“Amber.”
“Can you drive safely?”
I closed my eyes and checked for real instead of answering because I wanted him.
Hands unsteady, but manageable. Vision clear. Breathing rough, but not gone. No urge to speed. No urge to do anything stupid with two tons of car and a head full of noise. Just the need to get there and keep both hands on the wheel.
“Yes.”
“Put me on speaker. I’ll text the address, and I’m staying on the line.”
“Okay.”
The word came out smaller than I liked.
His text appeared a second later. An address in one of those neighborhoods you knew because teammates bought houses there and then complained about property taxes like anyone was going to feel sorry for them.
I set the phone in the cup holder and pulled out of the parking lot.
For a while, he didn’t make me talk. He stayed with me. Breathing on the other end. Giving directions before the GPS did, his voice low and certain.
“Left at the next light.”
“I know. GPS says.”
“Listen to me anyway.”
So I did.
That was the part that scared me sometimes. Not the sex. Not the wanting. Not even the risk, though it should have scared the hell out of me.
It was how much easier my body listened to him than it listened to me.
“Right lane,” he said.
I put on my signal.
“Don’t force the merge.”
“I’m not.”
“You considered it.”
“I considered seven things. The merge was one of them.”
“Then cut it down to one.”
I breathed out, rough and long, and let the car settle where it needed to be.
The city moved past in headlights and dark glass. My brain kept trying to split. Vanessa walking away. Olivia’s name sitting where I had no right to touch it. Roman’s face when I told him. Tessa’s inevitable message. Practice. Tape. Did I leave my good tape at the rink? Why the hell was I thinking about tape right now?
“Jace.”
“Yeah.”
“Name five things in the car.”
I swallowed. “Steering wheel. Phone. Cup holder. Receipt. Gloves.”
