Chapter Two
MARLEY
His eyes meet mine, and the air between us shifts, thick and electric. It crackles, sparks skating over my skin. My breath stutters when I realize he isn’t just looking at me—he’s seeing me, straight through to my soul.
“Hell, yeah.”
His smile is real, unapologetic, lighting up his whole damn face.
“So fuck him, right?” he adds softly but sure. “His loss.”
And somehow, I don’t know how, a laugh breaks free from my chest. It’s choking on emotion, small, and probably sounds half insane, but it’s real.
And I don’t know what it is about this guy, this guy I know nothing about, but he’s making me feel something when I thought there was no way I could feel anything but self-loathing and sadness tonight.
“Yeah. You know what? Fuck him! Fuck that cunt!”
The words feel liberating. Like I’m taking back some small piece of myself.
The driver grins, clearly pleased, and turns back to face the front. “There you go.” He shifts the car into drive, catching my eyes in the rearview mirror. “Now, you still wanna go to the address in the app?”
“Yeah, it’s my best friend’s house. She’s letting me crash there until I figure something out.” Until I figure out where the hell I’m going to live, I add silently in my mind. Because oh God, I’m homeless now too.
He nods, and I see his brow furrow slightly. “You hungry?”
I blink at his reflection in the mirror. “What?”
“When’s the last time you ate?”
I have to think about it. “Lunch, maybe?”
He glances at the dashboard clock, 12:57 a.m., and makes a disapproving sound. “That’s what I thought.” His hand moves to the radio, and suddenly classic rock pours through the speakers. “First, we’re fixing this night. Buckle up.”
Before I can ask what he means, we’re turning away from the route to Sage’s house, heading toward what looks like a drive-thru. And then, oh my God, he starts singing.
“Just a small-town girl…” It’s Journey. “Don’t Stop Believin’.” And he’s singing it loud and completely, beautifully off-key.
I stare at him as if he’s lost his freaking mind. He catches my eye in the mirror and grins. “Come on. You’re not gonna leave me hanging, are you?”
I open my mouth to protest, but instead, I find myself smiling, actually smiling. And then, I don’t know what possesses me, I start singing too.
“Living in a lonely world…” My voice is shaky and tear-rough, but it blends with his in this perfectly imperfect way. We’re like the world’s most ridiculous karaoke duo, belting out Journey in a Honda Accord at one in the morning. By the time we hit the chorus, I’m actually laughing between lyrics.
We pull up to the drive-thru, and the girl at the window gives us a look that says she’s seen some weird shit tonight, but we might take the cake.
I glance at the app, and the driver has listed his name as ‘Nitro.’ I find that an odd name, but I shake it off as he orders two burgers, fries, and milkshakes without asking what I want.
When he passes the bag back to me, I clutch it like he’s just handed me salvation.
“Thank you,” I whisper, and there’s so much weight in those two words I’m surprised they don’t pull me under.
“You don’t have to thank me for basic human decency.” His eyes meet mine in the mirror again, and something passes between us. Something electric. Something I can’t name but feel all the way down to my bones. “Eat. Enjoy. Tonight’s about you, not that fucking asshole.”
I look down at the burger in my hands. It’s greasy, perfect, and smells fantastic, but as I stare at the burger, all I can hear is Derek’s voice. ‘You’ve put on weight. Obviously quite a bit.’
“Don’t you dare let him destroy your self-worth.” My head snaps up. Nitro is watching me in the mirror, his expression fierce. “He’s already taken enough from you tonight,” he continues. “Don’t let him take this too.”
I weakly smile, letting his words sink in.
Fuck Derek.
Fuck letting him get into my head.
I don’t want to be that girl.
The girl who stops eating because of a man.
No fucking way.
So, I take a big bite of the delicious burger, a drip of cheesy goo sliding down my finger.
I devour the burger between songs, not stopping to think about the calories or the fact that if Derek saw me, he would think I looked like a pig.
I’m just enjoying a meal because I haven’t eaten since lunch, and I am fucking hungry.
Nitro’s music moves on to AC/DC and rock, mixing with my anger, making it taste like rebellion. Like I am reclaiming myself. Like it is giving Derek’s opinion the middle finger it deserves.
As we drive, Nitro talks to me about anything and everything to keep my mind off my shitty night. And if he isn’t talking, he’s humming along to whatever song is playing. I don’t know which karmic god was on my side tonight, but I need to thank them for sending Nitro my way.
Because he is just the pick-me-up I need.
By the time we’re pulling into Sage’s neighborhood, I’m actually laughing at something Nitro says about his grandmother’s terrible taste in movies.
How did this happen? How did I go from sobbing on a porch to laughing in the back seat of a stranger’s car?
“So…” he says as we pull up at Sage’s house. “Big plans with the bestie?”
“Wine, cheesy movies, and bitching about stupid men.” I move to gather my things, but I don’t want to leave the car just yet in this safe space this stranger created. “The holy trinity of heartbreak recovery.”
“Sounds exactly like what you need.” He puts the car in park and turns to face me one more time.
Our eyes meet, and time seems to stop. The air between us feels charged, heavy with something I don’t understand but desperately want to explore. Nitro is beautiful. Not in the polished, corporate way, Derek is gorgeous, but in this raw, genuine way that makes my chest ache.
“Thank you,” I say again, my voice soft. “Honestly… thank you.”
Before he can respond, Sage’s front door flies open. I see her blonde head appear, and then she stops dead in her tracks, staring at Nitro through the windshield.
“Holy shit,” I hear her mutter, and I have to bite back a slightly hysterical laugh. I climb out of the car, and Sage immediately pulls me into a hug, though I notice her eyes are still on the driver over my shoulder.
We start walking toward the house, and I open the Uber app, only to see the ride has officially ended with Nitro.
Then the prompt appears asking for a rating and a tip.
So, I smile, give him five stars, and tip him almost as much as the ride-share cost. Because honestly, he was worth every damn dollar. Then I add a note.
For making me believe
in decent humans again.
“Get off your damn cell, woman, and tell me when the hell did Uber drivers get so fucking hot?” Sage giggles as she cuddles into my side.
I smirk, quickly glancing over my shoulder to see him still sitting in his car, looking at his cell. Probably looking at the tip and note I just sent him. But I don’t have time to watch his reaction as Sage drags me inside, closing the front door behind us.
Sage immediately walks into the living room, where she has an array of wine, cheese, and God knows what else laid out, ready for us. Then she pours two enormous glasses of wine and steers me toward the sofa.
“Okay,” she says, handing me a glass. “Tell me everything. But first, who the hell was that Uber driver? Because… damn girl.”
I slump down on the sofa and smirk. “You are obsessing, Sage, but his name is Nitro.” I take a long sip of wine. “And he was… perfect. Genuinely the nicest person I’ve ever met.”
Sage reaches dramatically for my cell phone and yanks it from my hand. “Gimmie that!”
I widen my eyes as she opens my Uber app and begins checking my Uber receipt, and her eyebrows shoot up. “Girl, you tipped him almost what the ride cost.”
I shrug, like it’s no big deal. “He deserved it.” I curl up against the sofa cushions, suddenly exhausted. “He saved me tonight, Sage.”
She sits beside me, her expression turning serious. “So, tell me what happened… I’m assuming this has to do with dickhead Derek?”
I grimace, but huff. “Why do you always call him that?”
She raises her brow and tips her head to the side. “Was he a dickhead tonight, babe?”
Scowling, I fold my arms over my chest in annoyance. “A very, very big one.”
Sage snorts into her glass of wine, not saying anything in return.
“Okay, so you were right all along. Is that what you want to hear?”
She sighs softly, placing her glass on the coffee table, then reaches out for my hand. “No… not if it means you’re hurting. But I will go over there with my forks and gouge his goddamn eyes out. You just say the word. I will go to jail for you. I swear it!”
A slow smile crosses my face, at the same time tears prick my eyes, and Sage swallows a lump in her throat. “Hey, c’mere. Give me a hug.”
I lean forward and embrace my best friend. I’ve known her since we were kids back in elementary school, so practically my entire life.
Pulling back from the hug, I sink back down into her sofa, and she narrows her eyes at me. “So just tell me, Marles… what did he do?”
Craning my neck to the side, I rest my head back and blurt it out, “He broke up with me. Kicked me out of the house and said that I have to be civil with him at work.”
Sage furrows her brows at me. “Hmm…”
I roll my head sideways on the sofa to look at her. “Hmm… that’s it?”
Sage is assessing me. She knows me far too well. “Bullshit.”
I turn my head, peering back up at the ceiling, and I huff. “That’s the gist of it anyway.”
“Marley Celeste Wren, I know you better than you know yourself. So you tell me the truth right now, young lady, or I will use that fork on you. I know extraction techniques.” I sit forward, reaching for my wine, and bring my legs up onto the sofa, getting more comfortable.
“Oh shit… this is serious,” Sage mumbles under her breath, grabbing the wine bottle and topping up her already empty glass.
“All right, I’ll tell you, but please don’t go apeshit bananas?”