Free Six Years by Stephanie Witter Page A

of my iPod and turned it on. I needed some loud and fast beat music to calm down. I sang over a song by Shinedown I liked, but it's when someone honked that I paid attention to my surrounding. I screeched, jumped behind an old tree next to the road and looked around.
    "What was that?" Nolan asked, his lips twitching.
    His big posh SUV was in the middle of the road, the windows down. Nolan's eyebrows were up high on his forehead and he seemed amused. To be honest, I must have given him quite a show when I leapt out of the road.
    "What are you doing here? I called you several times, but you didn't pick up," I said after I decided to ignore his question. I put my iPod back in my handbag and walked to his car with all the dignity I still had, which wasn't much.
    "Sorry for that. Climb in¸ I'll drive you home."
    I opened the door and as soon as I was sitting in his car, I enjoyed the cold air blasting from the AC. I sighed. Nolan was still looking at me, but his amusement was not visible anymore. Instead, when he bit his lip ring nervously, I knew that he was worried I'd go bat shit crazy on him. I wouldn't do that. Not on him, at least.
    "Feel any better?"
    He shrugged and drove away toward my house. His eyes were not leaving the road, even for a second. "It was a mistake to go there."
    "You should go back to see her. She's not..."
    "I'll stop you right now, Brooklyn." He looked back at me and I recoiled in my seat when I saw his eyes more dark than hazel. I've never seen that look in his eyes. Ever. "She's my mother and I am the one who had to live with her. Don't pretend you know everything."
    I looked outside and I realized that we were in front of my house. My parents' cars were parked in the curb and I dreaded going inside, but I didn't want to stay in this car either. Not when Nolan was like this. I looked one last time at him, feeling the wall between us once again.
    "Fine. Just ask yourself one question. Will you have any regrets once she’s dead?"
    And I turned around to the house without waiting for an answer. After all, he needed to think a little, dwell on this. I knew him, he might come across as though he has a short fuse sometimes, but there was more to him than that. He could spend hours or days even thinking about something, analyzing it and dissecting it. I was sure it helped his career and that was why his thriller books were so widely acclaimed for their details and complexity. Not that I’ve ever read one…
     
    * * *
     
    NOLAN
     
    Will you have any regrets once she’s dead?
    Brooklyn’s question and her voice echoed in my head as I watched her walking to her house, her hips swaying tantalizingly at every step. A heavy weight fell on my shoulders because I didn’t have to ponder that question to find the answer.
    Yes, I would have regrets. Many, many regrets. How could I not? But there’s nothing anyone could do to prevent these regrets to arise. But most of all, I wanted to protect myself because when facing her, it undid me.
    Brooklyn gazed at me over her slim shoulders just before she closed the door behind her and my gut twisted. Fuck. What was she doing to me? I wasn’t supposed to think about her that way, to picture her as a woman, as a ver y attractive woman. She’s doing something to me, something I had a hard time understanding. She’s Little B! Damn it. She’s not some woman I should want in my bed. But…
    And as if on cue, my phone started ringing. Katy Perry’s voice invaded my car and guilt washed over me, freezing me to my core. I took a deep breath and answered, pulling away from the Powell’s household.
    “Hey, babe.’’
    “Nolan? I called you twice already. What’s going on?’’ Lena’s voice sounded annoyed, but also concerned. Since I’d left New York she’d been on my back, texting and calling every few hours as if to check on me or something. And she’s not giving me any space to actually miss her. Instead, the woman on my mind is the wrong one.
    I forced a