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“The man broke mum’s vase, but it doesn’t really matter, and I don’t know why I’m getting bloody emotional about it.” He sniffed and clung to me.
The thoughts in my mind were spinning every which way, clacking together like marbles before they shot off in different directions. Someone my mother had hired not only hurt Tav, but destroyed something he loved? The shit at work pissed me off, but it was nothing compared to this. I ground my teeth and gave him a hard squeeze.
“Don’t have many things from her,” he mumbled.
“Shit, I’m so sorry, Puffin. This never should’ve happened. You didn’t deserve to lose anything. Let’s go get the rest of your things and bring them to my house.” I leaned back a bit, and he sat up, but his strong shoulders were still slouched. I brushed the hair away from his face, but nothing I did seemed to get rid of the haunted look in his eyes. “Talk to me.”
He glanced toward the dash as another car drove by. The rain pelted the roof of the old truck, smashing down harder. “What if this doesn’t work out? What if you wake up one day next year, or hell, even next month, and you’re sick of me? Sick of this trouble?”
“Won’t happen.” Hurt and anger swirled in my gut. I grabbed his hands and squeezed. He hissed, and I frowned down. One of his hands was crusted with smears of dried blood. I brought it up and kissed the heel of his palm. The nicks didn’t seem too terrible, but I hated everything about this. “You’re afraid to get rid of your trailer?”
He shrugged and yanked out of my grip to scrub his hands over his face. A deep sigh flowed from him. The tears were still dripping; although, they seemed to be coming slower. “It’s been the roof over my head for a long time. It wasn’t much, but it kept me safe.”
I sat back, feeling like I’d been slapped in the face. “I’ll keep you safe.” He shifted away from me, and I realized I was close to shouting, but I felt so out of control that I didn’t try to rein it in. “What do I have to do to make you trust me?” I slammed a fist onto the steering wheel and jumped when the horn blasted.
“I do,” he muttered.
“You don’t. If you did, we could’ve gone to your trailer for whatever you wanted this evening, but you didn’t wait. You didn’t want me there. I wasn’t there when you got hurt.” My chest squeezed and I dragged in a deep breath.
Tav’s trademark smile was nowhere to be seen, and I hated the steady glare he blasted me with. “It’s not only me I have to think about. Ellis is counting on me,” he snapped. “I have to protect him, too.”
“Not from me! I’m on your team! I swear! I always have been.” I shook the steering wheel and flopped back against the seat, feeling defeated.
He gave me a look that was so raw I had no idea what he was thinking, but I leaned in and captured his lips again. Desperation pushed me forward until Tav whimpered.
“Shit,” I whispered, kissing along his jaw to the bruise that was already turning a livid shade of purple and red. I lightly brushed my lips over it. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
“You didn’t,” he rasped. “I feel so fucking confused right now.”
“Trust me,” I growled out. “You don’t need to be confused about me.” I lightly tapped the bruise. “We’re going to file a report with the cops.”
He sighed, sounding world weary. “No one will care, and if they do, they won’t believe who I say is behind it. Why bother?” He pursed his lips and shook his head. “Besides, you look worse than I do.”
“I’m taking you home, then,” I grumbled, sitting back into the driver’s seat hard.
“What about your car?” he asked softly while grabbing his phone.
“I do not give a single fuck about that car, Tav. I care about you!” I glared at him out of the corner of my eye, angry and confused. I knew frying him with the volcano of bullshit swirling in my brain wouldn’t be helpful, but I was still trembling on the inside. I’d been convinced I would never see him again when I’d set out to find him.
Halfway home I was grumping about the shot suspension and the way it felt like we were bouncing over ruts even though we were on a paved road.
Tav chuckled. “She’s a sassy lass, but she gets me where I need to be.” He hissed and glared over his shoulder at the seat. “There’s a spring coming out to greet me, though. I didn’t realize how bad it was. I should see if I can twist it back in.”
“Let me buy you a new one,” I said hopefully.
Tav covered his eyes with his hands and chuckled weakly. “Yeah, that’s the perfect way to prove everyone right.”
It was a relief to pull into the driveway in front of my house and shut off the truck. I turned toward him. The rain was still pelting the roof, dropping buckets on the world. “There is no everyone. Anyone who is actually my friend won’t think anything of it, and fuck everyone else!”
“You’d be handing out a lot of fuck yous,” he said, pointing at me with a smirk that flooded me with amusement, but then, he touched his jaw, and I was right back to being pissed off again.
“Come on,” I said, getting out of the truck. I rushed for the house through the rain, and he followed while awkwardly stuffing the truck keys into his pocket.
“You left the keys. Someone might steal her.”
I glanced back at him to see if he was serious, but there was an entertained gleam in his eyes. He was cute with his hair dripping wet and looked a hell of a lot like the boy I remembered. We’d never really fought when we were younger, and Tav didn’t hold grudges. Warmth flooded me and I dragged him into a hug.
We clung together in the doorway for a ridiculous amount of time, and when he leaned back his face was dry, but he was sniffing. I pressed my forehead to his.
