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.

left headlight, and the dull green

It was Jake's car.

crashed together in my chest. I stood still, watching

as the

rolled to a slow stop right in front of me. The

slightly disheveled, and his

quickly, hands already raised like he was pleading for mercy. "My fuel ran out. Right in the middle

if he couldn't believe it himself. "I didn't think it would take this long. I swear

my heart still pounding. My throat tightened,

I said quietly, even though it kind of wasn't. "I thought you changed

1/3

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

for a second, then

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

for the gear, I turned to him. "Where are

He paused. "Somewhere special."

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

gaze forward. "And I still mean it. But I

silence for

Fifteen long, uncomfortable,

hear was the low, sputtering hum of the engine and the occasional squeak of the wipers dragging across the dirty windshield. Jake didn't say

Yet

one by one, swallowed by the night. Houses gave way to fields. And

went, the

felt. sŵnovel

Something wasn't right.

my seat, fingers picking at a loose thread on my sleeve. The cold from earlier had

dealing with. It was

already be home," I said

fixed on the

blinked. "Almost where,

away. He just pressed his

the window again, watching

now, it wasn't just the

-

to a crossroads. There was not a single streetlight in sight. Every direction