novelxo Chapter 28
Chapter 28
It was raining cats and dogs, the mountain road completely under siege from the downpour. Even the roar of the engine was drowned out by the sound of rain hammering down like soybeans against the car windows.
Athena caught sight of the red warning light on the fuel gauge and her breath hitched.
Newman, standing out in the rain, knocked on the car window.
Athena, all puffed up with irritation, hit the button to open the car door, and with a resigned shuffle, she slid over to the passenger seat, freeing up the driver’s seat once again.
She had planned to ditch Newman halfway up the mountain and zoom off in the sports car in
style.
But with the heavy rain like this, Newman would’ve been soaked to the bone waiting for his peeps to pick him up.
Who would’ve thought Athena would end up screwing herself over in the process?
Newman slid back into the driver’s seat and eyed the fuel gauge, “Outta gas.”
“Did you do this on purpose? Did you know this ride was running on fumes?”
Newman was always a sharp cookie, no way he’d make a rookie mistake like ignoring the
gauge.
fuel
Athena thought he saw right through her little game and decided to play ball all the way!
Athena turned her head to look at Newman, drenched from the rain; under the cabin lights, his hair seemed darker, his skin pale as snow against the contrast.
Rain traced his chiseled, handsome features, droplets cascading from his hair down to his shoulders.
Soaked to the bone, yet he didn’t look a bit shabby. Instead, he exuded a sort of melancholic, icy charm.
“There’s a spare can of gas in the trunk, just enough for teneters. What’s it gonna heading back to the campsite or driving down the mountain?”
Newman was asking her, and Athena made her choice in a snap.
“Back to the campsite.”
Once they got back there, the car would be bone dry.
- be.
Then, she’d leave Newman and Zoey at the campsite, let the uncle and nephew duo huddle up
in their tent, shaking like a leaf, keeping each other warm in this pouring rain!
After Newman fueled up, the car hit the road again amidst the downpour.
Chapter 28
In the sealed cabin, Athena could smell the dampness wafting off Newman.
“Why not crank up the heater?” she suggested.
Newman’s response was cool and detached. “You want us to not make it to the campsite, huh?” Athena pouted and pulled a few tissues from the box, “Maybe you should stop and wipe your face? If you get rain in your eyes, it’ll mess with your driving.”
Newman kept his eyes on the road, hands steady on the wheel, simply saying. “It’s fine.”
Athena noticed a raindrop teetering on the edge of his eyebrow. She reached over with a tissue, gently wiping away the droplets from his face.
Her scent enveloped him, and Newman’s expression tightened visibly.
After drying off Newman’s face, Athena reminded him, “Newman, drive safe, okay? Don’t go flipping the car on us, will you?”
He scoffed quietly. “Ms. Dempsey, don’t you trust my driving skills?”
“I don’t trust a single Bradshaw,” she retorted.
The darkness outside was absolute, the car lights only illuminating sheets of rain. Athena suddenly felt a wave of panic; the last time she was in a Bradshaw’s car on a mountain road, it had crashed down into a ravine.
She shivered involuntarily, hugging her arms tightly.
From the corner of his eye, Newman caught Athena’s pallid face and subconsciously sped up.
A little while later, the Lambo stopped again in the pitch black.
“Are we there?” Athena asked.
“We took a wrong turn,” Newman informed her.
Athena was shocked.
Newman wasn’t familiar with the terrain around Whispering Peak. Who could’ve expected another fork in the winding mountain road?
He had missed it, and by the time he realized, they were far off course.
“How far are we from the campsite? Can we make it back?”
Athena leaned forward to check the fuel indicator.
Newman’s grip on the steering wheel tightened as he ground his back teeth and said, “We’re completely out of gas now, can’t make it back.”
Originally, he had planned to use the spare can of gas to foil Athena’s attempt to kick him out.
He wanted to see her flustered and frustrated when she realized she couldn’t get rid of him.
Chapter 20
But now, Newman’s own scheme had gone awry!
Newman clicked his tongue in annoyance, a veritable rain dance – why did it have to pour like this?
Athena immediately whipped out her cell phone. “I’ll call someone to pick us up.”
She swiped the screen only to find not a single bar of signal!
She tried to call Leonard, but her phone couldn’t get through.
Newman also checked his phone – no dice, no signal.
He turned on the flashlight function and shone it out the window.
“There’s a small village here, I’ll go take a look.”
Newman unbuckled and stepped out of the car. Ten minutes later, he came back, opened the door, and told Athena, “There’s an inn nearby. They don’t have the right kind of gas for us, but let’s go rest there for now and figure things out later.”
Athena had no choice but to follow Newman, braving the rain into the rundown inn.
The receptionist, sensing their arrival but not bothering to look up, said, “Twenty bucks for the night, cash only.”
Newman silently turned to Athena, who asked him, “You didn’t bring any cash, did you?”
He pulled out his wallet, which only had cards and a checkbook.
Athena rolled her eyes at him and popped open her phone case, pulling out a single ten–dollar bill.
“Got any hourly rooms? We’re only staying a few hours.”
“No hourly rooms,” the receptionist finally looked up, and the moment she saw Newman, her gaze froze.
Athena waved the hundred in front of the receptionist, “This is all the cash we’ve got on us.”
The receptionist’s eyes never left Newman, and she involuntarily swallowed hard.
Newman, aware of the lovestruck gaze, frowned slightly in disdain.
“Fine, I’ll give you a half–price discount for braving the storm to get a room,” the receptionist conceded, sliding a key with a room number tag across the desk.
Athena flashed two fingers at the desk clerk, “Two rooms, please.”
The receptionist was about to roll her eyes in annoyance but then took a second, closer look at Athena’s face. “Hey, aren’t you a celeb? I swear I’ve seen you on TV!”
Athena quickly grabbed a lock of hair and draped it over half her face.
She was Stardale City’s sweetheart and couldn’t risk being recognized, shacked up with some
Chapter 28
dude in the boondocks!
Athena flashed the peace sign at the receptionist again.
The receptionist was like, “Sorry, no can do. All the rooms are taken by the tunnel construction
crew.”
Athena went on to ask, “Got Wi–Fi here?”
The receptionist gave the snowy–screened old TV a pat, “We’ve lost even the TV signal over here.”
Athena resigned herself to the situation, realizing they were stuck until the rain let up.
She grabbed the keys and trudged up the concrete steps.
Pushing open the door, she was greeted by a single bed with a metal frame and wooden slats.
Athena sneezed. The rain was coming down in buckets and she was soaked to the bone from
the walk from the car.
She shut the window, but she couldn’t stop shivering. Newman noticed her pale as a ghost and thought, “If she catches a cold, that would be terrible.”
His voice was cool and detached, no emotion whatsoever, “How about a shower?”
Athena turned to him and commanded, “Use your charm to get me a fresh set of clothes from the receptionist, underwear included!”