It feels like it is more than that. I’m not sure many people would put their own lives at risk to save a stranger, but he did it without a second thought.
“Cop’s here,” he says, reaching for his door handle. “Stay put. I’ve got you.”
And for the first time in my life, I think a man finally does.
2
OLIVER
Liam stepsout of his truck, and his eyes go straight to the wreck a good thirty feet off the side of the highway where the cop is taking notes. Her car’s a pile of shit, smashed against a bank of trees. “Well, shit,” he mutters, running his hand back and forth over the top of his head. “This is gonna be a bitch.”
The temperature has risen throughout the day, and the sunshine that finally decided to make an appearance is doing a number on the snow covering the ground. My truck would get stuck in the mud before I’d make it halfway to its destination, but I figured Liam’s could do it without an issue.
“Should I call someone else?” I ask him as the cop walks our way with his fancy clipboard and my driver’s license that I’d given him when he first arrived.
“Nah, man. I got it. She’s lucky she wasn’t in it,”he says as he ticks his chin toward the back of the woman’s head while she waits in the cab of my truck.
“She was outside of it, but I got her out of the way.”
Liam’s eyes widen. “Are you crazy?”
I shrug. “Was I supposed to watch her die?”
“No, but damn, Oli. Ma would’ve lost her shit if you’d gone off and gotten yourself killed.”
My brother. He’s so poetic with his words.
“Sir, here’s your license back and hers,” the cop says, handing me everything, including her stuff. “If you could have her come down to the station on South Halstead to give a statement and drop off the dashcam footage before the end of the day, we’d appreciate it.”
“Will do,” I tell him, stashing our stuff in my side jacket pocket.
“Sir,” the cop says, tipping his head toward my brother.
“Officer,” Liam says through his teeth, hiding his sneer behind his unkempt beard.
Liam’s never been a fan of law enforcement, especially in the city. He spent way too much time with them as a teenager because he was always doing dumb shit and getting caught. Despite his best efforts, he didn’t have the smarts for a life of crime.
Liam’s eyes are trained on the cop as he walks back toward his cruiser. “I’m surprised they even bothered showing up.”
“Hit-and-run always gets their blood pumping.”
“They do love to arrest people,” he says, and he’d know. I’ve never been arrested in my life, but my brother…he has a frequent customer card with the county jail.
“You got this?” I ask, glancing toward my truck and the pretty girl tucked inside.
“Yup,” he snaps. “You got her?”
I nod. “Always.”
“She hot?”
“Yeah. She’s way too pretty for you, man.”
“Bullshit,” he mutters. “No such thing.”
My brother is good-looking, and boy, oh boy, does he know it. But he has a knack for ruining sweet things like her. He sucks them in and quickly turns their world upside down, leaving them a bigger mess than her smashed-up car. I won’t let that happen with her. She’s too nice for that…too sweet.
“She’s mine, Liam.”
