I offer him a weak smile and nod, feeling guilty that this crap is falling on them.
“Nope. Don’t look like that. This might have started with you, but things have been brewing behind the scenes for a while. I just never had enough proof to do anything about it before. It was getting to the point I started questioning if I was imagining shit.”
“No, you’re not imagining it. Something hinky is definitely going on.” Olivia sighs.
Banner’s truck pulls in behind Wade’s. He jumps out and walks around to me, taking my wrists so he can look at them.
“You get to the hospital and get these checked out?”
I nod as Olivia fills him in on the details.
“I wouldn’t let them interview her before she got medical attention. She had the popped stitches replaced and clean bandages put on. I have to admit, Dr. Fielding, who treated her, was upset. Not at Sorrow. He made a flippant remark about shit like this getting beyond a joke.”
“You think he’s treated other patients where the police have gotten a little too rough?” Wade asks quietly.
Olivia shrugs. “That’s what I got from what he was saying, but I don’t know for sure if that’s actually what he meant.”
“I’ll talk to him,” Wade offers, but Banner shakes his head as he takes one of my hands.
“I’ll talk to him. You might be too close in all this. You’re a good cop and a good man, Wade, but some people wouldn’t be able to see past the badge and lump you all in one.”
“Which is exactly what I’m trying to avoid.” He sighs. “Fine, you look into it, but I want to know what you find out. You got Sorrow covered?”
“I’ve got her,” Banner replies before I can protest.
Oliva walks over and pulls me into a hug. “Let the man look after you. You’ll feel safer having him around. Don’t try to pretend otherwise.”
I pull back and stick my tongue out at her, making her laugh.
Wade comes over and scoops her up, giving me a wink. “See you folks later.”
Banner chuckles before leading me to the passenger seat of his truck. He opens the door and waits for me to climb in. His truck is for giants, not regular-sized folks like me. I try to figure out the best way to get in without embarrassing myself, but let out a yelp when I feel hands at my waist, lifting me in.
I look at him wide-eyed once I’m settled and find him grinning at me. What in the heck? I huff as he closes the door and walks around to the driver’s side before climbing in.
He starts the truck up and heads back to the house as I fiddle with the frayed hem of my shorts. The silence between us doesn’t feel hostile, as it often does, but it doesn’t feel comfortable either. That makes me feel nervous.
As if sensing my discomfort, he slides his hand over my leg, just above my knee. The heat coming off him makes me swallow because all I can think about is his bare skin against mine. I shut off those thoughts before they spiral. Yes, I might havealways had the biggest crush on Banner, but he never saw me as anything more than a kid, then as his brother’s girl after that.
I bite my lip, glad he doesn’t say anything else for the sake of filling in the silence and take a relieved breath when we pull up outside his house.
He stops the truck and jumps out, walking around to help me down before I can open the door. I grip the door to ease myself out, but he’s right there, hands on my hips again, easing me down. This time, my body slides down his, and both of us catch our breath at the contact.
I wait for him to take a step back, but he doesn’t. Instead, his hand slides into my hair and tips my head back. His eyes move over my face, and for a moment, I tell myself he’s just looking at the bruising under my eyes and around my nose. But then his gaze drops to my lips, and my breathing stalls altogether.
For a minute, it’s as if both of us are frozen in time. Then I hear Katy’s voice, and the spell is broken.
He pulls away and looks toward his sister, seeming completely unaffected by what just happened. Here I am, trying to remember how to breathe and stop my legs from buckling.
Katy runs over, bypassing her brother and launching herself at me. She forgets she is taller than me now, and I end up squished between the truck and her boobs.
“I was worried.” She pulls back to look at me.
I touch my hand to my chest and make the okay sign.
“You might be okay, but I’m not. My head kept running off in a million directions. I’d started contemplating baking you a cake with a file in it, just in case.”
It takes a second for her words to sink in, but when they do, I throw my head back and laugh.
