Corrupt(50)

And then my ears perked up, hearing it.

Sirens.

Everyone in the car turned their heads to look out the back window, and within seconds, flashes of red, blue, and white flew past on the bit of highway we could still see. Two fire trucks and five police cruisers.

Will started laughing, his deep, boisterous bellow like it was Christmas morning.

The vehicles passed by, continuing down the highway, and the forest turned dark and quiet again.

I turned my eyes on Kai. “You called them? That’s what you were doing on the phone.”

He grinned, nodding. “Of course they think there’s about five fires going on up there instead of just one.”

Five? Why would he have lied when he called it in?

Michael must’ve seen the puzzled look on my face. “We needed as many police out there as possible.”

“Why?”

But he just rolled his eyes at me, turning to Kai. “Show her.”

Kai started the engine, and I grasped the support bar again as he backed out of the narrow inlet at top speed. I bounced around in Michael’s lap until he wrapped his arm around my waist again, holding me still.

Kai shot the car into first gear and laid on the gas, speeding down the dark road as Nonpoint’s Bullet With a Name filled the car.

He punched into third, fourth, and then fifth gear, and within seconds, I spotted four massive headlights ahead. I inched closer to the windshield, seeing that they were trucks.

Two of them. Dump trunks.

Will’s excited noises sounded from the back, while Michael and Kai both put down their windows. I cast a nervous glance at Michael, and I couldn’t explain what I saw in his eyes. Heat. Thrill. Anticipation.

His gaze fell to my lips, and his grip tightened on my waist.

“Hold on,” he said softly.

I tore my eyes away, gripping the support bar, as I watched the front of the car drift into the middle of the road.

What was Kai doing?

My breathing turned shallow, and I shot my eyes up, seeing the two trucks spread apart to the outside, driving half on the road and half on the shoulder.

Their headlights shined brighter and brighter, and I breathed hard, seeing them get closer and closer.

And then all of a sudden, I widened my eyes, feeling Michael’s finger graze my stomach, back and forth, nice and slow.

Oh, God.

I couldn’t help it. I arched my back, pressing my ass into him, and staring ahead at the trucks coming at us.

I heard his groan, and then his phone hit my ankle where he dropped it. His hand left my stomach and came up to wrap around the front of my neck, pulling me back to him as his other hand gripped my waist.

“Knock that off,” he whispered in my ear, sounding out of breath. “You’re driving me crazy.”

His hand tightened around my neck, and I dragged my bottom lip in between my teeth, feeling my pulse throb in my neck and hearing it in my ears.

Fuck. I squirmed despite his warning.

The trucks started honking and the lights flashed at us, and I whimpered, fear racing under my skin and my stomach flipping again and again.

“Jesus,” Michael whispered in my ear, slipping his hand under my sweatshirt to my stomach again. “You’re about to come, aren’t you?”

He breathed hard in my ear, and I squeezed my eyes shut, lights flashing, and then my breath caught in my throat and the trucks blew past, horns honking and gusts of wind bursting through the open windows, blowing my hair.

“Fuck yeah!” Will shouted, holding up the same phone from before and recording.

Damon laughed, and Kai slowed the car. Michael released his grip on my neck, everyone spinning their heads around to peer out the back window.

Kai stopped the car in the middle of the road, and I sucked in air, watching in confusion as the trucks both turned inward toward the road, stopping to face each other, grill to grill.

The headlights went dead, and the next thing I knew, one guy was jumping out of each cab and racing for us on foot.

The trucks were left blocking the road and the shoulders, leaving no room for anyone to get through. Ditches lined each shoulder, so driving off-road wasn’t a possibility either unless you had a pretty touch vehicle.

The back doors opened, and two young men rushed inside Michael’s car, laughing and gasping for breath.

“Son of a bitch, that was awesome,” the brown-haired one chuckled, climbing into the back with Damon.

Will slapped him on the back as he went, and then a blond one climbed in, taking my old seat. He pushed his hair back off his forehead and tapped Kai on the shoulder, handing him two sets of keys.

“I set the alarm, so your uncle shouldn’t know the trucks are missing until morning,” he breathed out.

I recognized both of the boys. Simon Ulrich and Brace Salinger, both basketball players at my school.

So that’s what Michael meant by needing the room and making me sit on his lap. We were picking up more people.

I dropped my eyes, narrowing them as I thought about what Brace said. The trucks belonged to Kai’s family. His uncle owned a construction company, and they’d taken the trucks and just planted them in the middle of the road. That was Kai’s prank for the night.

But…

I looked up at Michael, seeing his eyebrows raise in a challenge.

“You’re blocking the road,” I stated, finally figuring it out. “So Fire and Police can’t get back.”