Ariel chuckled. “Don’t worry. Our vocabulary has been increasing by the day.”
The guy grinned, his perfectly straight, white teeth gleaming as he glanced at Ariel. He was a good-looking guy. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Broad shoulders. “Where did you come from that you didn’t know four-letter words?”
“Off the grid,” Ariel informed him.
He glanced at her again, lingering this time. “How long you been off the grid?”
“Nineteen years,” Ariel responded.
He frowned. “How old are you?”
“Nineteen.” She smiled. If Layla wasn’t mistaken, she was blushing.
The man swallowed and faced the front again, his fingers white-knuckling the steering wheel. His expression hardened.
Ledger spoke to break the silence. “Stu, this is Layla and Ariel.”
“Nice to meet you, Stu,” Layla said. “Thank you for picking us up.”
“Any time. It’s my job.” He gave her a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes like the one he’d given Ariel before. Before he found out she was nineteen. Layla suspected that wasn’t sitting well with him, and judging by the look on Ariel’s face—that went from flirty and amused to frustrated and miffed—it was probably a good thing Stu thought nineteen was a bit young.
It was one thing for Layla to start kissing men left and right. Ariel was barely an adult. Ariel would probably tell Layla to jump in a lake if she so much as suggested Ariel was too young to know her mind, so there wasn’t a chance in hell Layla would breathe a word of her concern.
Nevertheless, she was worried. They were about to enter a whole new world, and though she was barely starting to grasp the dynamics of The Wanderers, one thing was certain—their new world had far more men than women, and there was only one way to make those kinds of percentages work in the favor of everyone alive.
Eventually, Layla was going to have to accept that Ariel was also a grown woman who’d been forced to age quickly in the last few weeks. She was stronger than Layla would’ve given her credit for, and she knew her mind.
In a way, the two of them were older than their years. They had survival skills. They were extremely well-educated. Their parents had made sure they were knowledgeable about what was happening in the world. The only hole Layla could see in that education concerned relationships and sex and the unforeseen realization that Layla or Ariel or both might one day end up in a polyamorous relationship by design.
Ariel looked fit to strangle someone as she stared out the window. So much was unspoken in this car that it was stifling.
“Shit,” Stu muttered. “Car coming.”
“Slide to the floor, Ariel.” Ledger yanked Layla off the bench they were on so fast, she had no chance to grasp his intention before he popped some sort of lever and tipped the entire seat backward into Nile’s and Gatlin’s laps. “Get in. Hurry.”
Layla climbed into the small space and scooted to the back, making way for Ariel who dropped down next to her without a moment to spare.
In seconds, their world was dark, and they were holding each other under the false bench seat. It was tight, almost too tight for two people, but they would survive.
The van slid to a stop. She heard Stu talking. With the engine still running, she couldn’t make out his words.
A moment later, Ledger spoke also, saying something about food and where they’d seen clean water. After several more moments of polite conversation, including joking about the last time they’d seen a woman, they started moving again.
Layla was trembling, her arms wrapped around Ariel’s shoulders. “Jesus,” she whispered.
“I know. That was intense.”
They’d grown a bit too comfortable in the last day under the watchful eye of these men. Layla had grown complacent, forgetting that the world was not safe. Not for women anyway. It never would be. Not if the birth rate for females remained so low.
After a few minutes, Ledger popped the seat open again. He looked worried. “You okay?”
Layla nodded. “Yes. How long will it take to get to the compound?” she asked without letting go of Ariel.
“Fifteen minutes. You want to stay there?” His brow was furrowed with concern.
“Yes,” Ariel responded. “God, yes.”
Ledger reached down and touched Layla’s cheek, making her smile. “We’re okay. Really.”