“You don’t know where we’re going?”
“I don’t know if you’ve realized this or not, but it’s been one disaster after another since the moment we met. So, no, I have’t been able to get a plan in place just yet. What about you? Where do you plan on going? Why are you still with me? Where do you see this ending?”
I couldn’t give him a hard time for not knowing because I didn’t know either. I was limited on funds. I had nobody to rely on and no plan in sight.
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
He glanced over at me. “What was your plan before crashing your boyfriend’s car?”
I shrugged. “Steal his car to get out of town.”
“That was it?”
I nodded. “I figured I’d get away, find some place to settle down, use the little bit of money I have to plant roots, get a job, and start over.”
“How much money do you have?” he asked, not looking at me but keeping his attention on the road in front of us.
“A few grand. Why?”
His brows lifted. “Because I’m broke right now. I don’t know how far we’ll make it without having any money.”
“The money I have isn’t to fund whatever kind of trip this is. It’s to restart my life.”
“I get that, but without it, we’ll be back to walking by nightfall.”
I looked at the gas gauge and saw how close the car was to being on empty.
I sighed. “Fine, I’ll pay for gas.”
“I was about to get paid when you wrecked that for me.”
“I said I was sorry.”
“All I’m saying is that if you allow us to use your money now to get us through, I’ll pay you back once I have the next payday lined up.”
“And by payday, you mean when you find another car to steal and sell?”
He just looked at me. “It’s all I have right now.”
I scoffed and shook my head.
“That’s what they all say,” I muttered, turning to look out the passenger side window.
“What?”
“I heard my dad say it a million times. This is all we have, this is all we have to do, one last time, and I’m done. There’s always something that pulls you back, and I don’t want to be a part of it. That’s why I’m trying to start over. This life isn’t for me.”
“It isn’t for me either.”
I turned my head to look at him.
His eyes were moving back and forth between me and the road. “I’m tired of it. I hear you. I was trying to get out. I stole that car, and I was on my way to deliver it to the buyer. I was going to take the money and go, find a life outside of all this shit, but then here you come. In a second, it was all gone.” He snapped his fingers. “You act like you’re so much better than the criminals you’re forced to be around, but if you can crash into my life, fuck up my plans, and use me to get out of your shitty situation without even offering to help me out of the mess you brought to my door, you’re no better.” His jaw flexed, and hishand tightened on the wheel, causing his knuckles to turn white with pressure.
It felt like I was punched in the stomach by guilt, because he was right. He was trying to get out, just like I was. I messed that up for him, so it was my duty to help.
I took a deep breath. “You’re right. I-I’m sorry, Oliver.”
He frowned as he continued driving.
