I know Willa expects me to do some of the driving, but I want to do it all. If I’m going to be like Lakyn, I should probably act like him, and something tells me that he’s one hell of a control freak.
He has to be.
How the hell else would he have lasted as long as he did if what the email said about him was true?
Not that there were too many details disclosed. Mostly just his name, a few addresses that he could be located at, a couple of pieces of information about the man, and the dare.
“I dare you.”
As someone who likes to show people that I’m made of thick skin, something as simple as a dare will make me go above and beyond whatever the call of duty may be.
I roll my eyes and sigh when my cell phone vibrates on the nightstand next to the clock, then reach for it. If Willa is still awake, then I guess I’ll be doing the fucking driving anyway, but I arch an eyebrow when I see I have a text message from a number I don’t know and tap the screen twice to open it.
Chicken.
Rolling onto my back and assuming this is the same source of the phantom email, I run a hand over my face for a moment before I reply.
Who is this?
I let myself down expecting an immediate response, but I’m used to that. I let myself down a lot it seems with the expectations I set for every day, mundane things.
After ten minutes pass, I shrug and lay the phone on my bare chest then close my eyes, ready to try to get some sleep, when the phone vibrates again.
Are you going?
At this point, I’m over words. If this person won’t tell me who they are, then there’s only one way to respond. Opening the camera option on the phone, I tap the screen to turn the lens in my direction, hold up a middle finger and snap the picture.
I glance at it before I send it because even though stranger danger is a viable thing, this motherfucker needs to know that I’m as damn good looking as I am dangerous and I won’t hesitate to fucking hurt them if given the chance.
I chuckle at my picture.
The sneer on my lips, the way my tongue sticks out of my mouth, and the way my finger is standing makes me look as mischievous as it does lackadaisical, both of which I feel toward the phantom that keeps egging me on.
I send the photo, then hold down the power button on my phone, placing it on the nightstand once it’s off.
Time to get some shut eye,I tell myself as I turn back on my side again and do my best to drift off.
* * *
I grunt when I wake up the next morning. I’m pissed because I should still be asleep, but I guess it’ll be up to Willa to take the night shift because no matter how hard I try, I just can’t fucking sleep during the day.
I run my hands over my face a few times before I smack my lips to get most of the taste of sleep out of my mouth, then glance over at the time.
It’s almost noon which means I’ve slept for almost nine hours. I should be okay for driving later if she wants me to start the trip.
Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I reach for my phone, power it on, then leave it on the nightstand as I head toward my bathroom to take a leak and brush my teeth.
I stretch my arms high over my head after I get back to my room a few moments later and smirk when I bring the screen to life.
Seems like my phantom replied after I shut the phone off and by the looks of it, it appears they sent a picture back.
I rub my eyes with one hand, stifle a yawn and click on the message.
That’s when the air leaves my lungs and my legs start to tremble.
I sit down on the edge of the bed, and use my thumb and forefinger to widen the picture and stare in disbelief.
It’s a picture of a man with black, tousled hair, narrow, blue, mischievous eyes, and a grin that I’ve seen staring back at me many times before in pictures of myself.