Chapter 62
Between us we find a steady rhythm that makes me hard again, so I’m surprised when he places his hand on my forehead to stop me. “What—”
“Shh,” Bobby says, silencing me. I glance up at the intense look on his face and realize he’s listening to something. I rock back on my heels, unsure, and I’m just about to say something else when I hear it—slow footsteps circling behind us through the leaves. For a moment, my heart leaps in my chest, but when I look at Bobby, he’s more angry than scared. “That bitch,” he mutters. Then, raising his voice, he calls out, “Amber! You slut!”
The footsteps stop. With lazy motions, Bobby strokes himself, more to keep his erection up than to get off. We listen to the faint music from Ryan’s car but it’s the only sound—even the wind seems to have died. After a full, breathless minute, I whisper, “Do you really think it’s her?”
Bobby calls her name again. It strikes me that she’s not exactly what I’d call stealthy—I’m surprised she hasn’t broken out into giggles by now, or rushed out at us shrieking our names. Or Bobby’s, at least—she probably doesn’t remember mine. Another minute passes, and I want to ask if I can finish what I was doing when the footsteps start again. Quick this time, they seem to crash through the undergrowth at a run, now on my left, now behind the tree Bobby’s leaning against, now on my right and behind me and back again in a wide, stumbling arc. Whatever’s out there is moving a hellof a lot faster than I would’ve thought possible for Amber in her heels and tight mini-skirt. It circles around us twice before Bobby laughs uneasily. “It’s just a deer or something,” he says as I stand.
“You’re kidding, right?” I try to peer into the darkness around us but I can’t see a thing. “Deer don’t do that.”
“If it’s spooked,” Bobby starts. When I shake my head, an angry note creeps into his voice. “How the fuck do you know? You’re not an expert.”
As the footsteps hem us in, I wonder if whatever it is moving out there in the night is closing the circle it’s making, coming closer and closer to us with each pass. I turn with the sound, desperate to see something, to believe this is a joke, it hasto be. But then I see the car at the top of the ridge, I see the windows fogged with body heat, I see two shadows moving inside, two, two, and suddenly I’m all too aware of the fact that I’m standing here in the woods with my dick hanging out. “Bobby,” I say, trying to keep my voice calm.
It must work—he sounds relieved. “Yeah?”
“They’re still in the car.”
“What?” His hand grips my shoulder and I jump. Before I can repeat myself—they’re in the car, Ryan and Amber are in the fucking carso that means whatever’s closing in on us isn’t them, and I may not work for Animal Planet but I’m thinking it sure isn’t a deer, either—when a high scream pierces the air. It seems to come from all around us, in every direction at once, so unlike anything I’ve ever heard in my life. I look at Bobby, staring at me with wide, frightened eyes, and without another word, we bolt. Up the ridge, tucking ourselves back into our jeans, yanking up zippers full of fabric and skin and hair, stumbling over each other in our haste. Too late, it occurs to me that we might run smack into whatever it is running around us, but then we’re falling through the underbrush, clawing the gravel along the shoulder of the road, scrambling for the car. Bobby reaches it before I do and flings the door wide to throw himself in. I dive in after him, pulling the door shut, and land in his lap in the front seat, facing him, the same position as Amber sitting on Ryan’s lap in the driver’s seat.
At our sudden appearance, she shrieks and scrambles to cover her exposed breasts. “Bobby!” she cries, but that’s as far as she gets before something heavy thuds against the hood of the car. “What the hell—”
“Go!” Bobby yells. He twists the key in the ignition switch and the car roars to life. There’s a jumble of limbs as Ryan peels away from the shoulder—Amber and I wind up in the back seat, twined together like lovers, and as she’s pushing me off of her, trying to pull her shirt closed, whatever’s on the hood thumps down onto the trunk of the car. I get a glimpse of something huge before Amber shrieks in my ear and pulls me to her chest in fear. Her breasts are soft and pillowy against my cheeks, and wet with what I sincerely hope is only Ryan’s saliva and not something more. One hard nipple pokes into my ear as her nails claw my neck. Over the music, I hear metal squealing as we streak away into the night.