“I don’t need—”
He glanced up and down the empty stretch of road before looking back at me.“You got someone else coming to help you?”
The question sat there.
Heavy.
Honest.
“I would have someone coming,” I said, forcing my voice to stay even, “but they’re not in town.”
His head tilted slightly.
“Uh,” I added quickly, because apparently I couldn’t shut up, “Jesse is out of town visiting some friends.Otherwise, I would’ve called him.”
Jude didn’t say anything.
“Uh, I could call Lark,” I went on, because silence made me nervous.“She could—”
“Pop the trunk, Ever.”
The way he said my name, wrapped in it like he’d said it a hundred times and meant every single one, sent a shiver straight down my spine before I could stop it.
He just looked at me, waiting.
I swallowed and turned away quickly, fumbling for my keys as I headed to the back of the car.
Get it together.
I hit the button and the trunk popped open with a dull click.
Jude moved in right behind me, stepping up to the open trunk and immediately getting to work like he’d done this a thousand times before.
I hovered off to the side because apparently that was my role here.
He lifted the floor panel without hesitation, revealing the spare tucked neatly underneath along with the jack and tools.
“Well,” he said, glancing up at me briefly, “you’re in luck.”
“I always am,” I muttered.
He grabbed the spare, hauling it out with ease, and set it on the ground before pulling the jack free.
This was where things got… difficult.Because watching Jude do manual labor should not have been as distracting as it was, but it was.
His T-shirt pulled tight across his back as he crouched, muscles shifting under the fabric in a way that made it very clear he wasn’t just strong, but that he was used to being strong.
Used to doing things like this.
Fixing problems.
Handling shit.
I crossed my arms tighter, trying very hard not to stare.
I failed spectacularly.
He slid the jack under the car, adjusting it with practiced movements before starting to crank it up.
