Chapter 10 #2
It turned out there was no quick troubleshooting, and I ended up going down the quagmire of an AI chat from hell, unable to figure out how to speak to a real live actual person.
As my anger bubbled up and became rage, I yelled wordlessly at the laptop.
Threatening it didn’t do much good, though.
Vaguely, I heard Will’s motorcycle start and leave—he’d said something about paint, though, and I was engaged in a life-and-death battle with the stupid fucking “help” feature on the website I used to book clients.
It didn’t take long for me to start fantasizing about pulling my business from there and going with someone who had a fucking phone number to call.
An hour later, I was able to text Jake and let him know he was good to go because I’d just figured out the issue without anyone else’s help. As I sat back at the table and glanced around, I frowned as my attention landed on the clock on the wall next to the fridge.
I’d been at this for a while. I hopped up and went out to the garage, but it was a tomb. No sounds of new spray paint. No Will.
Nothing had been added to the canvas he was working on.
I tried to call Will but got nothing, and it took less than no time for panic to set in. Will in a hospital room. Will not talking. Will opening his eyes and being confused. The terror that he might never remember me.
The sound of his bike scraping pavement.
“He wasn’t in a fucking accident. Stop it,” I said, slapping my palm to the side of my head and knocking my hat loose.
My heart was sprinting, so I slapped my chest next.
My hand shook as I resettled my hat and hopped into our truck.
There was only one route that made sense to go to the art store, so I would just drive it.
Maybe he had a flat. Hell, maybe he was just bullshitting with someone in the parking lot.
Maybe he’d wandered over to the Ink Well to talk to Jake.
Five minutes in, I spotted Will alongside the road in the neighborhood beside ours where the houses were slightly nicer. A cop car had its lights flashing and a tow truck had Will’s motorcycle on the flat bed.
“Fuck,” I snarled and pulled in behind the cop.
“What’s going on?” I asked, raising my voice to be heard above the traffic that rushed past.
The cop spun toward me. I had never seen him before in my life, but he seemed nice enough. A young guy with soft brown eyes and friendly smile. I got an itchy feeling between my shoulder blades, but he didn’t seem to have that hard edge that the assholes who’d tossed me in a trunk did.
“This fuckface is stealing my bike!” Will waved a hand at the cop, which wasn’t a great idea. I almost bolted over to him and forced his hand down.
The cop turned toward us with a sympathetic expression slapped on his baby face that made Will snort louder than a bull. “You were swerving when I pulled you over, sir.”
“I wasn’t drinking!” he roared.
“Will, cool it,” I said quietly, but he was pissed off and completely ignoring me.
“I know.” The cop took a deep breath and his smile wavered. “Driving a vehicle unlicensed is a crime, even if you have the motorcycle insured. I can’t let you drive it home.” Johnny Law Jr. gave me a begging look, obviously hoping I could make Will see reason.
“Let me take it.” I gestured at the Harley on the tow truck, but the cop was already shaking his head.
“If you’d been here earlier, maybe, but it’s already up there.” He nodded at the truck. “The city has to pay for it now, either way, so it has to go that way.”
My eyes rolled even though I tried to talk them out of it, since this guy was being halfway okay, and I didn’t want that to switch gears on us.
Will didn’t have the same issue and tried to take off after the tow truck driver as the poor schmuck, who was only doing his job, got into the truck.
I physically grabbed Will’s shoulders and planted my feet, and he still pushed me with a startling ease.
Thank fuck, the tow truck pulled off into traffic or Will might’ve tried to beat the driver to death to get his bike back.
“You have to stop,” I snapped. Fear slithered through me and infuriated me when I glanced at the cop. “I’ll give him a ride,” I said.
The cop sent me a sad smile and came over with a ticket in his hand, which Will glared at, so I was forced to take it. We were quiet until the cruiser pulled off, heading in the same direction as the tow truck.
“Why did you let them do that?” Will roared and pushed me. I pinwheeled my arms and swore because I almost fell into traffic.
“The fuck? Why the fuck didn’t you wait for me? I told you to stop driving without a license. King told you. We’ve all fucking told you!” It felt good to shout. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it was a bad idea, but I couldn’t rein it in.
“What am I? A little boy who has to listen?” he snarled.
I slapped the ticket in his hand.
He turned and tossed it on the ground, stomping on it.
“Great. Fucking great.” I shook my head. “That’s bullshit, and you know it! I wouldn’t be pissed if I didn’t know for a fucking fact that you are capable of making smarter choices, if you just use your fucking head.”
He stepped on the ticket for good measure, and I wasn’t doing it. I wasn’t going to snag it off the ground and figure this the fuck out for him. Not now.
“Kiss my ass!” he shouted.
The gooey sweet feelings I’d been having all morning kicked in, and I groaned. “I would absolutely love to be kissing your ass instead of screaming at each other.” I tried smiling at him, but I was still too enraged.
Instead of calming down the way I’d thought he would, he turned and began to stomp off alongside the road.
“What are you doing?” I asked, rushing to his side. A truck whizzed past and knocked my hat off my head, and I barely caught it. As I slapped it back in place, he glared at me.
“The clubhouse.”
My heart twisted. He’d been in the garage at our house. I’d thought we were done with this for good and he was home. Hurt and anger knotted and caught fire in my chest until I felt like I was able to spew acid.
“You know what?” I stopped and grabbed his shoulder, but he shook me off and kept walking. “I fucking love you, dickhead. But you can figure this mess out yourself. Everyone told you, you did what you wanted. Fine. Now you fix it!”
He whirled on me, eyes wild. “I didn’t ask you to do anything.” His neck veins stood out with the force of his shout.
Closing my eyes, I almost passed out at the anger that dazzled through me. Gray spots danced in my vision for a few seconds when I opened my eyes. I got into his face, and he bared his teeth.
“Go finish your fucking paintings if you can. You don’t have to hide in the fucking clubhouse. I’ll stay at the shop.” I was shocked to realize I meant the words as I stormed off.
The patience I’d been wearing like armor for him had finally cracked. I could handle the scorn from my best friend; I couldn’t take it quite as easily from my boyfriend.
My heart fucking hurt.