Drive Me Crazy by Erin Downing Read Free Book Online

mischievously. “You’re so focused on the rules all the time, Kate. You’re missing out on all the fun in life. We’ll figure out a way in.”
     
     
    “Where are we?” Sierra mumbled sleepily from the backseat about twenty minutes later. “How long did I sleep?”
    They had just pulled into the parking lot at a super-ritzy country club that Adam had located on Alexis’s iPhone. He’d stolen it out of her purse while she slept, Googled “country clubs” in the area they were driving through, and successfully navigated to a wealthy-looking town about fifteen miles off the interstate. Kate couldn’t deny the fact that she was impressed.
    “Oy,” Alexis groaned crabbily. “I’m hot.”
    “Kate and I have masterminded a very clever plan to remedy that,” Adam bragged. “Who wants to go swimming?”
    “Nuh-uh,” Alexis said, and shook her head. “These roadside motel pools are nast. I wouldn’t put my foot in, even if I already had a toe fungus.”
    Adam tsk-tsked at her. “You are such a snob, Lex. What would you say if I told you we were going swimming at a country club?”
    “And how are you going to swing that?”
    “Like this.” Adam hopped out of the car and walked toward the gate that led into the club. It was just after nine, and the sign said the country club had closed at eight. They all followed Adam as he moved alongside the fence that divided the interior of the club from the parking lot, and down into a little marshy area that took them back out along the main road.
    Silently they walked along the road for about a hundred yards. There were no cars, and it was getting dark, so Kate started getting freaked out. They could go missing, and no one would even know where to find them. “I don’t think this is a great idea,” Kate said finally. “You don’t even know where you’re going, Adam.”
    In response Adam just held a finger to his lips and cut back in from the road, leading them through a thick patch of trees. The branches and pine needles bit into Kate’s arms, and just when she thought she could go no farther, the trees opened up onto a grassy golf course. Off to their left they could see the big clubhouse, its exterior lamps lighting up the night sky. They walked up the fairway together.
    “If I were a betting guy, I’d put money on the pool being in there,” Adam said as they got close to the clubhouse. He was pointing to a rectangular area that was closed in with wide-plank wooden fencing. The top of a lifeguard chair was poking up over the top of one section of the fence.
    Kate pulled her flip-flops off her feet and carried them as they walked toward the pool. Her feet were sore from their day at the amusement park, and the cool grass felt amazing. Her whole body was sticky and hot, and she was momentarily tempted to lie on the grass to cool off.
    As they approached the pool, Kate’s hopes fell. She could see no obvious way to get inside the fence. Alexis slid down on the grass to rest while Adam scoped out the perimeter. Sierra and Kate both watched nervously for any signs of authority. Neither of them was particularly good at breaking the rules, and—to Kate at least—all of this felt a little risky.
    “The gate is locked,” Adam declared.
    Kate stared at him, dumbfounded. “Did you think it would be open?” she asked. “That was your plan?” She was no expert at sneaking in, but even she could have told him the gate would be locked.
    “ No , that wasn’t my plan . But I figured it couldn’t hurt to check.” He fixed Kate with a frustrated look, then his face broke into a goofy grin.
    Why does he stare at me like that? Kate wondered. It’s like he’s trying to annoy me and knows his stupid grinning makes me want to slap him. But the way Adam made Kate’s blood boil was invigorating, and she had to admit that she sort of enjoyed sparring with him.
    There was a golf cart parked next to the fence. Adam climbed onto the hood. He lifted one leg up onto the