Page 12 of Fallout

My hands shake as I sit in the driver’s seat of Parker’s Jeep. He’s explaining how to put it into drive, but I’m hesitant to follow the instructions.

“And you promise not to hate me when I crash your Jeep?” I look at him, my heart stuttering when his blue eyes meet mine.

He smirks. “You’re not going to crash.”

“But what if?” I ask, needing to know that he won’t hate me for crashing his car.

He cups my face with his hand. “Henley, I will not let you crash. I’m a wolf shifter, remember? I’ve got great reflexes.”

I nod slowly. “Yes, but I am also supernatural. What if I get scared and accidentally teleport us out of here and your Jeep rolls into a tree or something?”

Parker tries to keep a straight face, but he starts laughing. “If you crash my Jeep, I’ll just buy a new one.”

My eyes widen. “You’re in high school. How can you afford to buy a new car?”

“Future alpha, remember? I work all the time. I do get paid.” He points to the steering wheel. “You’re stalling.”

I chew on my bottom lip.

I am stalling, but only because it feels like a herd of horses are stampeding through my stomach. I knew I shouldn’t have eaten breakfast this morning, but Parker’s mom is a really good cook.

I decide to change tactics. “We could make out instead.”

That has his lips turning up in the corners. “While that is tempting, you need to learn how to drive and I promised your dad I would teach you.”

“Why do I need to learn?” I ask. “It’s not like I’ll ever be alone.” Because there is no way Parker will ever let me go out by myself. At least not until I can figure out how to block the thoughts of others.

“Humor me,” he says in a tone that makes me believe I can’t get out of this.

I sigh, putting my foot on the brake as he instructed. I put the car into drive, trying to ignore how sweaty my palms are.

“Henley,” Parker says softly.

“Yes?” I ask. My foot is pressed down firmly on the brake.

“I will not let anything happen to you, and that is a promise.” He gently strokes my hand with his thumb. After a moment, he lets go. “Now slowly let off the brake.”

I do lift my foot. When I do, his Jeep goes rolling forward. I panic, slamming my foot back down. I jerk forward, my seatbelt catching me.

“Sorry,” I say.

“Stop apologizing.” Parker motions ahead of us. “Let off the brake again. And this time, give it a little gas.”

I nod, taking a deep breath.

I can do this. It’s just driving. People do it all the time.

And, if I am to believe Will, supernaturals have better reflexes than humans. Then again, I do frequently trip over my own feet.

It takes everything in me to lift my foot again. The vehicle moves forward and I slowly push my foot down on the gas.

“See, it’s not so bad,” Parker says as I drive us forward.

We’re practicing on the gravel road we live on. We drove further down it, onto a part that is very infrequently used.

That way if I crash, I won’t be hitting anybody else.

My hands shake as I hold them both tightly on the steering wheel.