Traveler (Traveler #1)(39)

“Really?” He looks at Ben and his eyes narrow slightly. “And how long have you lived here in Ardenville?”

“I moved here middle of last year,” Ben answers. “My mom got a job up here.”

“And how did you meet Jessa?”

“Finn,” I say with a smile through gritted teeth. “Ben and I met in class. And didn’t you promise Danny a game of Mario Kart?”

Finn raises his eyebrows. “I did.” He nods to Ben as he stands. “Hate to meet and run, but I promised Danny.”

“Are you sure you’re ready to take him on?” I ask him.

“I’ve done it once or twice,” he answers. “I’m sure I’ll manage to keep up.”

“Not with Danny,” Ben and I chorus together.

Finn’s eyes hold mine for a moment before he leaves the room. Ben watches him go.

“So what’s his story?” he asks me quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“You meet this new guy and coincidentally, he’s there when someone tries to run you over?”

Oh, for Pete’s sake. “Ben.” I can’t keep the exasperation out of my voice. Honestly, between the two of them I’m ready to jump off the bridge again. “He pulled me out of the creek. He saved my life—I would have drowned.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean he owns you,” Ben grumps.

I roll my eyes. “I didn’t say that he did.”

He gets up from the chair. “I need to get going.”

“You just got here,” I remind him. “You know you can stay awhile.”

Ben’s eyes move to the doorway Finn just passed through, then back again. “Can’t,” he says. “I just came by to see how you were holding up. I’ve got a game tonight to get ready for.”

“Maybe your soccer honey will be there,” I say hopefully.

“Nah. She’s into somebody else already.”

I raise my brows. “Great girl you almost had there.”

“Tell me about it.” He drains his soda, setting the can on the kitchen counter. “See ya Monday, St. Clair.”

“See ya,” I call after him. I hear Finn and Danny shout their good-byes, and as the door closes, I get up to go see how their game is going.

As expected, Danny is gleefully beating Finn, racing circles around him. It’s not even close. As Baby Peach raises her trophy in the air, Danny jumps up to do a victory dance.

“Beat you!”

“And he did it in a stroller, even,” I point out.

“I never stood a chance,” Finn says, shaking his head. “He’s a demon on wheels.”

“Do I kill people with my car?” Danny asks.

“No, Danny,” I affirm. “We don’t kill people.”

“Does Ben kill people?” he asks.

“What?” I look at him and shake my head. “No, Danny. Ben doesn’t kill anybody. How can you say that? Ben is your friend.”

“But when he doesn’t drive his truck, does he kill them?” he insists. “When he’s in his blue Dad car?”

I slide my eyes to Finn, who gets up from his chair slowly. “You saw Ben driving the car?” Finn asks. “The one that almost hit Jessa?”

“I didn’t see. It was too fast. Too fast.” Danny sits back down and reloads the game. “Let’s race!” he says.

“I’m done for now, Danny,” Finn says. “I have to go.”

He walks with me into the other room, and then puts his hand on my arm. He lowers his voice and asks, “What was all that about?”

I sigh. “The car that almost hit me was a blue car,” I say. “And he knows Ben’s dad drives a blue car, because Ben’s driven it here before. In his mind that means from now on, anyone with a blue car kills people.”

“And Ben drives a truck.”

“Yeah.” I fold one leg under me as I start to sink down into the couch. I freeze halfway down and I’m sure I look comical for a moment, before I shake my head and finish sitting.

“What?” Finn’s too clever to have missed that.

“It’s nothing. Stupid.” I paste a smile on my face, but my stomach is suddenly in a knot.

Finn crouches down in front of me, raising my chin with his fingers. “What, Jessa?”

I almost forget to answer him. His face is very close, and my eyes slide down to his lips, like they’re beyond my control.

“Jessa—what?”

I take a deep breath. “Ben’s truck broke down on Monday.”

Finn’s eyes widen. “So he could have been in his dad’s car?”

I dismiss that outright. “No, he said his dad needed the car. He even canceled a date because of it. He couldn’t have been driving—I would have seen him.”

“It all happened very fast, Jessa,” Finn points out.

“This is Ben we’re talking about.”

“I know. And you wouldn’t necessarily have noticed him, because you weren’t looking for him.”

“What are you saying, Finn?”

“I’m saying, maybe he was looking for you.”