Free Hellion, a New Adult Romance Novel (The Rebel Series) by Elle Casey

says, letting me go.   Her voice is full of the tears she’s about to let loose.   “I have to get out of here right now.”
    “Okay, I get it, I get it.”   I stand up straight and begin a more orderly descent.
    Rebel appears at the bottom of the stairs and Teagan stops suddenly.   I bang into her and have to grab one railing with both hands again to keep from falling the rest of the way down. She barely sways forward at the impact, all her attention on her boyfriend.
    “Hey, babe.   What’s up?”   he says.   I can hear caution in his voice, and I’m thinking he’s a pretty smart guy for being worried.
    “Get out of my way, Rebel.”   Her tone is cold.   It sends a shiver up my spine, so I can only imagine what it’s doing to her main man.   I think he really does love her.
    “What’s wrong?   What’d she say to you?”
    “Just the truth, which is more than I can say for you .”   Teagan continues down the stairs and pushes by him.
    He reaches out and grabs her wrist.   “Where are you going?” he asks.   He clamps his jaw down when he’s done talking and his facial muscles bounce around.   He’s pissed or worried.   If I were him, I’d be freaking.   Teagan doesn’t usually get this upset this fast unless it’s something major.
    “I’m going somewhere you don’t need to worry about.   Now let me go .”   She jerks her arm out of his grip and continues towards the door.
    He looks at me and says nothing.   He’s furious; I can tell by the storm clouds that have moved in over his head.   They make me feel like I’m at fault for some stupid reason.   He’s got mad guilt-trip skills.
    “Don’t look at me like that!   I didn’t do anything!”   I breeze by him, trying to keep up with Teagan.   I have to take short, choppy steps to run in these stupid shoes.
    “Tell her to call me!” he yells at my back.
    I ignore him. He’s not my boss.   And if Teagan tells me he’s done something really wrong, I’m going to tell her not to call him.   Fuck guys and their games.   They’re all the same.
    “Tea, wait!” I yell as she disappears around the corner.   She’s moving way too fast for me to keep up in these damn heels.
    “Where are you going?” Mick asks, appearing at my shoulder as I get near the front door.
    “None of your beeswax!” I say, breathless with the unexpected exercise.
    “Call me!” he yells as I make it to the door.
    “Blow it out your butt!” I yell back, racing towards the parking lot.   I really, really do not want to be left behind at this place, especially with all that drama back there waiting for me.   And if Mick thinks I’m going to call him when my BFF is pissed at his brother, he’d better go check himself into rehab cuz he be smokin’ crack, yo.

CHAPTER TEN

    TEAGAN’S CRYING SILENTLY AS SHE drives down the street like a bat out of hell.
    “Where are we going?” I ask, not wanting to push her but also not real crazy about the direction we’re going.
    “Away,” she says, her voice wavering as she works to hold in a sob.
    “Away tooooooo … crack-whores-ville?”
    “Yes.”   She shifts to a higher gear and presses the accelerator harder.
    “Okaaaay.” I pause as I consider my next words.   I’m not sure that this is the best time to engage her in a conversation about what Olga said or did.   “How about you pull into that Denny’s over there and we talk in the parking lot?”
    “I hate Denny’s. I’m not going there.”
    “You don’t have to eat. Just pull in.”   I reach over and nudge the steering wheel.
    She huffs out an annoyed breath, but downshifts and swings the car into the lot.   I have to brace myself against the door and dashboard to keep from being unseated.
    “Wow.   Been practicing stunt driving long?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood.
    “Shut up,” she says, rolling towards a space and turning off the engine at the same time.   We coast into the spot and come to a stand-still.