Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes.He pulled her to his chest.
She needed to get out of the car.To douse herself in cold rain.To remind herself that Liam was gone and he wasn’t coming back and having any kind of feelings for his best friend, whatsoever, was akin to cheating on him.
She sniffed and pulled her head from the cozy softness of his shirt.“I’m going in.”She shoved open the door.A blast of rain hit her face.She squinted against the torrent and lifted her arm to her forehead for shelter.Her feet landed in a puddle and the cold wind sucked the air from her nostrils.
She welcomed all of it—anything to put distance between herself and the turbulent confusion crushing her heart.
***
“Dammit, Jos!”Quinjogged around the car.The cold rain washing over him did nothing to stifle the annoyance flaring off his body.She slipped on the mud path leading to the steps of her front porch and let out a shriek.
He caught her waist as she fell backward into him.“You trying to bust your other damn ankle?”Not taking the risk of picking her up, since she just might deck him this time, he kept his arm around her waist and half carried her up the steps.
He waited for her to pull her keys from her pocket, but she turned the door handle instead.Fresh annoyance seared his neck.“What is it with you small-town people leaving your doors unlocked?”
She limped into the house, barely masking her discomfort, and plopped into one of the kitchen chairs.Mud and water covered her from head to toe.Her loose hair had become even curlier.She glared at him.
“Until an hour ago I didn’t anticipate someone wanting to harm me.”
He worked his jaw back and forth.He couldn’t be mad at her for being trusting.As much as it frustrated him that she’d left her door unlocked and someone wanted to hurt her, it wasn’t in her character to live in fear.
“I get that.Going forward we should probably be more vigilant.”
She sent him a no-shit-Sherlock sneer and pulled the shoe off her injured foot.Propping her leg onto her knee, she circled her hands around the base of her calf.
Quin glanced out of the open front door.“I’ll grab our lunch.”He hustled to the car, grabbed the bags from the footwell on the passenger’s side, and ran back up the steps.After shedding his now-soaked shoes, he put the bags in the fridge then grabbed one of the wooden chairs.It scraped against the floor as he moved it closer to where Josie sat.“Let me look.”
She curled her body so it was a few inches from his reach, her eyes hesitant in her pale face.“It’s fine.I’mfine.”
His fingers twitched.A pang struck him in the chest.She didn’t want him near her.Had he gotten too close?Said something wrong?Josie was smart and intuitive.In the car, he’d said he was sorry.In the moment, it could have meant anything.Sorry she was struggling.Sorry that he could see the memories of Liam on her face.Sorry that he was there instead of Liam.There was a plethora of things he could be sorry for, but she’d probably picked up on the one that was most true.
I’m sorry for wanting you.
Because what kind of lowlife douchebag had even the slightest nonplatonic thought about his dead best friend’s girlfriend?
He cleared his throat, mustering all his macho.“Look.You can kick me out if you want, hate me, hell, you can even hit me if you feel inclined.But don’t be an ass about your ankle because of me.”
She pushed back the wayward hairs from her cheeks and temples looking unaffected by his words.“You know I won’t kick you out.”
Despite the ache in his chest, his mouth lifted into a grin.“But you hate me and perhaps want to hit me?”
Her face relaxed.“Maybe the latter.”
He chuckled as the fire in her eyes died.She let out a thin laugh and then her smiled faltered, taking with it some of the ease on her face.Fuck, grief was the worst thing he’d ever had to deal with and it wasn’t even his own grief that ate at him the most.
She extended her leg so it rested on his knee.“I’m sure it’s just twisted.”
He wrapped his palm around her calf and peeled off her sock.He turned her ankle, pressing around her flesh then feeling for swelling.He brought his thumb to the soft spot between her ankle and top of her foot and she jerked in her seat.
“That hurts.”
He waited until she nodded for him to continue.“I don’t think it’s broken, but probably a sprain.Do you have a Tensor bandage?”
She lowered her foot.“I have all the fixings, but I’d like a bath first.”She groaned and rolled her eyes.“Never mind.My luck and one of the officers will come while I’m in there and they’ll identify you from the most-wanted list.”
He narrowed his eyes.“I’m not on the wanted list.”
She waved him off.“Whatever.Wanted, warrant, same thing.”
