Playing With Fire

CHAPTER XXXIII (33)

CHAPTER XXXIII
Solana

   The car was quiet, with only the faint hum of the engine running as Christian drove, two hands on the wheel.

   While he seemed almost calm and collected, I sat in the passenger seat, fiddling my hands together on my lap while my feet anxiously shuffled. At one point, I forced myself to put a leg over the other to stop my legs from bouncing, but that only caused me to chew on my lower lip more.

   The silence in the car was deafening, and Christian's unanswered questions lingered in the air, twisting my throat even after I cracked open a window. What are we now? What do we do?

   When I got the call from Mera fifteen minutes ago, I'd fumbled and nearly dropped my phone before answering. My heart was still racing from his declaration, but when I heard Mera's quick shout, it sped for another reason.

   Jonothan is trying to leave your house. He's drunk and he wants to drive to the Kane's house. He wants to fight him.

   Christian, who'd been sitting next to me, obviously heard everything. His expression sobered for a completely different reason now, and I sucked a surprised breath when he shot up to his feet.

   "I'm coming," I blurted through the phone before hanging up, standing with him. "Whatever you're thinking, don't. You guys aren't going to fight."

   "He's drunk, Lonnie," he reminded me, his voice deepening just as his eyes hooded with tension. "You're not going to stop him by yourself. I'm driving you."

   "He won't do anything to me. I'll keep him home—"

   His features hardened. "I don't believe that. Your brother has the tendency to act irrational when he's drunk." My brows raised because, that was funny coming from him. He clenched his jaw but smiled reluctantly. "Touché. But I'm still driving you."

   Then, the anger fell from his gaze, and I felt my cheeks heating when his eyes carried a somber look. "We need to finish our talk."

   Hearing that definitely killed my worry and replaced with something much sharper. And for the duration of us walking to his car and driving to my house, we stayed silent because I had no idea what to say. And the awkwardness was slowly killing me. All I could do was replay the words he spoke before we got interrupted.

   Everything I said that night, I didn't mean it. Not with you. Never with you.

   Nothing about this is fake.

   I love you, Solana.

   Christian's gentle murmur knocked me out of my trance. "Are you okay?"

   "Yeah." I coughed but quickly cleared my throat before glancing his way. "Yeah. I just don't want anyone to get hurt."

   For a beat, he said nothing, but I felt the air thicken in the car when his reply came out rough. "As long he doesn't hurt you."

   It felt like a swarm of insects were taking residence in my body. I hated it.

   "You know, if I were to play devil's advocate," I said slowly, "Maybe you and Jon need to talk? And by talk, this doesn't include saying warnings or threats."

   "Lonnie, if it were up to me, I would have forgotten about your brother years ago." Logan said the same thing. I glanced his way but quickly darted my head forward when I saw he'd already been peering toward me.

   He chuckled softly. "I'm not one to hold grudges. At least, to most people." He breathed in before sighing longingly. "But Jonothan always wanted to fight. I think he was more offended that I won state finals that year than I realized."