Page 5 of Hearts on the Line

“Don’t tell me what to do!” She rolls up her half-eaten taco and stuffs it back into the bag, mumbling to herself the whole time. “Taco Bell is a slow death. I have time.”

The road is nearly invisible as the rain pounds down between us in giant, fat drops. Then a bright streak of lightning cuts through the sky.

“What’s wrong with the car?” I shout.

She glances up, her long brunette hair plastered to the back of a striped Oxford shirt, then begins to laugh.

What the actual fuck?

It’s late and I have to be on the boat in a few hours. But I’m not going to leave her on the side of the road either. I jump out of my truck and slam the door behind me, instantly soaked. My baseball cap shields me from some of the rain, at least, as another roar of thunder echoes above us. Sloane jolts upright.

I’m met by those damn brown eyes of hers—still as dark and daring as they were when she was seventeen. That fire has burned me more than once before.

“What’s wrong with the car?” I ask again, my voice rough.

She’s so close that I shut down for a minute, too overwhelmed. I clench my hands at my side, determined not to touch her.

She shrugs, pushing herself off the hood and skirting around me. Sloane opens the door and waves her arm for me to climb inside. Even in the rain, I spot the giant cushion-cut diamond on her left hand.

The air squeezes from my lungs. I should say something, anything.

“I’m not imagining it. The car broke.”

Broke, right. The car is broken, and the girl who so casually crushed my heart is back after twelve years.

It’s like a fucking time machine. I hate it in here. Hate the memories I have in here. Hate the Bob Ross bobblehead on the dashboard swaying back and forth like he’s taunting me about happy accidents.

“Climb inside at least.” I reach around for the key and try to turn the car over, but I’m only greeted with an unpleasant clunk. Sloane refuses, of course, even as lightning blazes across the sky and the rain falls in an unrelenting sheet. She pulls down her aviators and stands at my side, seemingly oblivious to the car barreling around the corner. I jump out and haul her close as the car speeds by and splashes us.

“What the fuck, man!” she screams, whirling around on the road. She snaps her attention to my hand gently gripping her wrist, and she pulls back, breaking our connection.

Shit, I wasn’t going to touch her.

“I’ll give you a ride,” I yell over the storm. “Come on.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“You want to get hit? I’m sure as fuck not letting you stand out in a storm, and since the Charger isn’t going anywhere…”

She flinches as the thunder roars around us.

“Grab what you need.”

She crosses her arms.

“I swear to God, Sunny…”

She narrows her eyes at me. “I have everything under control. You don’t need to worry about it. I can fix this.”

“Is that why you were eating a taco on the hood of your car?”

“I didn’t realize it was going to rain,” she snaps back. Sloane quickly peeks up at the sky before rattling the car keys in her hands. “Thanks for stopping, Ethan. I can handle the rest.”

“Sloane.” I don’t mean it as a question, and it sure as hell isn’t a plea.

With a quick swallow, she sighs. “Ethan.”

I catch the small waver in her voice, but I don’t break eye contact. “Can’t stay in the rain,” I say finally, breaking the awkward pause.