“Fine,” I huff, making my way to the driver’s side of my car. My clothes are soaked, and I’m freezing. I can’t calm my rapid breathing. He knocks on my window a few minutes later. I roll it down, rain beating on my face. His dark hair hangs on his forehead.
“It’s the alternator. Looks likesheisn’t going anywhere, at least not tonight.” I rub my hands over my face, letting out a breath. When it rains, it fucking pours.
“Thanks for what it’s worth.” I let out a breath.
“No worries. You need me to drop you off someplace? A friend of mine brought my truck over. I could give you a ride.”
“Oh, that won’t be necessary. I’ll just call a towing company. They’ll drop me off.”
“Suit yourself,” he says as he pushes away from the door. I watch him stroll away from the car. I roll up my window and grit my teeth. That man is infuriating. I pull out my cell phone, andsurprise, my battery is dead. I’m going to have to go back inside and use Tamara’s.
I look over to where he is standing at his truck. I don’t want to go back inside. My head is pounding, and an Advil is calling my name. I chew on my lip and glance at him. “Argh, what the heck.”
I gather my bag and stomp over, irritated at how this night turned out. He opens the passenger door, a cocky grin on his face. I climb in, and he walks around the hood, then hops in on the other side. He passes me a small blanket that rests between us.
“Thanks.”
He fumbles with a few dials and turns on the heater. I shudder at the warmth as it seeps into my bones. I wrap my arms around my chest. “So, where to, Nightingale?”
I snap my head to face him, mumble out the directions, and decide it is too much effort to say anything. I look the other way instead.
“I’m Aidan, by the way,” he tells me.
“I didn’t ask,” I murmur. I can feel his eyes on me, and it makes the skin at the back of my neck stand on end. He puts on some music and hums along to it. He turns it down after a few minutes.
“You don’t talk much, do you?”
I frown at him. “I talk when I want to.”
He smirks at me, then focuses back on the road. This is going to be a long drive. He smells good, though, like fire and wood, and something else, something I can’t quite place. It should put me off. It doesn’t. It makes this badass seem almost human. Almost, I think, as he catches my gaze. There is something in those stormy eyes I recognize. A hint of sadness and fear I know well.
“Ocea,” I tell him.
“Yeah, I got that back in the hospital,” he tells me. “Fire and water.”
“What?”
“Our names, mine means fire, and yours means water.” I let that sit for a bit.
“Explains why I can’t stand you.”
He laughs. It bubbles up from deep inside him, and I can’t help but smile. “A lethal combination.”
4
Aidan
Isit in the emergency unit of the hospital. “How are you feeling, man?”
“Like I could run a marathon.” Kyle grins. I don’t smile back. “Come on, dude, lighten up. We got that family out; they’re safe. You came in and dragged my sorry ass out of there too.”
“What if I waited a few minutes longer?” I growl.
“You didn’t! Come on, Wild. Every man’s safety is not on you.”
This is why becoming friends with Kyle in the first place was so difficult. I don’t need to worry or get attached to people. “Gabriella could have lost you, man.”
“And I get to tell her that she didn’t. That Uncle Aidan saved me.”
