“I got you,” he says, and for the first time in a long time, I feel like someone cares more about me than themselves.
But the sad part is, he’s a stranger.
What does that say about the men in my life?
Lucas was the biggest disappointment and heartbreak of my life. I lost all faith in the typical fairy-tale romance bullshit I was fed as a child. No man can say he loves a woman, only to leave her standing at the altar in her wedding gown with hundreds of people as witness to the most embarrassing moment of her life.
Of course people felt bad for me, but I heard the whispers about how there must be something wrong with me to have a man like Lucas ditch me in such a horrible way. I don’t know how I became the problem when he was screwing someone else for monthswithout my knowing. He never planned to go through with the wedding, but he was too chickenshit to cancel ahead of time.
“Thanks,” I say as my cheeks flush from embarrassment more than the cold.
But to my surprise, he doesn’t pull his hand away from my arm. “It’s slippery out here.”
I don’t correct him. The last thing I want him to know is that I almost fell because of his niceness and not from the ice.
With my one free hand, I press the car remote in my pocket, making the horn beep. My eyes lock on the mountain of snow covering my small sedan. What a mess.
I can’t believe I let Sandy and Mikayla bully me into this. They signed me up for a dating app without my knowledge, found a match, and scheduled this casual meeting for a drink. They said two years of swearing off men because of what Lucas did was long enough. It was time for me to get back out there and play the field. This was supposed to be my icebreaker, which is laughable because there’s plenty of ice, but not because of a man.
When we get to my car, the bartender uses his arm to sweep the snow away from my door as I stand by with my mouth hanging open. The man is going out of his way to be nice to me, and I don’t understand why. But I’m also not about to ask or reject his help, because the snow is ridiculous.
“Get in and get it started. I’ll clean off the car,” he says, still sweeping across the windows with his arm.
“I have a brush,” I tell him as I open the door.
“That would help,” he says with a smile.
He’s handsome, but it’s his kindness that’s more striking to me than his good looks. Don’t get me wrong. His features would make any woman with eyes look twice and possibly drool a little.
I reach into the back and grab the snow brush. “Here,” I tell him, sticking it out to him as I situate myself in the front seat.
He takes it without a word and gets to work brushing off the huge pile of snow.
I push the start button, and nothing happens. I don’t even wait another second before trying again, and there’s still nothing but silence.
Don’t do this to me.
This can’t be happening. My car has always started. It’s been the most reliable thing in my life.
“Start, damn it,” I whisper to the steering wheel like I can magically will the damn machine with my mind. “You have to start.” I take a deep breath before pressing the button again, but nothing.
The silence is deafening, other than the brushstrokes against the windshield. Now what am I going to do? The streets are a mess everywhere. I didn’t see one cab on the walk over here. The snow is even too deep for them to run and make a profit. Thetrain is nearby, but I don’t live anywhere near a station. What a freaking mess.
“Everything okay?” he yells through the partially cleaned-off windshield.
“Um, not really.”
He stalks back to my side of the car and pops his head into the cabin since I left the door open. “What’s wrong?”
“The car won’t start.” I can feel tears starting to prick the corners of my eyes. They’re quick to form in this type of frigid cold.
“Well, shit,” he hisses.
My sentiments exactly.
“It’s okay. I’ll wait here for a tow. You can go back and get yourself warm.”
A tow truck can easily get through this weather and drop me off at home before taking my car to an auto garage nearby.
