AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“IT WILL NOT BE FINE!”
There isn’t a hint of humor in her voice when she speaks next. “Remember when I told you stupid men run on impulse? This is a prime example. Do not leave school. Please, please, don’t be a stupid man.”
I break from the building and sprint toward my car, the only idiot outside, eyes like saucers as I glance in all directions.
“I can hear you breathing hard, you’re running, aren’t you? Houseman, don’t you dare get in your car!”
Ignoring her, I turn the ignition and speed through the parking lot.
“You just started it. You just started your car! If you don’t get killed by a tornado, I’m going to kill you myself!”
“Is your electricity still on?”
“Yes.” I can hear the shake in her voice.
I gun my Honda onto the road from the parking lot looking in all directions.
“Houseman, park the fucking car and take cover! You know there’s going to be another one! There always is!”
“Laney, it’s fine. Stop yelling at me.”
Bluetooth connected, I race through the streets like a madman taking every curve at warp speed as Laney screams at the top of her lungs.
“This is the dumbest damn thing you’ve ever done!”
“Stay in the tub!”
“I am!” She says before grumbling. “He’s going to beat up hurricane-force winds for us, Max. Told you he was a keeper.”
“That’s enough, Laney!” I shout, as I fishtail on the road leading to hers. I still have five minutes left in the drive going a hundred miles an hour. Adrenaline spiking, I listen closely for sirens.
“There is no oxygen in that brain of yours! Pull over right now and get somewhere safe!”
“Laney, I’m going to be the first twenty-one-year-old to have a fucking heart attack in the middle of a tornado, if you don’t shut the hell up!”
“Don’t you tell me to shut up! You’re risking your life, and for what?”
“I don’t want you to be alone!”
“I can handle it!”
“I can’t! I can’t! I can’t fucking handle it, okay? And you shouldn’t be alone. Not the way you are. All. The. Time. Having to fend for yourself, and figure it out on your own because there’s no one there to help you. I fucking hate it. I hate it for you, and I hate it for your mother. And I hate it that I want you to turn to me when you need me but you’re so damned independent you’re missing the part where I come in, so I’m going to go ahead and point out that time is now. This is where I come in, Laney. Right here, when it’s scary, and I can be there to comfort you and ride it out with you. So, yeah, I would rather die in a fucking tornado than know you’re scared and alone in that house without me.”
A seconds-long silence ensues as I floor it, taking a turn that would make a gamer jealous.
“Theo?”
“I’m here.”
“You’re a stupid man.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m so pissed off at you right now.”
“I know.”
“So stupid,” she says tearfully. “You’re a stupid, stupid, good
