He shook his head against me.
It was the sound of footsteps coming that had me glancing over my shoulder to see a police officer walking around the cars, heading straight for us.
Rip must have too because he tensed. Everywhere. From the thigh under me to the bulk up against my chest, Rip became granite. I took a sniff that told me he smelled lightly of a clean-scented soap and the crispness of a sporty deodorant.
“Nothing hurts?” I whispered the question.
Rip shook his head again.
“I’m sorry about your truck.”
“It’s just a truck,” he replied quietly, surprising me. The weight at my hip moved up until his fingers spanned around my lower ribcage, his fingers molding themselves around my bones.
“The cop is coming,” I warned him, letting my hand drag down his spine once more. I gave him one last hug before loosening my hold, beating him to it. I pulled back, his hand still on my ribs, and met his now bright blue-green eyes. I smiled at him, this knot in my chest forming when I thought about how pale he’d been. “You saved our freaking faces installing those seat belts, boss.”
The body under mine grew hard, but not in the same way it had a moment before. The hand on my rib didn’t move, and the arm connected to it didn’t loosen up either. Rip sat there, letting me stay on his thigh like we had done this a hundred times in the past—me sitting on his lap.
“I’m glad you’re okay and you’re not mad about your truck. I’ll help you fix it if we can.”
The hand on my ribs decided to give me my own squeeze.
He got the next words out of his mouth before the cop interrupted, quietly, gently, and more earnestly than I ever would have imagined. “I’m glad you’re good too, baby girl.”
Chapter 16
Lily had warnedme I was going to be hurting. She had been in a car wreck two years ago. Her friend, the driver, had blown right through a stop sign and gotten T-boned. My little sister had gotten a face full of airbag, two black eyes and a swollen nose, but in all the ways that it mattered, she had been fine.
So when I had texted her the day before to tell her that I’d been in a wreck—because she would have found out somehow and I would have rather been the one to tell her than some other way—she had warned me. Before that, she had chewed me out fortextingher something so serious.What happened?She had basically shrieked at me.
To give them credit, Kyra had texted me immediately afterward too, and Thea had sent me a message just an hour later. She didn’t bring up anything about the weekend, and I hadn’t had the heart to bring it up either.
But going back to Lily, she had said,It’s gonna hurt, sugar tits.
Yet I was still surprised when I woke up that morning and felt like what I’d imagined a person who had gotten run over would feel like. My neck hurt so bad I couldn’t turn my head in either direction. My shoulders ached. Honestly, everything hurt, even the spot right in the center of my chest where Rip’s hand had been.
It took me twice as long to shower and get dressed, twice as long to even go down the stairs, because I swore even my knees had taken a hit. I felt like a robot as I made my breakfast and thanked everything in the world that I’d made enough lunch to last for a few days, even if it wasn’t the tastiest thing I’d ever eaten.
Two painkillers later, I headed toward the door, grabbing the rest of my things and keys.
For one second, I thought about calling out of work. Mr. Cooper knew we had been in an accident. I had called him while the cop had talked to Rip to get his statement. He’d been the one to drive to where we were and pick us up. He had given me the biggest hug ever, giving me the opportunity to feel a faint tremor that shot through his body.
I had seen the long, long look he had cast Rip’s way, as the man made it a point not to look at Mr. Cooper once while I had been around. His eyes had been trained on the tow truck that would be taking his pickup to the shop.
Afterward, the older man had dropped me off at my house and sworn to have someone drop off my car later, giving me another hug and telling me he was glad I was fine after walking me to the door.
But as soon as I thought about calling out, I told myselfno.
I wasn’t dying. There was nothing I could do at home to make it worth staying. If I had to go slower, no one would complain.
Except Jason, but I wasn’t going to waste my time or patience on him. Today was not the day for him to give me a hard time. Not with his two strikes. I opened my front door and took a step out, only to stop dead in my freaking tracks. Because parked in my driveway, behind my car, was a brand-new black double-cab pickup truck.
Sitting clearly in the driver’s seat was Rip.
I blinked. Then I blinked some more, making sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.
I mean, I knew I wasn’t imagining things. This wasn’t some déjà vu, I’m-in-an-oasis-seeing-a-mirage moment. This was real.
Rip was in my driveway.
