Everett
Wait and see.Jesus Christ. Maybe it was just this fucked up night, or my lingering hangover, or the way I was freakin’ primed to see ghosts popping out all over the damn place, but his throwaway comment had unsettledme.
Unsettled? Hell, it had made shivers dance down my spine like he’d been a sideshow fortune-teller whispering portents of thefuture.
Si collected Daphne’s carrier from the side of the road and tucked her into the backseat with a whispered, “Welcome to O’Leary, Daphne,” I wasn’t sure I was supposed to hear and I was positive I shouldn't find so charming. Meanwhile, I sat in the cab of his gigantic truck, mulling over his words while my leg throbbed in time to the country song playing low on theradio.
Wait and see.No, thank you. I was tired of surprises. And if Officer Sloane had outed himself to me for a reason, he was barking up the wrongtree.
He was good looking, yes. One could objectively call himhot. And yes, he was kind. Funny, too. But right now, I wouldn't care if he was the love child of Jason Momoa and Chris Pratt, and his dick was magic. I had no need of friends and even less of alover.
“The cat is a shitty conversationalist, and the more you try to charm her, the more she’ll ignore you,” I warned him as he climbed into the driver’s seat and buckled his belt. My voice was defensive and I didn’t care. “Don’t bother making aneffort.”
Si chuckled. “Eh. She might be cranky, but she’s pretty. Maybe the effort will be worth thereward.”
I tilted my head to study him. His eyes were focused on the road, but his lips were quirked like he found me amusing and I wondered — because I was so thoroughly out of the game, I couldn’t say for sure — if this was his way of flirting with me. I should probably feel moreoutrage.
I faced forward, folding my arms over my chest. “I’m not sure where you learned about cats, Officer Sloane, but sometimes they don’t want to befriends.”
I felt his gaze on my face. “Sometimes,” he agreed. “And sometimes they’re just prickly when they’reinjured.”
I hadn’t been paying attention to where we were going, since all the damn woods looked the same in the headlights, so I was confused when he pulled over behind the remains of my Toyota. The mangled metal looked even worse from this angle than it had from inside, and Ishuddered.
If life worked the way it was supposed to, I shouldn’t have walked away from the crash, but then, it generally didn’t. Win some, losesome.
Before I knew it, Si had turned off the truck, walked around to my side, opened my door, and was holding out his hand to meagain.
“What are we back here for?” Idemanded.
He rolled his eyes — eyes that were very patient, very blue, and on a level with mine even while I was sitting in his truck. “I figured you’d want to get stuff out of your car. You know, clothes? Phone charger?Toothbrush?”
I looked at the ground. I was an idiot. “Yeah. Yes…. Thankyou.”
He nodded and tipped his head toward his hand, which was still outstretched. With a sigh, I grabbed it and let him help medown.
I pulled out my keys and unlocked the trunk, then reached for a suitcase. He pushed my hand aside. “You’re hurt,” he said, like I might haveforgotten.
“So? I can still do it,” Iprotested.
“Sure you could,” he said, grabbing the heavy case like it weighed nothing and swinging it into the cargo area of the truck. “Butwhy?”
Uh, to prove I could? To make sure I never again forgothow?Duh.
“Suit yourself,” I told him, like it didn’t matter either way. I hefted the other suitcase awkwardly and hissed as I stumbled under the weight ofit.
With another eye-roll, Si grabbed that bag too and set it next to the first. “Christ, you’re stubborn.” He frowned at me severely. “Listen up, Everett: if you even touch those boxes, I’m strapping your ass in thebed.”
I blinked at him in shock, and against my will, my stomachflipped.
Si made a chokingnoise.
“The bed of thetruck,” he stammered, his face turning beet red. “Jesus Christ. I meant, I’d strap you in the…” His horrified eyes came to mine. “Wait! I meantstrapping,like I’d tie you up! Not like I’d use a belt or a… a…I mean…” His voice was strangled and he ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, God. There’s nothing I can say without making this worse, isthere?”
The noise that came out of my mouth was a cross between a giggle and a snort, a bubble of sound so rusty andunexpectedI clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle it. But it was all so ridiculous and impossible; not just Si hurling himself over a conversational cliff, but everything else, too - the ‘ghost’ in the road, the accident, exiling myself to fucking O’Leary in the first place, ending up in the woods with this unrelentingly friendly man, and making a noise like a fuckingpig being violated.I couldn’t stop laughing at the absurdity of it, and every gasp for breath made me snort evenlouder.
Si stared at me, likely wondering if I was having some kind of fit, but when he realized the sound waslaughter,he started laughing too, doubling over on himself with the force of it and burying his face in hishands.
And that made me laugh harderstill.
