Mud from the grill will no doubt be leaving marks on his white shirt and I can’t stop thinking about his father saying I’m dirtying his son.
Roman spent the last week convincing me I’m not a screw-up but he doesn’t know the whole story. I already have the reputation, all it would take is one word from his father and I’d have the charges to match.
“Whatever you’re thinking, stop it.” Roman pushes away from the truck, the headlights casting his features in a dark shadow.
“I was thinking how beautiful you looked tonight,” I say, because it’s not entirely a lie and I don’t want to tell him the ugly truth.
Roman closes the distance between us, his fingers tucking a stray purple strand of hair behind my ear. “Let me take you home, Lola.”
I’m so tempted to go with him. To disappear inside the stables with Roman and touch him until he’s all I can feel. But I know if we go back to his place, I’ll never find the nerve to tell him what happened tonight. What happened six years ago. And I need to do it now. I don’t want Roman to find out from his father, or, hell, when the police turn up to arrest me. No, I have to be the one to tell him.
“I need to go back to my place,” I say. “I’ve got an early delivery.”
Roman’s tongue darts out, wetting his bottom lip before his teeth drag over it. “Alright. Let’s get you home, Firebird.”
The ride to the shop reminds me of the first time Roman drove me to my apartment. Except then, even as upset as I was, chemistry sparked between us. Now, the front of the truck is silent and stifling, only the engine humming.
That day, I dared to hope there could even be an ‘us’ and I’m trying to ignore how it feels like that hope is being run over with every turn of the tires.
I kick off my heels and draw my knees up to my chest, staring at the lonely stars through the window. It takes pretty much the whole drive for me to get the words to move from my mind to my mouth.
“I need to tell you something,” I whisper against the window before shifting to face Roman.
He glances my way, then flicks the blinker as we turn onto Main Street. “You need to tell me what my father said to you.”
I bite my lip. “I know. I will, I just… I did something and I—” Blue lights catch my eye, flashing across the street. My heart kicks up a sudden storm. “Oh my god.”
Roman looks at me, then straight ahead. “Oh fuck.” He yanks the car to the side of the road and I’m tugging at my seatbelt, my fingers pushing open the door before the truck’s even stopped.
“Lola, wait!” Roman calls but I’m already running towards my shop, or at least what’s left of it.
A sharp sting pierces the sole of my foot, but I keep going. Officer O’Connor steps away from the police car, ready to intercept me, but Roman gets there first. Strong arms loop around my waist, lifting me off the ground.
“Lola, stop. The glass.”
I grip Roman’s forearm, my mind scattered into broken shards as I try to make sense of what I’m seeing.
The shop windows are smashed, glass shattered across the sidewalk. The door’s been bashed in, its handle hanging off the wood. My stomach plunges to the bottom of the ocean.
Glass cracks under O’Connor’s boots as he approaches but I can’t take my eyes off the shop.
“What the fuck happened?” Roman asks.
O’Connor sighs and dips his head towards where his partner is talking to a man leaning against the bricks, his hoodie pulled up, his hands cuffed behind his back. “Rob Carson happened.”
The veins in my body ice over. Roman shifts in front of me, blocking Rob’s eyeline but not before I see the vicious gleam in his eyes.
“How does it feel?” Rob yells, pushing off the wall with his shoulders. “How does it feel to have your entire life destroyed?”
“Enough!” the uniformed officer barks, pressing Carson back up against the wall.
My head spins. Moonlight makes the glass on the sidewalk glimmer. I take my heels dangling from Roman’s fingers and slip them back on.
“The shop alarm went off and Beli called it in,” O’Connor tells us. “We were able to get down here before he did a runner. He’ll go back to prison for this, Lola. You don’t have to worry about him.”
I nod, my lips tingling. I can’t stop staring at the gaping hole where the front shop window used to be. “How much damage is there?” I ask.
Roman squeezes my hand. “We’ll figure it out.” He tries to draw me into his arms, but I pull away, moving towards the shop.
