Read Online Strung Out (Needles and Pins #1) by Lyrica Creed - Free Book Online

passed it to me, a clear indication to go ahead to the car. The locks disengaged when I neared. Seating myself in the driver's side, I strained my ears, but their voices didn’t carry.
    I now understood why I was getting nowhere prior to Gage joining my search. These beautiful people were elite and aloof. They spoke of trivial things in mixed company, and when it came to matters of any importance, spoke only to other beautiful people.
    Gage folded into the passenger side of the car and sighed his acceptance of me behind the wheel. “Creep down this road. And I mean creep.”
    “What did he say?” I coasted to a stop at the end of the drive instead of turning onto the twisty road. Suddenly, I was fearful of navigating the hairpin turns now when it was dark. I became irritated at Gage for his partaking of whatever was in the bag. Sucking in a fortifying breath, I transferred my foot to the gas and arced onto the road.
    “He remembers her well. Because she had a few bruises. But she wasn't with Pax anymore when he met her. She was with some actor.”
    From behind, a car careened around a curve. Its brights in the rearview were glaring. Instead of dimming them, the offending driver rode our bumper while laying on the horn before zooming around.
    Temporarily blinded, I blinked and for a second, only saw a dark gulf ahead before jerking the wheel and coming to rest against the canyon wall.
    “Don't stop here. Too dangerous, Scar. Just keep moving.” His hand settled on my jeaned thigh, fingers closing on my leg in a comforting squeeze. “You okay?”
    “Who the hell was that? And why?”
    “Some people are shitheads.” He seemed to blow it off.
    But I couldn’t help wondering if the incident was related to our questions about Ivy.

Chapter 11

    “B etter?” Gage asked. They were in the pool, a bottle of wine on the edge between them.
    She had finally calmed since the harrowing drive, and she nodded.
    “A little more will make you even better, better,” he teased, while suspending the bottle above her glass. She smiled her answer and he poured. “The roads suck. That’s why I was going to pick you up at the airport. Didn’t want you in a rental, driving in the dark, trying to find my house. Then I fucked up and forgot you.”
    “If bad roads are the price to pay for the view, well worth it.” She ignored his reference to her first night in L.A., and he knew his words were, at best, a half-assed apology. But the mood was so peaceful between them; he didn’t want to bring the aura of their argument the night she had arrived into the atmosphere. Her worried gaze moved over his face. “Do you think it happened because we were asking around about Ivy?”
    “The insane driver tonight? No. There’s a lot of hating goes around in those circles. I’m sure it was someone who recognized my car.”
    “And tried to run you off the road?”
    “No. Just mess with me. Maybe thought it was me driving slow because I shouldn’t have been driving.”
    “Do you do that? Drive when you shouldn’t?”
    “Not usually.”
    “Are there a lot of times you shouldn’t?”
    She’d twisted her inquiry, and he struggled a second to figure out what she was asking before admitting, “Probably.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know, Scar. Fuck!”
    “I’m just worried about you.”
    “I know. Don’t be. I’m fine.”
What a lie
. Had she heard the false flat pitch of his voice? Quickly he changed the subject. “How long have you and Ivy been friends?”
    “Forever.”
    “I don’t remember her.”
    “Ivy is Vanna.”
    “Vanna? Give me that picture again!” Remembering the plain Jane best friend of his stepsister from their childhood days, he grabbed for her phone. It was no wonder he hadn’t recognized her. Seemed Scarlette wasn’t the only one to change hair color. Vanna, the skinny, ordinary looking little girl with brown hair, had evolved into a blonde beauty. Scar seemed desperate to retrieve her phone from his