As I opened the door, a shiver raced down my spine, and my eyes flicked over the roof of Peter’s car, but nothing moved. Shaking it off, I slipped into the warm car and almost gagged on the cloud of cologne that permeated the air.

“Nice dress, but didn’t you wear that last year?”

I looked down at the dress I’d spent hours looking for specifically for this event and then fixed my glare on Peter. “No, I didn’t, and if this is how you’re going to be all night, then stop the car right now. You can go alone.”

As we sped away from the school property, Peter made his usual annoying sound, which was a cross between a snort and a scoff.

“Don’t be so dramatic. I said it’s nice. It just looks familiar. Why are you in such a mood all the time lately? It’s like everything I say annoys the shit out of you.”

That was an understatement. I think his breathing annoyed me. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind,” I said, dancing around the question.

“I keep telling you that adding that shit job onto your schedule was a bad idea, but you never listen to me.”

My hand clenched around the clutch, and I was tempted to beat him with it. I wanted to see the headline for that one: ‘Man Dies In Beating After Girlfriend Bludgeons Him To Death With A Clutch.’

“What did I say about mentioning my job again.”

Peter sighed and shook his head. “Fine, whatever. My mom is excited to see you. She asked if you were coming and said she was looking forward to catching up,” he said, and I wanted to laugh out loud.

I highly doubted that. Peter’s mother could pass for the Ice Queen. She was that cold and calculating. She had no interest in me being with her son the moment he took me home to meet them and had been vocal in her passive-aggressive way about it ever since. Peter didn’t see it. He didn’t see anything she did as wrong. That was the first red flag I should’ve noticed. It would have warned me how our relationship would turn out.

I kept my eyes out the window and ignored Peter as he began telling a story about what happened at his work and how great he made himself look to the board members. His number one goal was to take over for his father when he decided to retire, and there was nothing wrong with that, but he talked about it like it was a life-or-death situation. Meaning if he didn’t get to be the next CEO, then the world would crumble around him. His voice droned on as we reached the city and the bright lights from the tall buildings.