Messed Up by Molly Owens Read Free Book Online Page A

You’ll be back in your bed by two thirty. Promise. I’ve already taken care of everything else.”
    “Okay,” I nodded. “But what are you going to do to him?” I pressed. He reached his hand forward and brushed his thumb against my cheek. My heart skipped.
    “Don’t worry about it. Just trust me.”
    You know how people are always talking about trusting their gut? Oprah has entire episodes dedicated to this topic. Guests come onto her show and blather on about the time they listened to their instincts and saved themselves from instant death or scams or whatever. Well, I am here to say that is bullshit. It is your brain you should trust. That is the place where logic and reason reside. It was my gut that was so entirely swept away by Levi in all his hotness, that I blindly followed his instructions. Without so much as a second thought, I texted Toby, changed into my favorite jeans and a hoodie, and followed Levi out the window.
    Levi lowered himself down off my roof, using the side of the house for traction. I hadn’t made this escape in a long time, but my feet knew instinctually where to be placed on the lattice that ran down the side of the house. As I made my descent, Levi placed his hands around my waist to guide me. My heart fluttered as I felt the warmth of his fingers press against my skin just above the top of my jeans. When my feet were firmly planted on the ground, Levi grabbed my hand and led me to the street.
    “We’ll need to take your car,” he said simply. I looked around, noticing his car, as well as Bryce, were nowhere to be seen.
    “But, it’s really loud when it starts up,” I whispered back, “My parents will hear.”
    “I’ll drive,” he said reaching out his hand for the keys, “Trust me.”
    I handed them over like a well trained parrot, and we silently got into my car. Levi put my car in neutral, released the emergency break, and looked over his shoulder. We rolled backwards down the hill, until my house was out of sight, at which point he turned the key in the ignition and my car grumbled to life. Retracing our path, we drove back up the hill and past my quiet, sleeping house. I relaxed a bit and looked over at him.
    “You’re looking very Jason Borne this evening,” I remarked of his incognito attire.
    “And you’re looking better than I remembered,” he replied. I could feel my face turn red at the complement and was thankful it was dark in the car.
    We drove to the top of my street and turned right and headed up a steeper hill. About halfway up he parked at the entrance to the park. Vistas was the large county park that abruptly cut off the expansive suburban development where I lived. It contained two lakes and a dozen or so trails winding over hills and in and out of steep valleys. The trailhead we had stopped at was the main entrance to the park, and from there I could see Hannah’s house, its backside staring down at me. It looked dark and gloomy. I thought about the stranger asleep in Hannah’s room. How different would this night be if Hannah were here? Would I even be on this strange mission had she been?
    We walked up the gravel path toward the first set of benches where kids from my high school often met to take bong loads and suck down Jell-O shots. The moon was nearly full and in the light I could see the benches were vacant. As we approached, Levi gave his final set of instructions.
    “Toby should be here in five minutes,” he said glancing at his watch for confirmation.
    “If he doesn’t flake on me again,” I pointed out.
    “He won’t,” Levi said looking serious, “When he gets to you, just start talking about whatever seems natural. Whatever happens just know that you are completely safe.”
    “What do you mean?” I asked weakly.
    “I’ll be right over there,” he pointed to a thick cropping of trees.
    “Levi,” I said beginning to feel uneasy, “Tell me what’s gonna happen.”
    Just then the sound of a car door closing rang through