Page 71 of Good Girls Beg

We exchanged glances before starting to run back down the beach, struggling through the damp sand as the storm grew closer.

"I'll text you," she shouted before jamming her helmet onto her head and throwing herself onto her bike.

"Yes, let me know as soon as you get home safe," I called out.

I watched for a moment while she peddled away frantically, regretting not having a car big enough to fit her bike inside. I would have insisted on driving her home.

Luckily, she only lived around the corner. She'd be home before the storm hit.

Should I follow her there instead of going back to Hel's house? Who knew how long this storm was going to last? It could be all night for all I knew. Better that I get back now before they wondered where I was. If they came looking, Lyra would have all sorts of questions I didn't have answers for.

Someday, but not yet.

I unlocked my car and hoped like hell the engine would start. I pushed my key into the ignition and turned it, my eyes closed hoping for the best.

As the sky started to drizzle, the engine roared to life.

"Thank fuck for that. I knew you wouldn't let me down." I patted the steering wheel.

She wasn't much but she showed up for me when I needed her. With any luck, she'd keep doing that for a while longer.

I pulled out out of the parking lot and headed in the opposite direction from the one Lyra had gone.

Lightning flashed as the wipers swished back-and-forth across the windshield. Thunder rumbled, closer this time.

I leaned over to turn the music up. I liked a good storm as much as the next person, but driving through one was disconcerting. We should have headed back from our walk sooner.

Not to mention, I liked this song.

The moment my hand touched the knob, the car's engine started to whine. If the car didn't like this song, couldn't it have said so?

"Not now," I told it. Hang on for five minutes, we'll be back at Hel's house, safe and dry. Well, I’d be dry, the car would be parked out in the rain.

Apparently the vehicle figured that out. She clunked a couple of times before whining again.

"Don't do it. Don't do it." The vehicle was becoming more difficult to steer. Slower and increasingly wobbly. If I tried to stay on the road, I was going to get into an accident. I didn't feel like dying today or killing someone else.

I barely pulled over onto the side of the road before the engine completely died.

Shit.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

FADE

I scrubbed a hand over my face. The rain was falling so hard, the windshield wipers could barely keep up. I squinted against the light of an oncoming car.

"What the hell are you doing out in this?" I asked the other driver. Yeah I know, I was out in it too. A meeting kept me back at work or I would have been home by now. Hel was going to pay me overtime for this.

Not to mention, the meeting could have been a fucking email.

I spotted a car stopped by the side of the road, wheels barely over the line.

"What the fuck?" I was almost past when I realized whose car it was. Yeah, for a moment I thought about continuing on home. What can I say, I am the asshole.

Teeth clenched, I tapped the brakes to slow the car. The last thing I needed right now was to lose control and drive my car into a tree. Or into the fucking ocean. That would be the perfect end to a shitty day.

I put the car into reverse, the rear windshield wipers frantic before I drew to a stop in front of Teddie's car.