He offers me a crooked smile. “Do you want solutions, or comfort right now?”
Solutions, I think to myself. But the word won’t come out. Tears clog my throat, so I just shake my head.
Hesitating, he gently pulls me into the circle of his arms. The moment it happens, a calm washes over me. His steady heart thuds against my right ear, and I sniffle back the remaining tears. I never realized how hard his chest was until this morning when he hugged me the first time, or how having my face pressed against it would still my current of anxious thoughts.
He releases me too soon. I’m still lost in the hug and the way it felt when he says, “Let me drive you home.”
“I can drive myself.”
“I know you can. But you’re clearly exhausted and upset, and I’d feel better if you let me take you home.”
I nod, because I simply don’t have it in me to put up a fight right now and still be polite about it. “Okay.” My tone is stiff because things feel too close between us after that hug. And I need some distance, because right now, it’s getting hard to think straight.
Chapter Thirteen
BASH
It’s pouring outside.Romilly ducks into my car and buckles herself in. I want to laugh at the way she hastily avoids the rain because, for once, her clothes are wet from the dogs we worked on. A combination of her subtle lavender scent and the fruity smelling dog products from the day swirls in the air around us. “This is just a ploy to get me to trust you, isn’t it?” She smiles as she says it, so I’m sure it’s supposed to be a joke, but for some reason, it doesn’t sit right. Maybe because her smile looks so tired and defeated.
“Does that happen to you a lot?”
“No.” She laughs. “Well, actually, just once, but it doesn’t matter.”
I frown, hoping if I stay silent she’ll continue. Elaborate. She does.
“I had an ex named Cole. He really was the sweetest guy. The whole package, honestly.”
A knot of jealousy forms in my gut at hearing her say “the whole package.” I have no idea what that means to her, but I doubt it’s anything close to someone like me—a privileged rebel who likes to fight people.
“He used to go out of town a lot for work,” she continues, “and one day he never came back and stopped returning my calls. Everything was going great between us. We didn’t get in a fight or anything, but he just…left.” She says it so pleasantly, as if we’re discussing her favorite animal. “He eventually reached back out and admitted he’d been seeing another woman out of town the entire time, so that explained all the trips.” A small laugh. “And the not coming back.”
My thoughts cloud over as I imagine what she’s saying. How worried she must have been when he never came back, never returned her calls. How confused she must have felt, and eventually, how angry. It explains so much about her. “He let you down,” I mutter. “That excuse for a man destroyed your trust, didn’t he?”
She’s silent. I risk a glance at her, but she’s staring out the window. I return to the road. “Romilly…I can’t even begin to explain how angry that makes me. That someone could do that to you. You’re so kind, and intelligent, and lovely.”
Way to say too much, Bash. You’re going to scare her away.
But I feel her gaze shift to my face. “Thank you.”
There’s a clear tension in the air between us as I drive. Neither of us speaks for a long moment. The only sound is the raindrops pelting against the windshield, and Romilly tapping her fingers against the car door as if she’s deep in thought. “What about you? Any heartbreakers leave their mark on you?” With a slight eye-roll, she grins at me.
“As someone who’s spent a great deal of life avoiding long-term relationships, I’m afraid not.” The statement should make me feel smug, but it makes me feel uneasy, as if Romilly’s going to judge me now.
But she sighs. “I totally get it. I sometimes wish I’d done the same, to be honest.”
A deep sense of comfort settles over me. Being around her makes me feel at ease in a way I never have. I enjoy her presence.
There’s still a tiny part of my brain that whispers,no, Bash. You’re tired of being controlled, and love will only tie you down.
But it’s not as if I’m going to fall in love with Romilly. Dating her doesn’t guarantee that. And I can’t deny it anymore—I want to date her. For the first time in my life, I actually want to see where a deep, meaningful connection might take me. But only because it’sher. No one else has ever made me want to try so badly.
I glance at her. “Romilly, I?—”
A loud crash against the hood of the car makes me slam on my brakes.
What in the world?
My body pushes hard into my seatbelt as the tires screech against the wet asphalt. As the car lurches sideways, my temple smacks the doorframe with a sharp crack that leaves my vision flashing white.
