He flops away from Hannah into the backseat, curling up. “I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I forgot to warn you he was in here. Are you okay with him?”
Hannah’s laughter softens, but she still chuckles a bit. “Of course I am. It’s not like you were going to leave him home, right?”
I shake my head. “No way.”
“Sorry I screamed,” Hannah says, her mood sobering. “I’m so on edge, it freaked me out to suddenly have this giant thing on my shoulder.”
“It’s okay. He’s a big lover, but the best fighter when he needs to be. He’ll protect you from a fly if you need it.”
Hannah turns a little in her seat. “You’re a good boy, Arson,” she croons.
I swear, I witness my dog fall in love with the woman in real time. He preens, turning his head to the side and giving her the wickedest puppy dog eyes I think I’ve ever seen him pull. His tongue lolls out to one side, and he literally grins. This motherfucker is going to steal my girl.
“He’s a little shit, that’s what he is.” I narrow my eyes at my dog, who acts like I don’t exist.
“Oh, quiet,” Hannah says, turning back to the front.
My heart has finally slowed, so I settle into the seat, pulling out the envelope and finding the address for the Graff’s house. I enter it into the GPS, cringing internally when the estimated time of arrival says eleven hours and thirty-five minutes.
Hannah looks over at me, and she gives me a curious glance. “I didn’t know you had glasses,” she states.
I reach up and adjust them. “Oh, yeah. I don’t wear them often, mainly at night, or times like now, when my eyes get dry and itchy from wearing my contacts for too long.”
“Makes sense,” she replies, folding her hands in her lap.
“When I was at the police academy, I had to make the switch, because I would be running and doing drills, and they’d fall off my face and I’d be blind as could be. The guys gave me so much shit.”
Hannah giggles, and the sound is like music to my ears. I shift the vehicle into gear, and her laughter dies. “We’ve got this, Han,” I say, reaching over to take her palm again as I pull onto the road. The unmarked suburban follows behind us at a close distance, keeping an eye on us.
She lets out a slow breath, grabbing her water bottle from her backpack on the ground. She opens the lid and slides an ice cube from inside into her mouth.
I move to take my hand away, realizing how much I’vebeen touching her for the last few hours. Perhaps it’s been too much, especially since in reality, we don’t know each other all that well. I’ve always been a physical touch guy.
Only Hannah doesn’t let me get far, her grip tightening on my hand, keeping it locked in hers. I keep my grateful sigh in my chest, but relief seeps through my bones.
“Music?” I ask.
“Not right now, if that’s okay. I think it would be a little too much.”
“Fair enough. Let me know if you change your mind,” I tell her. I grabbed one of my old iPods from my closet in my rush while packing, and made sure the car has a few adapters as well. Since we can’t have our personal phones, hopefully there’s some good music on there.
As soon as we are out of the town limits, the true reality of this situation sinks in. Thankfully, I have eleven hours and fifteen minutes to process it.
18
HANNAH
Igasp and my eyes fly open as I jerk awake. The sun is rising in the distance, and the only thing I can see in front of me is the freeway. I flick my eyes to the rearview mirror, seeing the unmarked vehicle behind us. Still keeping watch.
Thomas’s hand squeezes my palm, and there’s a nudge on my shoulder. “You’re okay, Han.” His voice is low and soothing.
“Sorry,” I sit up straighter. “I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep. How long have I been out?”
“Maybe thirty minutes,” he tells me. Arson pushes at my shoulder again, and I turn in my seat, letting go of Thomas’s hand.
“That’s it?” I question with a yawn, scratching at the top of Arson’s head.
“Yeah. If you want, we can pull over at the next rest stop and get you a bed set up in the backseat. I’m sure you’re exhausted.”
