AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“When it comes to you, I’m not giving her a choice.”
Simon grabs my arm and drags me out of the door, but not before I catch a wicked gleam in Earl’s eyes.
Simon slams the door behind us, then backs me up until my back is flush against cool metal. I turn to see what it is, and it must be his truck.
“What do you think you’re doing coming here? Earl is the sketchiest guy in town. I can’t believe you’d put yourself at risk like that.”
It’s hard to listen to him rant when his lips are still swollen from our kiss.
“Are you listening to me, Nina? Next time you want to be pissed off at me, at least stay near me so you don’t end up in a graveyard.”
“Next time? I’m still pissed off at youthistime. I doubt that will ever end.”
He opens the truck door, still red in the face with rage. “I can live with your anger, but I can’t live knowing something bad happened to you. Get in the truck, Nina.” He takes a breath, his wide shoulders rising and then falling as the tension melts away. “Please.”
Without causing a fuss, I climb into the oversized truck. When I’m safely in the seat, he slams the door shut harder than necessary. Watching him walk around the truck is out of my control. He’s wearing a baseball cap riddled with oil streaks and it’s on backwards, causing his long dirty blonde hair to curl under it. Paired with the tight shirt stretched across his chest hugging his muscular biceps, the anger drops from a boil to a low simmer.
He opens the driver’s side, slides into the seat, and starts the truck. The engine grumbles to life, reminding me of the growl he made in the motel. The chiseled line of his jaw becomes more defined as he clenches his teeth together, then side-eyes me with those amber irises.
Simon leans over the middle console, raising his arm.
“Wh—What are you doing?” I ask, pulling away until my head hits the window.
He smirks, grabs the seatbelt, and then tugs it across me until it clicks. “Precious cargo. Got to keep you safe.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t need you keeping me safe. I’ve been fine for ten years without you. I don’t need you swooping in now.”
He doesn’t say anything because what could he possibly say to that? Instead, he wraps his hands around the steering wheel, flexing them with irritation before putting the truck in drive. The tires spin on the gravel, throwing rocks against the motel’s door.
The ride is silent and filled with tension. Not even the radio playing a song I don’t know through the speakers is enough to make this any less awkward.
We pass the garage where he works. My car is inside, lifted, and one of the workers is tinkering under it.
“Wow, he’s already working on it,” I mumble, hoping by some miracle my car will be ready by tomorrow.
“I have your bags in the back. Your car won’t be ready for a while if he can fix it at all.”
I turn to him, my hair falling down my shoulder. “I need to get home, Simon. The sanctuary—“ I close my mouth. “Never mind. Why would I tell the one person who doesn’t care about the lions?”
“I care, Nina. We have a lot to talk about. I’m not saying what I did was right, but please, let me explain my side to you before you completely write me off.”
I want to sass a reply. I want to cry. I want to wrap myself around him and never let him go.
I want to make a wish under the mistletoe with him.
I want to tame the runaway in his heart.
Yet I also know I need to protect myself from him. If I’m not careful, I’ll be opening a Pandora’s box of emotions that I’ll never be able to close.
“If anything, I’ll take you home. You don’t have to worry.”
I snort in disbelief. “You haven’t been home in ten years. You’d take me home, and then what? Drop me off, roll down the window, and wave goodbye? I’d rather get a taxi, Simon.”
“God, you are just as maddening and stubborn as you were ten years ago,” he grumbles under his breath.
“I have plenty more where that came from.”
He shakes his head as the truck slows, the blinker clicking just as he takes a left onto a dirt road. It’s flanked by naked trees that I’m sure are beautiful in the spring. The road is bumpy causing me to bounce so hard, I have to grip the door for support.
