Wilt and Ruin

Chapter Thirteen - That Dark Space (King)

No one drives my car.

Ever.

I was never comfortable being driven by anyone except Tao—Tao said it was a trust thing. When our friendship began unravelling, the ease I felt sitting in the passenger seat with him slowly dissolved like smoke in a windstorm.

That was a red flag.

But as we made our way out of town toward home, I had Runn behind the wheel as I closed my eyes and rested my head to the headrest.

Maybe it was the idea I was heading back home, a place that gutted me every time I was there. But something had me feeling as if the world was about to end and there was nothing I could do about it. I took some solace in knowing the man I wanted to be with at the end of the world was beside me, maneuvering my sports car expertly through the busy streets, following the GPS perfectly.

Shifting my head, I opened my eyes to watch his side profile, his button nose, his jawlines tense as he seemed to be concentrating. The drive wouldn't take very long—a half an hour—or a little more depending on traffic getting out of the city.

I'd tried getting us to leave earlier, but one of the clients who I'd developed a software for called and was trying to convince me to help him develop a movie streaming site.

Maestro was my second program—and I'd sworn I was finished with all that work. But the truth was, the offer of such a large project had peaked my interest.

Runn sat patiently, feeding me blueberries from his fruit salad.

"Let me guess." I'd covered the mouthpiece. "Not your favourite?"

Runn's cheeks pinkened and he offered me wai before extending a strawberry with his fingers.

When I looked down at the fruit then locked eyes with him only to smirk, Runn pouted, shoved the strawberry into my mouth then left the room.

"Are you listening?" Clay asked from the other side of the world.

"You okay, P?" Runn's voice tore through my memory.

"P?" I asked. "We're back to that?"

"Kho tod, na?" He exhaled, signaled to speed around a slow moving bus only to ease back into the lane once he'd passed. "I forgot."

"There should be a punishment for each time you forget." I suggested.

"I punishment?" He glanced at me quickly then back at the road. "What kind of punishment?"

"Don't worry." I smirked, rolling my head to look out the front of the car. "It won't be painful to you, but it will be fun for me."

"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works." Runn explained.

I knew he was determined now to not make that mistake again. Sure, calling me P was something we were taught. I was older than him so it only made sense. But when he did, I felt I was just his friend, a brother figure—and I didn't want that. I didn't want to be his brother.

It wouldn't make sense with the things I wanted to do to him.

Sighing, I turned to look out the window.

"We should stop for snacks." I suggested.

"Okay." Runn replied, simply.

When we finally stopped, I stretched my sore body and shoved my fingers into my pockets. We walked together into the store, and I gave him room to wander around, picking up things he liked to eat. I paid close attention to what he'd picked up.

I gathered some chips, a case of water, a case of coffee to be had cold and a few chocolate bars and chewing gum. At the cash registered, I paid for everything, even Runn's.