She smacks the next tears off her face. “Why? So you can tell me how it’s important to be respectful to law enforcement? I did nothing wrong.”
“What? Lily, no. Paul was wrong, but he was responding to a call from someone.”
“So what? The man didn’t even give me time to explain. I woke up to him standing over me all brute asshole going on about how this wasn’t the place to sleep. He practically dragged me out of the store, questioning why I was there in the first place.”
I wince. I’ve never known Paul to be rude, at least not to me, but that’s probably her point.
“He’s not a good man,” she grits out.
I bristle at that. Why? Because she has a hatred for law enforcement. I get it, but it’s not easy work, and it’s like she has zero respect for what we do.
“Why would you say that? I’ve known Paul since high school, he’s always had this town’s interest at heart. You don’t even know him.”
“No, Noah.Youdon’t really know him.” She sniffles, but her voice rises, a mix of frustration and hurt.
“You’ve what? Been in this town for all of five minutes. What is it with you and law enforcement? Get caught doing something illegal and actually had to be held accountable? Damn it, Lily!”
“You don’t even know!” Lily yells at me, her tears spilling faster, fiercer.
Max growls in the back, and I run a hand through my hair.
I turn to her, taking my eyes off the road. “Then tell me. I’ve been trying to know you! Tell me what the hell you have against men like me!”
The tension in the truck is thick, the kind that makes breathing feel labored, and my chest heaves. Lily narrows her gaze, her fists balled up so tight I worry if she’s hurting herself.
She scoffs, whipping her head out her window to avoid looking at me. “Tell you? Please … why would I tell you.”
The back of my teeth grind. “I’m not out to hurt you. I’d never hurt you.”
“Is that the law enforcement training talking?”
“No. Damn it!” I slam an open palm on the steering wheel, and she flinches, her eyes glistening with even more tears. I hate I did that.
Her sob jolts me, but she raises her chin. “I was raped! There, are you happy now? He was the son of the local sheriff in Ruin who did nothing but cover it up. I learned the hard way six years ago that badges don’t just protect the innocent, they protect their own by burying secrets.”
The words hit me like a slap, and I feel sick, the grilled cheese churning over in my stomach.
For a moment, the only sound is her breathing, heavy and uneven. The rawness of what she just told me is palpable. She looks at me, eyes pooling with unleashed tears, and she bites her lip, the anger slowly melting into a trembling chin.
Something closer to understanding flits through me, as I see her, perhaps all of her, for the first time.
“Lily, I’m?—”
“I don’t want your pity, Noah.”
My lips part, but no words come. The silence hangs there, so fragile I’m afraid to speak.
Those words, her words, ring in my ears. “I was raped!”
Who. Who ever thought they could touch her like that, use her, put their hands on her without her permission? And the sheriff coving up his own son’s actions …
My grip on the wheel tightens. The sting from her words, the hollow look in her eyes—it’s too much. I stare blankly at the road ahead as town fades into the background.
My mind spins, replaying her words over and over. “There, are you happy now?”
No. I can’t take a full breath—the dull roar of my anger for her is mixed with an undercurrent of regret. I made her blurt out her traumatic past because I was selfish. I wanted to know why she couldn’t ever look at law enforcement with gratitude, look atmeas anything more, and now I know why.
The deafening blare of a horn shatters my thoughts, and my heart slams into my ribs. Lily shrieks my name as my foot stomps on the brake.
