Page 28 of Come Back to Me

This isn’t fair.

“What?” she asks, narrowing her eyes a little bit.

“Nothing.”

When we make it to my black pickup truck, she looks like she’s about to have a heart attack. “You still drive the truck?”

I nod. “Uh-huh.”

She curls her fingers into her hands, digging her nails into her skin. “Gray, I can’t.”

“You can’t do what?”

“I can’t get in the truck.”

“Yes, you can.”

“No, I can’t.” Her face glistens from the tears steadily streaming from her eyes. She crosses her arms into the shape of an X, both of her hands landing on her shoulders. “Don’t make me get in there.”

I walk over to her, grabbing her hands with mine. “Unfortunately, I don’t have another option as far as transportation goes.” I pause for a brief moment. “Violet, you are the strongest person I know. You’ve been through hell and back. I have to admit, it was pretty brave of you to come here after all these years. And I’m sorry for being a dick to you. You don’t deserve that.”

“Do you know what happened the last time I was in your truck?”

“I don’t, but we don’t need to talk about that right now. Okay, Angel?”

Wow, I don’t know where that came from.

She sniffles, another tear trailing down her cheek. “I’ve missed hearing that come out of your mouth.”

“You’ve missed hearing what?”

“I’ve missed hearing you call me Angel.”

I can’t lie and say I didn’t miss calling her that either. The nickname makes this wave of nostalgia crash into me. It takes me back to the good times we shared together. Itmakes me miss what we used to have, and maybe we can have that again in the not-so distant future. Although, it’s going to take time for me to trust her again.

Getting into the driver’s side of the truck, I look behind me to see that Violet is still standing there with her arms folded over her chest.

I turn on the engine, rolling down the window and peeking my head out. “Please get in the truck.”

“There’s no way you’re getting me in there.”

Wanna bet?

I get out of the truck, rushing over to her and picking her up.

“Grayson!” she shouts, hitting my back. “Put me down!”

Planting her down on the step of the truck, I put my hands on her waist to balance her, so she doesn’t fall backwards.

She sits on the passenger’s seat, grunting and crossing one leg over the other. She doesn’t look at me at all. She’s staring at what’s in front of her.

Once I get back in the truck, silence swirls around us for a hot moment until I decide to say something. “I’m sorry.”

She whips her head towards me, blinking her eyes like crazy. “I told you I didn’t want to be in here.”

“And I told you I don’t have an alternative mode of transportation.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. Just drive.” She turns away from me, looking out the window.