The Wild

-17- The Getaway

Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved.

When all the bikes were ready, and the truck was turned back around, Brian got into the driver's seat and Tyler sat in the back with Rick. I knew Tyler was directly behind Bennet, and it made me feel determined to deflect all of Tyler's actions towards him because I knew they would all be ruthless. Bennet bowed his head to his chest, and when he'd collected himself, he stared straight ahead down the road.

"How old are you?" Tyler asked Bennet.

I looked towards Bennet as he answered, "Twenty."

"So John raped my mother two years after I was born."

"Tyler!" I shrieked, whirling around to glare at him. He was glaring at the back of Bennet's head as if he hoped he'd burn a hole through his scull. When he looked me in the eyes, I sneered at him and said, "I'll have you know John loves Mary with all his heart, and he would never do anything to hurt her. Talk like that again and I'll cut your tongue out."

"I have no reason to believe that the man who stole my mother is anything but a lying bastard," he growled out at me. "Keep mouth shut, you're not apart of this."

"I'm every bit apart of this! And if you can't find it in yourself to accept Bennet for who he is, then I suggest you don't say anything at all." I turned back around in my seat with a shake of my head and grabbed hold of Bennet's hand with both of my own. He squeezed my hand long and hard while I tried to calm myself down from that yelling match with Tyler.

Brian drove us through the countryside, and eventually back through the downtown until we reached the main road that would take us all the way back to Stillwater. I was exhausted from the sleepless night before, so I leant my head against Bennet's shoulder while he settled his head against mine. I kept a tight hold on his hand until I fell into a sleep that kept me just on the surface of consciousness. At the subtlest noise from inside the truck I was awake again, but promptly went back to napping.

I woke up again to a slight tug on my hair, and quickly turned so I could look behind me and find Tyler had leaned close enough so that he could pull a small bit of my hair over the seat. My first instinct was the pull away, but then I saw how content he was compared to before and let it go. A few minutes later, he had his forehead resting on the back of my seat.

We must have been driving longer than I thought, because a little while later the motorcycles started pulling over to the side of the road and investigating a motel about twenty miles out of Stillwater. I wasn't sure how many stops we made before, but I was still so exhausted and ignored Tyler stepping out of the back of the truck to hear what his buddies had to say.

Bennet had his arm resting on his side of the door, his chin resting on his fist while I blinked tiredly and stretched my hands up to the ceiling. Brian shifted beside me, and a moment later I sensed his gaze on me. Rick exited the back of the truck and left to help the boys ask around the motel.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Brian hissed at me. I blinked, shocked that he spoke so harshly. I look at him and then back out of the vehicle to where Tyler had disappeared.

"Every second I'm with you guys I'm risking that," I snapped back. "And what about you? I thought you were the good guy--why'd you tell Tyler about our conversation?"

He gave me an uneasy stare and settled back in his seat stiffly, not looking comfortable talking about this. "It's complicated, Lily. More complicated than you think."