Chapter 4: The City
"What's the hold up?" Finn asked exasperatedly.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," I huffed as I ran out to the truck we were taking to the city.
I skidded to a halt next to Finn's oversized pick-up. It was as I was opening the door that the lack of noise struck me. Looking into the cab of the truck I saw Finn and Jed's jaws' a few inches closer to the floor than what could be considered polite admiration.
"Where the hell did you get that?" Jed managed.
I followed his eyes down to my skirt.
I had created the little number myself. White lace with tiny satin bows covered white cotton and came to an abrupt halt just below the crotch.
My slow grin did nothing to dissuade Jed's libido, or Finn's.
"Get in the car," Finn rasped.
I had just moved to pull myself into the car when I was lifted and dropped into the seat unceremoniously.
Kyle's scowl said more than Jed could have ever wanted to know. Kyle's hand slid tantalizingly, and possessively, up my thigh before he released me and closed the truck door.
"Behave," he said, to me or to Jed, I wasn't sure.
We pulled away smoothly and, as soon as the inn and homes of our pack members were out of sight, Jed groaned, "He's going to kill me."
"My wife is going to kill me," Finn grumbled shifting uncomfortably.
The tight yellow tank top I wore covered little more than the skirt. I figured if I was going to the city, I wanted to look good enough for people to remember.
Driving from our settlement outside of town to the city took about an hour and I was anxious and asking questions the whole way.
When we got there I wasn't disappointed.
My questions came to a halt as I gazed at buildings over ten-stories high. Everything was close together, as if someone wanted to get the most out of the small space they were given to work with. Every so often I would spot a sapling surrounded by fencing and sidewalk, almost like an afterthought.
But, what fascinated me the most, were the people. Hundreds of people walking around. Small children were either pushed in strollers or tugged along by a parent, teenagers could be heard laughing over jokes that would fly at least two inches above any other person's head, and adults, the working class, hurried into office buildings to cram in some overtime hours on the weekend or one of the many shops lining the street to do some shopping. I was doing the latter.
"Libby."
The fact that someone was saying my name came to me belatedly, and I turned to see the amusement in Finn's smile and Jed's eyes.
"Like it?" Finn asked, unnecessarily.
My silence broke on a rush of overwhelmed senses. "Like it," I squealed, "I love it! Why don't we come here more often? Better yet, why don't we live here? When I get a car can I drive out here whenever I want? How much money can I spend again?-" I took a breath and decided to stop.
Finn looked like he wanted to roll with laughter, Jed's eyes showed similar feelings.
"Because it's far away, because it's dangerous, probably not, you'll have to ask your parents, and 250," Jed said as Finn pulled into an empty spot along the road.
It took a minute for me to decipher Jed's response, but once I got it all worked out I was able to fully focus on the parking meter Finn was slipping change into.
"What's that for?" I asked running a finger over the dirty glass covering a timer.
"We pay to park here for a couple hours. And if the time runs out and we don't pay, we get a ticket by the local rent-a-cop," Jed said with a lopsided grin, "Now, c'mon. I figure since you're a girl you're going to need every hour to spend all that money."
I hesitated a beat when I realized how smooth Jed's voice was coming out, like warm molasses. I regained my enthusiasm and pointed out a hole in his hypothesis, "Honey, I could spend all this money if you gave me a 15-minute time-limit. But, seeing as my limit is significantly longer than that, I can almost guarantee we'll be using every minute of it."
I hooked my arm in his and we started down the street.
AN: prance prance Ok… So I put an AN to spite you..and myself… oO prances beams