The Boiling Point | ✔️

30 | closure

Mrs. Villa's eyes look like they're about to burst out of her skull. "You can't speak to me like that!"

"Really? I'm speaking, aren't I?" Summer retorts. "And why shouldn't I? You're not my mom. My mom actually trusts me enough to have a life, and she sure as hell wouldn't jump to conclusions about me having sex in a freaking bush like an animal! And if you hadn't assumed I was doing that, if you had taken a second to be rational, you'd know that this isn't even my date. And he's not a delinquent or a lowlife. He's my friend, and I'm giving him a ride home."

I blink. "You are?"

She turns with a small smile. "Yes. I am."

"Over my dead body!" Mrs. Villa shrieks.

"Well, I guess your dead body can't stop me, can it?" Summer grabs my arm and pulls me with her. "C'mon, Ash."

I've only heard it once before, but hearing her shorten my name again takes over my mind with so much hazy goodness that we're in her car before I even realize it, peeling off and leaving Mrs. Villa on the curb.

❖❖❖

Tearing through the suburbs, Summer grips at the steering wheel with white knuckles as she floors it. "Oh god. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. What the hell did I just do?"

"First-handed annihilation, that's what."

"Did I... did I call her a bitch?"

"Yeah you did." I grin.

She smacks the wheel. "I'm so stupid! I don't know what came over me!"

"Oh bullshit. You came over you!" I laugh. "Since when do you roll over for anyone?"

"Mrs. Villa isn't just anyone, Ashton. She's a nightmare, and she'll be running to my parents right now. I'm so screwed."

"She's probably all riled up," I reason. "Maybe they'll just think she's exaggerating."

Her mouth twists in thought, but she looks less than convinced. "Maybe," she mumbles.

"Don't pretend it didn't feel good, though. You've been bottling that up, huh?"

"It doesn't matter if it felt good, I should have kept my mouth shut."

We're way out of the suburbs now, but she's still speeding, aimlessly driving blind and blowing straight through a stop sign. I'd never let her take me directly home because of my dad, but she's headed clear in the opposite direction. And the shake in her hands is hard to miss.

"Pull over. I'm driving."

She scoffs. "Like I'd let you drive my car."

"You're full of adrenaline and you're gonna hit a lamppost if you keep going."

Her wild eyes dart around the road as if she's just noticed we're on it. She gives a begrudging nod, releasing an unsteady sigh as she slows down. Once we've switched, I relish in the smoothness of her Lexus for about a ten minute drive before I stop, facing a long stretch of black asphalt in the darkness.

"What are you doing?" Summer turns to me, confusion etched on her face. "You can't just stop in the middle of the road."

"I can on this road."

She glances around, the silence settling in the air. No cars, no houses, just us and the headlights illuminating the way. The only brush of light for miles.

"Why's it so quiet? Do you live around here?"

"Nope. No one does," I say, sliding my fingers down the wheel. "That's why they use this road for street racing."