5

Camila

Kyland allows me to drive his red 2007 Mustang Shelby GT500. I enjoy driving this beautiful beast—it purrs like a kitten. This doesn’t happen so often, so I take the chance to drive around until it runs out of fuel. For sure, I will receive another lecture from him.

I’m fascinated with cars, preferably the sports one, but I’m more of just a look and dream and draw on a piece of paper over them. I know the feeling and understand why men sometimes love cars more than their girlfriends.

I pull over at an empty space in the parking lot of the club. I take a deep breath—shaking off the thought of that overconfident jerk when I push the glass door open. The smell of fresh and clean with a mix of air freshener hit my nostrils.

I immediately hear my cousin laughing.

“Speaking of the devil,” Kyland guffaws.

“Well, hello, dear cousin!” Flipping my hair over my shoulder, I walk like a runway model toward him, but my walk is cut off quickly. I stop halfway when I notice the man that I dislike—the same man that I had just spoken my State of the Union Address this afternoon.

What is he doing in here?

He curses.

“Oh, are you stalking me now, Pyke? It seems that you’re around wherever I am.”

This devil of a man smirks. “Hmm.” He crosses his arms over his chest, rubbing his chin with his fingers.

“Wait, you two have already met?” I forgot my cousin is around and the reason why I’m here is to pick him up, not to bicker with this jerk.

“I should ask the same thing, babe. What are you doing here? My club is already closed.

Have you not noticed the signage posted on the door? You can come back tomorrow.” Pyke seems amused.

“Your club?” I snort. “Are you kidding me? I’m not here for your club or whoever owns this place. I’m here to pick up Kill.” I cross my arms over my chest just like he does.

His mouth hangs open—he seems surprised to know that Kyland is my cousin.

“Wait, what?” he asks, facing Kyland. “This cantankerous is your cousin, the Camila? She’s Camila?” Pointing at me in disbelief.

“Well, well, cousin. How did you know this jerk?” I walk closer to the bar, standing beside the counter.

“Cam, watch your mouth.”

I pressed my lips tight when Kyland scolds me in front of this…jerk.

“I can’t believe this hot cantankerous is your cousin,” Pyke says with a laugh, shaking his head, more amused.

Kyland narrows his eyes at him. Anger flashes across his face. “Stop calling her hot cantankerous, Hughes! She hit your ass-face for some reason. She’s harmless and can’t even hurt a fly.”

That last part was a lie. I almost killed his baby Milo when we were kids. He named his hamster baby Milo because it was looked like an ape rather than a hamster.

“Oh, really?” Pyke cocks his brow. “Then you don’t know your cousin pretty well. You don’t have any idea what she’s capable of, Wright,” Pyke says, pointing his finger at me, then continues, “You’ve seen my face, and I still have evidence of what she did to me, see?” Then he shows off his left cheek to Kyland.

“You deserve it!” I retort, giving him a satisfying look.

“Cam, enough!” Kyland grunts. “He’s still my boss.”

I snort at the absurdity. Pyke rakes his eyes on me from head to toe, then smirks again. I see he’s happy to see me annoyed.

I frown, then it suddenly hit me. How did I miss the clue? He banged that woman inside the office. Could that possibly be his office? If what he’s saying is true then he is undoubtedly Kyland’s boss.

Oh. My. God! He’s not gonna fire Kyland for my behavior, is he?

“I can’t believe you work with him. I never thought this manwhore is actually your boss,” I say in disgust.

“Camila, I need this job, so stop insulting him before he will fire me.”

I glare at my angry cousin and shut my mouth up.

“How did you two are related? You two are the polar opposites.” Pyke tries to hide his smile.

“I don’t think being nosy is part of the job descriptions of a boss,” I answer.

“Our mothers were cousins,” Kyland simply says.

Pyke nods subtly.

“How did you two get into a fight?” Kyland asks curiously, looking at me then to Pyke.

“He made that woman cry after they banged against that office’s door. Remember when I used the bathroom? Before I got back to my friends, I was shocked to hear them mo—”

“Hold on, hold on,” Pyke stops me, raising his hands. “You’ve been there listening for a long time?” he asks in disbelief.

“Yup, long enough.” Well, me the evil’s spawn, my lips spread into a devilish grin.

Pyke looks shocked, then blinks. “I didn’t make her cry. She lied to me, she said her name—”

“You called her Tiffany, but her name is Brittany,” I cut him off.

“No, her name is Gisele.”

I bark into a laugh. “And do you really believe that her name is Gisele?”

“Why would she lie?” His brows furrow.

“Hasn’t she?”

“You’re the famous Pyke Hughes, and you can’t lie your name to women, but they can,” my cousin talks, then moves his eyes on me. “Why did you hit him, Cam?”

I thought twice about telling the truth. I look at them who are waiting for my answer. Should I tell them the truth? Pyke might feel that I invaded his privacy. So, I decide, “Ask your boss.”

“She just came out of nowhere, asking me why did I make that woman cry,” Pyke answers.

“You asked me if I enjoy listening to the both of you, and you suggested we could have an awesome-threesome,” I say, mimicking his voice.

Pyke sighs in defeat.

My cousin shrugs then say, “Cam, apologize to him.”

“What?” My eyes widen. “Why would I? This is bull! It was his fault why he has a bruise right now.”

Why would I apologize to him in the first place? He was being disrespectful. This idiot expects that I will apologize. No way! Never! Not gonna happen.

“Apology, Cam-tankerous,” Pyke says, and I can see the amusement on his face.

“Not gonna happen, Hughes-dick!”

“You mean huge dick?”

Oh, crap! My mistake. Now I just inflate his already huge ego.

“Douché.”

“Cam,” Kyland warns.

“Let him apologize first then I’ll do it after him,” I suggest stubbornly.

“Seriously? After that long speech you did this afternoon you will let me the first one to apologize?” he asks.

“What happened?” My head snaps to Kyland.

Oh God! My cousin will give me the longest sermon of all the longest sermon than he did to me before.

“Nothing,” I deadpan.

“It wasn’t nothing,” Pyke insists. This man is testing my temper.

“Are you gonna apologize or not? You’ve been rude.”

“You’re nosy, you shouldn’t have listened.”

“It wasn’t my intention.”

“But you still did.”

“Stop, stop! Let’s go home, Cam. We have a long serious talk.” Kyland groans, clearly not impressed at my behavior in front of his boss.

Pyke chuckles. Just the way he reacts, he’s saying one thing—he won.

This is not the end, Pyke Hughes. This is just the beginning.

“I’m sorry for that, Hughes,” Kyland apologizes, and I want to chide him for doing that, but I am sure, he’s afraid that what’s happening right now might affect his job.

Pyke just simply nods and smirks, mocking me.

I stick my tongue out to him when Kyland is not looking. I am a little bit childish, but I just can’t do something and be disrespectful with my cousin.

“Very mature,” he murmurs.

“Dick!”

“I said, enough!” Kyland grabs my elbow. “We’re leaving.”

I walk away from them, heading to the door. I can’t talk to him anymore. I’m only controlling my anger because my cousin is around, and I can’t let him lose the job that he loves. I stop when I hear Pyke says.

“Sure, man, take care of cam-tankerous.”

I stop when I hear Pyke says and mouth, “Dick.”

“You’ll love it,” he mouths back.

“Um, Kill. I forgot to fill the tank of your car,” I say, grinning sheepishly.

“What? How could you ever miss to check if it’s empty or not?” He looks more annoyed.

Can’t this day get any worse ever?

“Stay here, and let me ask Hughes, maybe he has a full tank,” he adds.

“Let me send you both home.”

My head snaps to Pyke who’s already standing beside me. Goosebumps crawl up my skin.

He’s not too close, but I can feel the heat radiates between us. This is the weirdest night I’ve ever had.

“Thanks, man! We’ll just take a taxi from here.” Kyland changes his mind.

“Save your money for the taxi, Wright. I’ll send you both, and it’s already late. Follow me,” Pyke casually suggests.

We have no choice but to follow to where he probably parked his car, then I hear a car unlocks.

“Wow!” My eyes widen in shock. I’m literally drooling. I want to run my fingers in every inch of his 2019 Daytona Grey Audi R8 Decennium matte. The company only made two hundred and twenty-two units, and Pyke is obviously loaded to get a unit for him. The wheels were milled two-inch bronze to match the black front lip, sills, and diffuser.

How did I know about cars? Well, I have a Bachelor in AET major in automotive designs. One day, I will design my own car, but first, I need to find a job to make my dream come true.

“Where will I sit?” I ask because the car is a coupe.

“On my lap, babe.”

“Ass!”

“Yeah, your ass on my lap,” he chuckles.

“Get inside, Cam. I texted Forrest, and he’s on his way to refill my tank.”

“I’ll wait with you,” I suggest to Kyland.

“No, get in the car, and wait for me at home.”

“Get inside, babe.”

“Don’t babe me, prick!”

He laughs instead of getting offended. “Fine, Cam-T.”

“Cam, see you there. And behave.” He throws me a glare before he talks to Pyke. “Hughes, send my cousin home. Thanks, man!”

“Sure. Call me if Forrest will get into you late. I’ll come back to you.”

I know I will not win, so I get inside his car with V10 plus engine with 456kW at 8,000-8250 revolutions per minute with 580Nm at 6500rmp of torque. It smells pine and musk with a hint of citrus—a mix of his car air freshener and his cologne.

I let my eyes wander around while he’s still talking to my cousin. My fingers itch to touch every surface in this beauty. I run my fingers against the Decennium logo in front of its gear selector. The navigation, media, and communication services are direct to the virtual cockpit. The dark theme exterior continues to the interior with gloss fiber carbon accents, black Alcantara leather upholstery, contrasting to the copper-colored stitching. This baby has B&O thirteen speakers and a voice control system.

How many women did he bang in here? Though this car has eighteen ways adjustable and heated seats there wasn’t enough space to have sex, or maybe here in the passenger seat? I wrinkle my nose in disgust, but who am I to judge him? My stomach twists sickly at the idea of him banging different women every night.

Why do I care?

I don’t even notice he pulls away until I see the array of lights outside the window appears.

“So, are you this awfully quiet when just the two of us? Aren’t you scared that I might bring you somewhere else?” he starts.

My heart pounds, not from his threat, but it’s just the two of us now in his car.

He’s a stranger, but for some reason, I’m not scared of being with him. Can he possibly hurt me? Like intervening in his revenge plot against me?

“Camila, are you even listening?”

My head snaps at him. His eyes are glittering, but he keeps his focus on the road. Pyke really looks good. His lips are so full and red. His tongue darts out between his lips to lick them. My thighs press together involuntarily. His long fingers are drumming at the steering wheel—the very same fingers traced in every woman’s skin.

A sudden shiver runs down my spine.

“Are you just gonna stare at me?”

I blink at his deep masculine voice gets rough.

“Who said I’m staring at you?” I ask back, turning my head toward the window.

The car becomes smaller for us. The temperature suddenly rises even the air conditioning is turned on.

“I can feel your eyes on me, Camila.”

Why does my name sound like honey on his tongue? So sweet and smooth.