The Misadventures of Chloe Saunders
Chapter 21
Ice
His paradise was piled high with trinkets, broken coils and rusty utensils bent awkwardly, pieces hanging off the branches on little strings, and clinking in the breeze.
Despite the cold sweat running down her back from the encounter previous, she felt suddenly warm, hot even.
"Did you make all this?" she asked, a smile spreading across her mouth as she brushed her fingers lightly across a teetering, mixed pile of spare car parts—an engine peeking out, far too rusted to be used, a cracked headlight, and a shattered windshield—and nuts and bolts and wires.
"Yeah," Derek said, his cheeks turning pink when he saw her wide-eyed expression.
"Oh my God! This is…is…amazing!" she told him, racing ahead slightly, matted leaves crunching under her weather-eaten sneakers.
"Not really," he muttered in response, shuffling behind her.
"It is! Look at this!" She shoved a little metalwork piece into his face after swiping it off the nearest tower. It looked like the loping figure of a deer and it gleamed coppery in her hands, glinting off the light.
"I—"
"No. This is beautiful." She stroked the dented, twisted surface before setting it down.
With a huge gust of wind, one of the towers toppled, clanking and shivering at the pieces rushed to the grass in a mad dash to get to the ground first.
She jumped, startled, and scrabbled out of the way, bumping into Derek along the way. Without hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her, steadying her. All the breath that had been in her lungs rushed out in a short yelp, and his chin touched the top of her head.
"You okay?" His voice rumbled through his chest, vibrating her ribcage and making her heart tap-dance spastically.
"Y-yeah," she squeaked, unable to help the fluctuating of her voice as she spoke, her heart thumping. He was too close, far too close, his breath warm and moist against her ear, his pulse drumming in his fingertips and rolling where he gripped the tops of her arms.
"I'm fine," she mumbled, but he didn't shift away; instead, he pressed even closer, flush with her spine.
"You're the only one I've shown this to," he murmured, running his fingers through her curls, pulling it away from her neck slowly.
A nameless panic squeezed her chest, like a pair of icy clamps, and she stumbled away, practically throwing her weight away from him.
Within the span of a nanosecond, his happy aura shifted and the sparkle in his eyes died out like a failing star.
When he spoke again, his voice was noticeably cooler, and clipped even. "We should get going," he said, calmly, his face guarded and green eyes pinched around the corners.
"Wouldn't want to keep everyone worrying." The words were a double-edged sword; one half whispered, I don't want you around and the other screamed, I can't stand you.
She felt too shaky right then to have said anything other than "mmhm". He didn't take her hand and he kept a respectable tree trunk space between them as they picked their way back to the truck.
There wasn't any vanilla air and the breeze was cold, cutting through her clothes and making her shiver; the sky even seemed to grow dark on her, nearly black, heavy with a foreboding rain. When they climbed back into the truck, he didn't turn on the radio and just as he started the engine, the sky turned completely black.
Thunder boomed and torrents of rain matched Chloe's sour mood.
Not once did Derek look at her.
Chloe was right. Lauren was pissed—no, beyond pissed.
The minute Derek's front wheels touched the edge of the driveway, Lauren was coming out the front door—with two police officers. She had this pinched, pale look on her face, highlighting the grey in her hair, and her mouth set in a grim light, lips tucked in, nonexistent.
Beside her, Derek sat up razor-straight, his knuckles clenching the steering wheel with paper-white skin, a tendon in his neck bulging out like a spurting wound.
Rain fell in thick sheets, blocking out most visibility but Chloe could see the vivid anger on her aunt's face.
"I'm sorry," Derek said, frown tugging the corners of his mouth down as he shut off the engine.
The sound of rain against the roof, pounding the sides, filled the silence as she struggled to breathe.
Her hands shook violently as the two blue-uniformed officers made their way down the walkway, black raincoats gleaming with raindrops.
"Don't say anything," he told her, arranging his irritated expression into a cool mask as one of the officers, a pretty African American woman, tapped on the window.
When Chloe jumped, Derek slid a hand on her leg and squeezed, telling her you need to relax with no real words.
The other cop, a white guy, gestured for them to roll down the windows and Derek pointed to the house.
The cops exchanged a look and turned back to the house.
She couldn't figure out what Lauren said but she stepped back into the house.
Chloe took a deep, deep breath and clicked open the seat belt buckle. Once free, she snaked out of Derek's grasp and opened the door.
Icy wind slapped her in the face, cutting through her clothes, ice-cold tendrils of rain soaking her hair to her face in seconds.
A few minutes later, Derek was beside her, burning hot despite the cold rain and cold wind, gripping her elbow and steering her towards the door. Every time her feet got caught on uneven pavement, it was only him keeping her from kissing the concrete. Despite the blinding rain gushing down on them, he seemed to have no problem navigating the way up slippery, wet steps and into the house.
The shock of the heated house made Chloe's teeth chatter. Waiting a little ways in the foyer was Lauren, holding a pile of towels and handed them each one.
"Now, what's going on?" Derek asked in a low voice.
Lauren answered, venom seeping through her tone, as she said, "You kidnapped my niece. I had no choice but to call the police."
Chloe barely bit back the groan that threatened to squeeze out.