Page 64 of Sling’s Awakening

He’s hanging on by a thread right now, and I’m not going to be the one who unravels it.

By the time he’s ready for us to leave, he looks like he’s about to explode. I don’t give him any attitude when he takes my keys out of his pocket that he never gave back and slides into the driver’s seat of my car.

It’s not the time to laugh, so I end up coughing to cover up how ridiculous he looks driving a white Nissan Altima.

The silence in the car is suffocating. The air feels thick and stuffy. I crack my window, trying to release some of the bad vibes that are coming off of Sling in waves, but it isn’t helping. The noise the air is making from the window being cracked sounds like a loud motor, and all it’s doing is giving me more anxiety.

I would think he would be happy Mountain is getting out, but it’s the opposite. With each mile we grow closer, the grip he has on the steering wheel tightens. The squeak his hands make on the leather makes me cringe, but I don’t say anything as I stare at his white knuckles.

He’s speeding through town, whipping around every turn.

I don’t say a word.

My heart is racing as we pull into the parking lot, scared of what he’s about to do.

I breathe a sigh of relief as we see Mountain waiting on the curb for us.

That means Sling doesn’t have to go in and we don’t have to wait.

Mountain slaps the hood of the car as Sling pulls up to the curb.

“It’s about time you showed up, fucker,” Mountain says as he climbs into the backseat.

Sling grunts as he pulls away, not saying anything more to him. I side-eye him from the passenger seat, scared of what’s coming next.

Mountain pulls on the back of my seat. “I see how it is, babe, bail out the man who makes it his life mission to annoy the fuck out of you and not the man who mowed your lawn,” Mountain jokes.

My body tenses as I slide my gaze to Sling as I laugh it off, but it sounds forced.

“My girl isn’t going to get down on her knees for anyone except me,” Sling’s voice rings through the car for the first time since we left the clubhouse.

Mountain turns his ear toward Sling, brows raised in shock. “Come again?”

“You heard me,” Sling grits out, the leather on the steering wheel squeaking again as he tightens his grip.

His knuckles are white with a red outline around the skin from the blood flow being cut off and pooling around the edges.

Mountain’s head whips around to me. “Who told you that?”

My eyes slide back to Sling as I look for any sort of guidance on what to do or what I should say, but his hard eyes are on the road.

I turn around to face Mountain as I answer, doing everything in my power to keep my voice even, “A guy working at the magistrate’s office.”

Mountain’s wide-eyed expression doesn’t change as he stares back at me in shock at what I just said. His eyes slide to Sling. “And he knew she was yours?”

Sling’s eyes stay on the road. “I’m sure he got the fucking picture when she showed up to bail my ass out of jail.”

The air in the car was tense before, but now it feels like I’m being strangled in the slowest possible way. Tension is radiating off Mountain’s body in waves, matching Sling’s.

I know these guys would never lay a hand on me, but right now I’m downright terrified of what’s going to happen.

“We have a plan?” Mountain asks Sling, his voice tight.

I grow alert. A plan for what?

Sling cracks his neck. “Yup. Blake said she’ll recognize him.”

Mountain studies Sling for a moment before slapping the back of his seat and nodding his head, his normal grin back in place. “Good deal.”