Mated To My Obsessive Stepbrother

Chapter 350

KASMINE

I shifted nervously on the cracked pavement as a cold breeze blew down the empty street, My heart thudded loudly.

I glanced around for the third time, hugging myself as the wind picked up again. My arms were freezing,

but that wasn't the reason my hands were shaking.

It'd been almost ten minutes since I arrived, and Jake still hadn't shown

I'd spoken with him using Mum's phone, just before leavi up.

house, and he told me to wait for him at the old Burget City, just five minutes away from

our house.

It was already past seven.

This street looked worse at night. The streetlights were dim and spaced out like they didn't even care to work anymore. The diner behind me was shut down and boarded up years ago, but the graffiti-covered windows and crumbling sign made the whole place feel haunted. The kind of haunted that gets under your skin, not the Hollywood kind.

Another five minutes passed.

Still no Jake.

My heart wouldn't calm down.

Fifteen minutes later, I stopped pretending this was okay.

It was stupid just standing here in the dark, on this dead street, waiting like some pathetic idiot for someone who was probably too hurt to face me at the moment, Yeah, I couldn't do it anymore.

I turned around, biting the inside of my cheek to stop myself from crying, and started walking back home.

I was just turning the corner when the low hum of an engine rolled down the road behind me.

My heart shot into my throat and I froze.

The glow of headlights shone through the misty darkness, crawling slowly along the broken street. My breath caught. For a split second, panic gripped me. My mind raced with all the worst possibilities - was it someone dangerous? Was I about to be one of those stories people tell about but never believe?

I took a cautious step back, squinting toward the lights, my fists clenched tightly at my

sides.

beat-up hood, the busted left headlight, and the dull green paint that

It was Jake's car.

stood still, watching

as the

in front of

hair was slightly disheveled, and his hoodie was

already raised like he was pleading for mercy. "My fuel ran out. Right in the middle of nowhere. I had to hike to some goddamn

himself. "I didn't think it would take this long.

with my heart still pounding.

quietly, even though it kind of wasn't. "I

1/3

like the words surprised him. Then he opened the passenger door. "Come

for a second, then slid

got in on the driver's side, twisting the key. The engine

the gear, I turned to

He paused. "Somewhere special."

we'd just talk. In your car. You said you wouldn't

still mean it. But I need you to trust

drove in silence

Fifteen long, uncomfortable,

all I could hear was the low, sputtering hum of the engine and the occasional squeak of the wipers

Yet

watched the buildings thin out. Streetlights disappeared behind one by one, swallowed by the night. Houses gave way to fields.

went, the tighter my

felt. sŵnovel

Something wasn't right.

my seat, fingers picking at a loose thread on my sleeve. The

was dealing with.

might already be home," I said finally, "If

in, his eyes still fixed on

blinked. "Almost

He just pressed his foot slightly harder on

turned to the window again, watching

right now, it

-

pulled up to a crossroads. There was not