The officer chuckles as she pushes some paperwork in front of Lou. “If you could please just read over the statement and sign at the bottom, Ms. Gallo, we can get this wrapped up.”
“And Mr. Winston, if you could email that clip to the address on my card and sign your portion of the statement, we’ll be all set.”
“Not a problem,” I tell her, taking the phone from in front of Lou, who’s been playing the part where I tackle her on repeat since she first saw it. It has to be burned into her brain now.
“We’ll see if we can pull a plate or something off the video, and we’ll be in touch if we need anything else from either of you,” the officer says.
“Okay,” Lou replies, pulling her hand away from my arm to hold the paper in place so she can sign it.
“I’m here for whatever you need,” I tell the lady cop. “Assholes like that shouldn’t be on the road.”
“Agreed,” she says, giving me a smile, “But as long as there are good guys like you out there, the world shakes out in the end.”
Good guys. It’s almost laughable. I’m not a badone. I’m not my brother Liam. But good? I don’t know about that.
After Lou is finished signing, she slides the papers my way, and I riffle through the stack until I get to my statement, which is a little longer than hers. I scribble my name on the line marked “witness,” and everything I can do to catch the guy is done on my end and hers.
“Do you need to call anyone?” the woman asks Lou as I push the stack of papers back in her direction.
“No, I’m taking Oliver to lunch. He’ll give me a ride.”
My mind instantly goes places it shouldn’t. Me on top of her, but instead of layers of winter clothes in a pile of snow, we’re in my bed and both gloriously naked.
“You ready to eat?” Lou asks me.
In my mind, I already am, but instead of a burger, I’m feasting on the taste of her sweet skin. “Yeah.”
“Thanks for coming in so quickly,” the cop says. “Hopefully we catch the guy.”
“I won’t hold my breath,” I mumble because although the Chicago cops love arresting people, they’re shit at finding hit-and-run drivers, no matter how hard they try.
Lou’s hands drop to her stomach. “I need food before I get hangry.”
I smile at her, wondering how hangry she gets andwhat that looks like. I can’t imagine her as anything other than this sweet and sometimes emotionally messy girl beside me.
“Let’s get you fed,” I tell her as I slide the chair back and stand, holding out my hand to her.
“I promise it’ll be the best thing you’ll ever put in your mouth,” she says to me as she places her palm in mine and pushes herself upward off the chair.
“We’ll see about that,” I tell her, but my mind isn’t thinking about a burger.
3
LOU
“What?”my dad asks as he throws a towel over his shoulder, standing above our table and staring at me like I’ve grown an extra head.
Of course, he had to be working this afternoon. He would find out about the accident sooner or later, but I was definitely hoping it was later.
I motion toward Oliver, who looks like he’s a deer in headlights. The man jumped in front of a speeding car, but he suddenly looks petrified in front of my dad.
“Dad, I’m fine. It’s no big deal.”
Dad drops into the open chair at my side and takes my hand in his. “You could’ve died.”
“But I didn’t,” I tell him, turning my head toward Oliver. “He made sure of that.”
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Dad says toOliver, who’s squirming in his seat like he’s sitting in a puddle.
