Page 72 of Shut Up and Drive

“Just where do you think you’re going, boys?” Mrs. Spencer asks, eyeing us.

I freeze, crumpling the bag of poison ivy up in my hands and stashing it behind my back. “Bash and I were just running outside for a sec,” I say through a forced smile.

My mother chimes in. “You’re supposed to be helping with dinner. Get back here and grab a cutting board.”

“I need to do something really quick,” I say, shooting Bash a panicked glance outside on the patio.

“Nothing takes priority right now. Dinner is in an hour and we’ve got so much to do.” Then her eyes dart to my hands behind me. “What are you hiding, Nathaniel James?”

That’s the second time I’ve been middle-named today.

I think fast on my feet. “We didn’t want to worry you, but we found a mouse upstairs.”

At that news, both women gasp.

“We killed it, but we wanted to get rid of his squished little corpse before you found out.” I act like I’m going to hold up the bag. “You can see for yourself if you want.”

“NO!” they both shout in unison and clutch their invisible pearls at the very idea. “Just hurry and get rid of it. Then come back to help.”

“Will do. We’ll be right back.”

I exhale slowly as I barely escape with my life, and I race to meet Bash by the garbage cans. He tosses the knife, and I dump the poison ivy out into the bushes and shove the bag and gloves underneath a black trash bag bursting at the seams. When Bash closes the lid, I let out a slow, steady breath.

“I think we did it, Brother,” I say with relief.

We head back toward the house, and Bash says, “Now we wait for rash-time,” and we laugh.

Sera’s coming in from the garage just as we step into the kitchen, and my happy mood fades. A scowl is painted across her pretty face, and I’m not sure whether I should tease her or steer clear. I go for the default setting.

I lean close to her as I round the island and whisper, “You’re so cute when you’re mad.”

“Better watch it, Donnelly, that kitchen knife is within my reach,” she says in a barely threatening voice.

I grin and wash my hands, being sure to scrub and rinse twice—just in case.

“Bring it on, Spencer,” I say, wiggling my brows at her.

She lets out an exasperated growl and throws on an apron. She points a tomato knife in my direction and mumbles so only I can hear, “I’m not sure what you two are up to, but I don’t like it one bit.”

Bash and I grin like cats who’ve gotten a canary, and I feign innocence. Bash, on the other hand, goes all-in and replies, “You have no evidence that we have done anything wrong. And you never will.”

She shakes her head and sits on a barstool to dice tomatoes. The corners of her mouth tug one at a time, then finally together as a rogue smile cuts through her grumpy mood. When I laugh, she throws me a fiery look that gives me a jolt of adrenaline. I want nothing more than to spar with her every day until I’m ninety-nine. No other woman will do.

Sera

After dinner, I take my contacts out at the sink in the bathroom, and toss their case into my toiletries bag. It’s that exact moment that Thane comes in through the door.

“Already getting ready for bed? It’s only seven o’clock.”

I squint at him, not only to seem intimidating, but also so I can see his face better.

“No, just taking my eyeballs out. My contacts have felt like sandpaper all day.”

“Oh, so now I get to look at ‘sexy librarian Sera’ for the rest of the night?”

I open my glasses case and pause. “What are you talking about?”

“You know, the second you take out your contacts, those gorgeous glasses come out. Which are nice all on their own,” he says as I start pulling my hair up. “But then you go and pull your hair up in that messy, sexy librarian bun. It makes the whole thing?—“