“Erm . . . no . . . I don’t do a lot of deliveries myself. I usually ship it, but I . . . I don’t really know if I lucked out or not today with everything lining up the way it did.” Faltering slightly, I gulped down the dense lump in my throat as memories battered my eyes. I could barely wrap my head around what had happened, my poor car. My gaze slid to Spyder, and I gnawed on my inner cheek absently; was he even qualified to work on my car? “Is Spyder a mechanic?”
“He can fix your car, no problem. He’s not a mechanic, but he owns a junkyard and, well, you know what they say. You have to know your enemy to defeat it.” Swinging to Hailey, my eyes widened when she threw back her head and laughed at her own joke. “He hates cars. Always has, since we were kids. Good thing about that, though, is that in order to best destroy them, he’s gotta know how they work. That’s what he says, anyway. I think he secretly likes being called and asked to work on a car. He practically built his girlfriend’s car with his own hands, and if he doesn’t know how to do something, he asks someone that does know.”
Relief slumped my shoulders as fondness shone in Hailey’s tone, and she sat back to grab my hand and just hold it. Electricity slithered up my arm, but I didn’t pull back. She seemed like the kind of person that just loved life and everyone and everything in it, and even the incident earlier couldn’t shake her brightness. And God knows I need a little light right now.
“What about you, Nicole? How’d you and Bruiser meet?” I opened my mouth only to be cut off by a shrill ping, and I released Hailey’s palm to snatch my phone from my lap. Jackie’s face flashed on the screen, and I stood up to walk toward the house and away from everyone. My gut tightened as I swiped the green button upward, and I almost winced before even touching my phone to my ear.
“Before you start yelling at me, I just need you to not, Jackie. Can you come pick me up?” Circumventing my sister, stunned silence rang on my line at my wobbly tone, and I glanced over my shoulder nervously. “Please. I had . . . I got into an accident and my car—”
“I’m on my way. Where are you? Are you okay? Do you need a hospital? Sam! Sam, get your ass in the car!” Flinching at Jackie’s piercing shriek, I sniffled a little under her flurry of questions, and keys jangled over the line. “What happened? Are you okay? Is it your fault? Did you not look left, right, left again?”
“Um, no. Some crazy people shattered my back window and knocked off my mirror while I was on a delivery. I don’t know. I know I’ve b—”
“Who cares about that! Text me the address. I’m on my way! I’ll kick some people’s asses! I’ll—” I jumped when rough fingertips touched my shoulders, and I twisted before exhaling a shaky breath. Jackie just continued shouting angrily through the phone, and Bruiser leaned against the house to cross his arms over his chest. Staring at me levelly, his jaw ticked, and the tattoos up his arms writhed. My sister’s anxious babbling droned into static, and I tightened my grip on my phone when he reached to grab my arm and pull me to him.
He was warm, his muscles firm as he wrapped me in security, and I closed my eyes to savor Bruiser’s embrace. Burying a big hand in my hair, he scratched my scalp tenderly, and my knees weakened.
The silence was thick, clinging to the roof of my mouth as the thin space between my brain and skull flooded with Bruiser’s musky smell. The faint tickle of leather curled my nose hairs as I buried my face in his hard chest. Cupping the back of my head, he shuffled to lean against the siding flat, and colorful spots dotted the edges of my vision.
Bruiser massaged my scalp and tugged on my hair almost lovingly as if he was trying to relish this sensation. As if he wouldn’t have the opportunity again. Goosebumps swept up my arm and across my chest, and I shivered against him in bliss.
“You’re so sweet, baby.” Tears pricked my eyes at Bruiser’s mumble against my crown, and his chest rumbled in a deep, comforting hum. Gripping his cut with trembling, white-knuckle fists, I couldn’t beat back the sting beating against my eye sockets or the fiery lump in my throat.
Chapter Twenty
Bruiser
Flexing my hands by my sides, I fought a scowl as Nicole’s sister’s fierce, red car pulled off and disappeared beyond a stop sign. Jackie was probably on par with Hailey with how irritating she was, but at least I didn’t have to deal with her curb-stomping my ass. That bitch automatically assumed that I’d done something wrong, and maybe, I had
Maybe, I should’ve never asked Nicole to meet me at the bank in Provo. Maybe, I could’ve been a bit more forceful about keeping her out of Saint George. Nicole was a soft soul, and here I was, knowingly tainting it.
Grasping at my shirt where her tears glued the fabric to my skin, I rasped a sigh and shook my head viciously. “She got me bad.”
“I’d say.” Turning as Cole scuffed his heel against the driveway, I rubbed the back of my head with my free hand awkwardly. “That was nice of her. Too bad she won’t be
