Dare must not agree because when I get in the car, unload my bag, and start it up, I look in the rearview mirror to prepare to back up and he’s still sitting there, blocking me in.
I meet his gaze in the mirror and offer a little wave goodbye, but still, he doesn’t move.
I glance behind his car and see three more waiting to pass, but his car is unique enough that one look at it lets you know it’s him, so no one dares honk at him even though he deserves it.
What the hell?
I wait another minute for him to move, and still, he fucking sits there blocking me in.
Sighing with irritation, I throw my door open and storm up to his open window. He’s sitting there looking like an absolute asshole, one tanned arm resting on the car door like he doesn’t have a care in the world as he holds everyone else up.
“Can you move? Literally no one else can leave until you do.”
“Not my problem.” He looks up at me. “I want to see you tonight. Until you make that happen, I’m afraid I can’t move my car.”
“That’s insane.”
“And yet, that’s where we are.” He shrugs. “Only you can move me.”
He knows the way he says it causes my stomach to plummet. I can see it in his smugness, and I want to hate him—I actually do hate him a little—but I’m still weirdly charmed by his obnoxious bullshit.
What is wrong with me?
“I told you, I can’t tonight. I’m busy.”
“Find a way to make it work, otherwise we’re all sitting here all night.”
Someone in the car behind him finally leans out the driver’s side window. “Hey, Dare, are we leaving anytime soon?”
He glances back at the guy and says, “Ask Aubrey. It’s up to her.”
The guy’s gaze flickers to me with annoyance. “Can you just give him what he wants? I have a fucking dentist appointment.”
My jaw drops open. How is it on me to cede to this lunatic’s demands instead of on him to stop being a lunatic in the first place?
I look back at Dare.
He smirks.
“I hate you,” I tell him flatly.
His smirk morphs into a grin. “Just give me what I want and we can all get on with our day.”
The guy in the car behind the guy behind Dare calls, “Come on, Aubrey, we’ve got places to be.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mutter to Dare.
“Sorry,” he lies, still smiling. “What do you say? You wanna come to my bonfire after work?”
“No.”
Unfazed, he says, “But you’re gonna do it anyway, right?”
I think about thwarting him. I should be able to if I’m determined. He can’t literally blackmail me into coming to his stupid bonfire. Surely if I called the non-emergency police line and told them some asshole is blocking traffic and I can’t leave the school, someone would come and help.
Maybe I could even walk into the school to tell the principal. I probably wouldn’t even have to. Surely if I disappeared from his sight for a while, Dare would get bored with sitting here and give up.
Right?
I can’t bank on any of it, though. Filthy rich kids like him get special treatment by the cops in this town all the time, and he’s a liar, so if I go to the principal, he’s likely to pop his hood and rip out a belt or something so he’s “stranded.” The other cars may eventually be able to get out of here, but I’m parked next to a curb, and the way he has me boxed in, if he decides to be a dick, I will be stuck here until his car is towed.
The answer hits me, and when it does, it’s so simple, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it first. It’s not my natural impulse. In fact, I really dislike doing it, but it’s probably what he would do if the tables were turned.
I lie.
“Fine.”
He looks victorious. I feel a twinge of guilt even though I know I shouldn’t. He’s a spoiled jerk using totally unfair methods to try to get me to comply, so he deserves to be disappointed.
I still feel a little bad.
I don’t like disappointing people, even if they suck.
I’m surprised I’m even capable of disappointing him, but I remind myself it’s not about me. Dare just likes things to go his way. He’s only so adamant that I give in because I said no in the first place. If I fell all over myself just because he invited me somewhere, he’d be bored in three seconds.
I hope he finds some new shiny object to distract him soon because I do not have energy to dump into fighting off the attention of Chase Darington right now. I just don’t.
I go back to my car and look in my rearview mirror.