Hell by Elena M. Reyes

right side of the I4 all looking to get off. He turned to look at me then while we waited and gave me the very same look Janelle had this morning. As if they didn’t understand me.
    “Again, Kevin. What?” I ran an agitated hand down my face and began tapping my finger against the passenger side panel, mimicking the rhythm of the song playing on the radio. Still he watched, and it unnerved me.
    I was nothing more than a simple man; one looking for a change of scenery and a decent pussy to bury my troubles in. Nothing more. Complications I didn’t do.
    Kevin’s eyes narrowed, scrutinizing me. Fuck their job; I was done. He had two minutes to get his shit together or I would get out of the car, right here in the middle of the expressway. But then he opened his mouth to speak, and nothing. Opening and closing it multiple times. Not a sound escaped.
    As if sensing that I’d reached my limit of understanding and patience, he spoke. “You two are so much alike. It’s fucking scary.” And that right there was not even on my radar of what I was expecting. It threw me for a loop. “She’s not looking for a relationship…quite the contrary, and it’s been that way for since Dad’s death. Since Calvin…” He trailed off at that, choosing instead to turn back around in his seat and ignore me during the few minutes it took me to gather my thoughts.
    Something about the way he said his name rubbed me wrong. There had been history between the two of them; familiarity. Janelle had loved…fuck, my chest ached at that.
    Why the fuck would he chose to share this? I didn’t need to be made aware of her past.
    “What did he do?” Each word that left my lips was drenched in fucking hate for this man. There was no way to mask the emotions threatening to take me under, especially jealousy. Kevin became aware right then that my indifference was an act, that I wanted her. His smile was all the confirmation I needed.
    Kevin wanted a reaction and got one.
    “You don’t care…said so yourself. Why the interest?” But I do care. Fuck me, I do.
    This small, beautiful—fucking sinful demon of a woman had burrowed herself under my skin without giving me a fighting chance. I was screwed.
    “Tell me,” I demanded.
    “He wasn’t there when she needed him the most.” With a small sigh, he took his foot of the brake and moved with traffic. In all this, I hadn’t noticed that we’d gotten off the highway and were sitting at a light awaiting our turn. “Business came first. His, not hers. Even as we buried our father, he was on the phone finalizing a meeting for an upcoming merger. She had enough, and after the funeral broke it off. Canceled the wedding.”
    Ring.
    Engaged.
    Belonged to another.
    “Does she still have feelings for him?” My rage was like a blazing inferno choking me in its wake. Burned me. Fucking threatened to destroy my mental stability.
    The thought of her loving…
    I. Don’t. Care.
    “Keep telling yourself that,” Kevin hummed beside me. Gone was the aggravation—what sat behind the wheel of this car was smug. Content with the mind fuck he’d just given me.
    Goddamned asshole cornered me.
    “Sorry, I don’t understand your bullshit.” Diversion was the only tactic I had left.
    “I said,” he answered while putting on his turn signal, “keep telling yourself that, champ. It’ll hurt you more than me in the end.” The light turned green and he made the turn, right smack dab into the most horrendous traffic I’d ever witnessed. And it was only two o’clock in the afternoon.
    “I’m not doing anything.”
    “Denial, motherfucker, is more than just a river.”
    “Fuck you.”
    “My sister wouldn’t appreciate that, but thanks for the offer. For future reference, though, I suck tits, not dicks.” At that, I couldn’t help the snort that escaped. Dear Lord, I couldn’t breathe with how hard I was laughing. That shit right there was priceless.
    “You’re an asshole, but thanks. I needed