Chapter 10
Amelie
I finally make my way to the door and slip outside. Taking in several lungfuls of night air helps me get my bearings as I walk towards my car.
Something doesn’t look right as I get closer, and from a few feet away, I realize the front left tire is completely flat.
“Damn it!” I lean my arms against the window and rest my head on my hands. “I just want to go home.”
“I’ll be glad to take you,” a quiet voice says behind me.
I jump and squeal, spinning around, then sigh in relief when it’s Carter. “God, you scared me to death. Why are you out here?”
“I saw you slip out, and I contemplated not following you for about 30 seconds, but then I remembered I still had your phone. Even if I hadn’t, I wanted to at least make sure you got to your car okay. If you need space or aren’t feeling this anymore, I understand. It seems like you’re pretty overwhelmed at the moment.”
I feel the tell-tale burn in my throat that signals the waterworks switch is about to flip, and I do not want to cry in front of him. He won’t likely stick around after that. Who wants to deal with a blubbering woman, especially one they’ve just met?
Lifting my chin and looking up at the sky, I take a few deep breaths, and I forbid the tears from falling. But when he walks closer and lays a hand on my cheek, he sees them, pooling there, waiting to escape.
“Why the tears?” He doesn’t sound weirded out or put off. He sounds… concerned. Truly, totally concerned.
“I told you why. I can’t figure this out.” My breath speeds up, becoming erratic, and my hands move awkwardly. “I don’t like this. This contact, the touching, it’s beginning to freak me out because it’s not freaking me out. And I don’t know what to do with it. I hold a master’s degree in psychology, a doctorate in psychiatry, and a medical license I worked really damn hard to earn. I know how the brain works from all angles. And for crying out loud, I specialize in relationships. Physical relationships, at that. But somehow I can’t seem to fix myself.”
One lone tear chases the curve of my cheek and falls to the ground at my feet before I can catch it. And my biggest fear slips out of my mouth before I can reel it back inside.
“So, who the hell is going to come to me for help when I can’t even help myself?”
Carter’s thumb wipes the trail of wetness my tear leaves behind and smiles at me kindly. “Come for a ride with me?”
If he’d done anything besides ask, I’d have planted my feet and refused, but something about the question softens my resolve. I nod and take the hand he offers. He leads me to a truck about forty feet away from my car and opens the passenger door, helping me up.
“Text Suzette. Let her know you’re okay. I don’t want her to worry, especially if she sees your car here with a flat tire.” He holds my phone out to me, and nodding silently, I shoot a quick text to my best friend.
Amelie
With Carter. Flat tire. Talk later.
Suzette
Reeeeeallly? ;) Have fun, bestie.
Amelie
You can’t see me, but I just rolled my eyes at you.
Suzette
How did I know? :) Love you!
Amelie
Love you.
Carter slides behind the wheel, and I tuck my phone away. “Okay, she knows I’m with you, so if I end up dead…or worse…she’ll know it was you.”
“Or worse?” he asks with a chuckle. “What’s worse than dead?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I’m sure there’s something.”
The sound of his laugh echoes against his window as he looks before pulling onto the road. “Probably so.”
“Where are we going?”
Carter’s hand reaches across the center console and rests on my thigh. “Where do you want to go?”
“I–” I blow a raspberry through my lips and rest my head against the seat behind me. “I have no clue.”
“Let’s just ride, then, yeah?”
“Yeah.”