A little smile fluttered around Jay’s lips. “I know. You always do, right? But I figured you probably weren’thandling itfor anything less than a really good cause, which meant you were doing it for Aimee. Which meant you never intended to abandon her, which I should have known, deep down. And all that being the case, it’s possibly possible that I was a bit of a shithead yesterday, demanding that you come help me when you have a very real phobia.” He paused and darted another glance at me. “I mean, I wasn’t as much of a shithead asyouwere, obviously, for not telling me you were going in the first place.”
I rolled my eyes. There was the Jay I’d been expecting. “Possibly possible, huh?”
“Yes. Anyway, I knew if I went up to you at the airport and tried to maybe apologize, at best you’d just brush me off, and at worst you’d chew me out and we’d get caught on tape by the paparazzi, and they’d speculate about who you were, and how long we’d been fucking, and which of us bottomed.” He snorted. “Like you’d bottom.”
I blinked, and my stomach swooped like I was riding a roller coasteras I imagined him hovering over me, grinning down at me. I would so bottom for Jay Rollins…
Fuck. Nothelpful, Goodman. My head already felt oxygen-starved. The last thing I needed was to divert any blood south.
Fortunately, Jay didn’t expect a reply. He went on, “So I called my friend Oak to help me figure out how to stop you from getting on a plane, ’cause I knew otherwise you’d force yourself to do it for Aimee’s sake.” Those green eyes skewered me to the seat. “I needed your help. I still do. But I don’t want you to make yourself sick over it.”
I swallowed hard, still riding an emotional roller coaster, and my voice came out all raspy. “Let me understand. You thought the best way to apologize was to insult me, after getting your friend to impersonate a police officer, which is highly illegal,” I croaked out. “You have strange friends.”
“It’s theoretically illegal,” Jay allowed. “But it’d be your word against Oak’s. And you’re not the type to call the cops anyway.”
I mean, no, I wouldn’t. But I didn’t like how easily he dismissed the idea that Icould. I didn’t want to believe that Jay knew what sort of person I was anymore. Just like I didn’t know him.
I shifted lower in my seat and let my head fall against the headrest. “You’re risking a lot on an assumption.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m babysitting my twelve-year-old nephew, so I have an ironclad alibi right now. Isn’t that right, JackJack?” Oak called.
“Sure,” a bored voice said. “As long as I get the twenty bucks you promised and tacos every week for the rest of vacation. Otherwise, I’m turning state’s evidence.”
“Atta boy,” Oak approved.
My eyes narrowed at the speaker on the dashboard. Who the heckwerethese people?
Jay sighed. “You know, Oak, it occurs to me that you were willing to spoof the police department’s phone number and impersonate an officer, but you won’t get any of your cybersecurity people to hack a single clinic computer to get my name on a visitor’s list…”
“Every man’s gotta draw his own line about what’s acceptable behavior, Jay. I value a person’s right to privacy. Yours, mine,andyour sister’s.” Oak’s voice was mild, but there was a little undercurrent of rebuke, and seriously, whowasthis guy who called JayJayinstead of Jayd and didn’t take his shit?
I didn’t like it. It made me want to immediately dismiss everything he said, even though I totally agreed with him.
“If you could erase that line and redraw it about a foot in my direction, it’d save me a world of trouble,” Jay said wryly. He shot me a look. “Rafe’d probably be pretty grateful, too.”
“Sorry?” Oak made a hissing static noise. “The connection must be bad, Jay. I think I missed the part where you said,‘Thank you, Oakmont, for doing me this service at great personal risk. I treasure our friendship.’”
“I do. And if I didn’t already love you, Oak,” Jay said with a sincerity that made me grit my teeth, “I would now.”
Love?
Jay sped up and took the on-ramp for the highway.
The highwaynorthbound.
“Hey, you’re going the wrong way.” My voice was barely audible over the roar of air suddenly rushing through the open windows of the van, so I reached over to smack his arm lightly. “Whispering Key is south.”
“Yeah, about that…” Jay yelled back. He glanced at me nervously. “We’re not actually heading south.”
“And, on that note, Jack and I are out,” Oak said warmly. “And I’d like to state for the record that we did not hear a single word about Jay committing any felony kidnappings, nosiree.”
Kidnapping? I looked from Jay to the highway through the windshield, then back at Jay as the pieces fell into place. Ah,fuck me.
“I think your line of acceptable behavior is drawn in crayon, Mr. Rain Scent!” I yelled, and I could almost swear I heard him chuckle before he cut the connection.
“Take me home,” I told Jay loudly.
Jay ignored me, and I was 99 percent sure it was deliberate. “As I was saying,” he shouted over the rushing air, “I realized back at the airport that you were getting on a plane to Wyoming to go see Aimee, and that changed everything.”
