arm. "Okay."

I didn't like the hives, her hurting herself by scratching, and the idea she was worried over me. Without thinking, I placed my hand over her scratching fingers, and my heart popped out of my chest with the feel of her soft skin. Her eyes shot to mine, I met her gaze, and I couldn't breathe as we stared at one another.

At first, Macie flinched under my touch, but she stopped scratching, and now her muscles relaxed. I slid my thumb along her wrist, and my pulse went into overdrive when she moved her finger along one of mine. That one caress shot straight through my body like lightning. Damn, I had never wanted to kiss anyone more in my life.

Gianna moaned, and we withdrew from one another. I sucked in a deep breath to clear my head, but I only drew in Macie's sweet scent of roses. My hand burned from her touch, and that left me nearly speechless. I glanced back at her passed-out friend. "You need help with her?"

"Yes, but I'll handle it. Thank you again for your help."

"Get me the job, and we'll call it even."

As I opened the door to exit the car, Macie called out, "Relic?"

I paused and looked over at her. The dome light gave a soft glow to Macie's already gorgeous face. "I had fun with you tonight."

"Me, too. I'll text you to let you know when I get home. If you want, text me back."

My chest squeezed with the smile I wanted to think she had created for me alone. Not trusting myself to say anything else, I left, and the entire walk back I thought of nothing other than Macie Hutchins.