When Tristen can barelymake it into the cab of the truck after helping me load a busted bike back into the bed without groaning in pain, I know he shouldn’t be driving.
But when we end up at a firehouse back in Barren Ridge, I’m even more shaky. Anxious.
Ready to run the other way.
There’s a grunt when he shifts to park and turns to look at me across the cab.
“I’m not going to apologize for fighting with Ashton. He deserved it, bubs. But Iamsorry that you saw it and that it bothers you.”
My jaw flexes with the bite on my knuckle.
“No one deserves to be hurt, Tristen,” I whisper. “Especially just for something they said.”
“He was being really mean if that makes a difference.”
I shake my head. “People say all kinds of mean things.”
The breath he pulls is loud in the quiet of the cab only to end in a sharp whimper. “Fuck, I need to get inside.”
I nod, though I don’t know why, and grab the door handle to get out.
“Here, bubs.”
Stopping short of hopping down, I turn to find Tristen holding out the keys.
“What are these for?”
His brows meet in the middle. “So, you can get home?”
I stare at the offering, swallowing hard against the thickness that builds.
“I-I-I don’t … know … I can’t.”
Shaking my head, I push out of the cab and start walking toward the entrance we used last time we came here.
“Wait, bubs! What do you mean?” he calls after me and it’s not until I hear the crunch of gravel, the slam of the truck door, and his pained grunts getting closer that I stop.
He pinches the sleeve of my hoodie, and I jolt.
I shove my hands into the big pocket at the front of me when he tugs me around and looks at me with another scrunch to his brow.
“What do you mean?”
“I-I don’t know …how.”
His face falls and I think he finally gets it.
Allowing me behind the wheel is not a good idea.
I was never taught how to. No one ever cared enough to show me and now I’m terrified that I’ll wreck a vehicle that doesn’t belong to me. I shouldn’t be behind the wheel ofanything.
“Okay, that’s—fuck. Okay, c’mon.” His arm wraps around my shoulder, and he tucks me into his side as we walk across the parking lot. If he feels me jerk, he doesn’t say anything about it. “I’ll see if someone is leaving that can take you. Otherwise, you should be good to set up here for a while until I can take a break.”
I blink into the brilliant fluorescent lights that take over my vision when Tristen opens the service door at the sideof the building. A sudden flash has me flinching again, the accompanying wailing sound so loud that I turn into Tristen’s side and press one ear against him, covering the other.
“Tristen…”
His arm curls around me tighter. “Just give it a second, and it’ll be over.”
