Beck didn’t take us directly home. Instead, he flipped his blinker and took us on the road that led out of town. He maneuvered the wheel one-handed, his left arm resting on the edge of his door. Once we were out of city limits, he floored it, the engine obeying his command with a snarl. Daisy stuck her hands up to touch the wind as it barreled over the windshield, having the time of her life while that same wind whipped myhair around my face. With one hand still on my seatbelt, I used the other to try to gather my hair into my fist. It would be a tangled mess after this. A mess probably filled with bugs.
Daisy reached over and twisted the volume dial up, the music now fighting with the engine to see which could be louder. The chorus practically hummed through my seat.
With his mirrored lenses, I couldn’t tell if—when—Beck looked at me through the rearview, which made it that much more unsettling. I had a feeling that every time his smirk widened, he was looking over, grinning at my scowl.
Beck took us down a few paved backroads, ones with a clear view of the road that stretched ahead. I couldn’t really see the speedometer from where I sat, but it didn’t feel like we were goingthatfast. Maybe five over.
Or maybe that was wishful thinking.
“Is this your car?” Daisy asked when we slowed.
Beck turned down the music. “Nah, it’s Aunt Ally’s. She’s letting me use it while I’m in town.”
“All summer,” Daisy said, as if she’d just remembered. “Wehaveto do this again!”
“We’ll bring the less grumpy twin next time.” In the mirror, I saw Beck’s eyebrows lift once, mockingly.
I fought the urge to kick the back of his seat.
Daisy gave him the directions to her house, and we pulled up a few minutes later. Daisy didn’t live in any of the HOAs Biscayne Park had, but in a cute two-story house on Hawthorne Street, about a ten-minute walk frommy house. It was small for a family of five, she said, but I always thought it was cozy. I’d been inside a few times over the years, but she always insisted on coming to my house was a lot more fun.More peaceful, she often said, since her siblings were always yelling.
Beck bumped into her driveway, not expertly dodging the pothole like Jamie always did. “You should probably fix that,” Beck said, not unkindly.
“Thanks for the tip,” Daisy replied, andfinally, a bit of her ire crept back into her voice. It was like she’d forgotten entirely that she was supposed to dislike him until that moment. She popped her door open, climbed out, and turned toward me. “Are you… coming in?”
Even though my stomach dropped at the thought of riding home with Beck, Mom had strict rules. Homework after school beforeanythingelse. If I stayed and she found out about it, she’d pitch a fit. I couldn’t even stand imagining the twist of disappointment on her face. “I’ll have him take me home,” I told her as I passed up her backpack, offering a smile. “See you tomorrow.”
Daisy’s eyes flicked to Beck.
“Don’t worry.” He rested his hand on the gearshift, revving the engine once so that the sound offset his next words. “I don’t have my lighter on me at the moment. She’s safe from the arsonist.”
I really was going to kick the back of his seat.
“Pyro,” Daisy corrected him. “You said pyromaniac was preferred.”
“I did, didn’t I?” He gave her a smile. It almost lookednormal. “You might not like me, Daisy Dear, but I think I like you.”
She rolled her eyes, but I could see the thought on her face.If Nellie is willing to be alone with him, it must be okay. With a reluctant nod, she started up her driveway, climbed the concrete stairs that led to her front door, and slid through it. Beck waited until the door shut behind her to put the car into gear. He did the guy thing, putting one hand on the passenger’s seat headrest and looking over his shoulder to reverse.
“Wait. Let me up front.” I went to unbuckle my seatbelt. “It’s stuck.”
“Oh, yeah. That belt is broken. Forgot to tell ya.” Beck’s eyes dropped to where I uselessly pressed on the buckle. He backed out onto the road. “Guess you’re just stuck back there.”
“It’sbroken?”
This time, Beck’s reply was the sound of the car revving, foot pressing the gas pedal to the floorboards, launching us both back into our seats.
Thankfully, my house was within city limits, which meant Speed Demon over here didn’t have an excuse to go above thirty-five miles per hour.
Even though we hadn’t been as close as I’d wanted all those years ago, Beck had been to our house once when Ms. Jennings brought him along. He’d never been to the new house, though. I had to tell him which turns to take and what the number was for the community gate.
Thankfully, Mom wouldn’t be home from work yet, so I wouldn’t have to answer any alarmed questions as to whyI was with Beck.Alonewith Beck. Immediately after she said shedidn’twant me alone with him. Dad would be home, but he wouldn’t come out of his room to know the difference. I doubted he’d even look out the window.
Instead of pulling into the driveway when we got to it, Beck sidled up against the curb, illegally putting the car into park and turning the engine off. There was a car parked on the other curb—on thecorrect side—so Beck had effectively blocked the street off. Figured.
“Here we are,” he said in a light voice. He drew his sunglasses off, squinting against the sunlight. “Bigger house than I remember.”
“We moved.”
