Chapter 9
Colton
I hated sitting shotgun – hated it with every fiber of my being, especially when there was nothing of importance stopping me from driving just a short-tempered, fiery, spirited girl and her need to prove that she was enough.
Summer is on edge today, her answers short and to the point. She doesn’t want to be here. Her body is tense, her manicured nails biting in the leather of the steering wheel.
She brought up Shannon at least twice in the last few minutes. For a girl who insisted we keep the relationship platonic, she sure liked to bring up my personal life.
If only she knew that as much as I wanted to keep playing this game, I couldn’t anymore, not with Shannon having cancer. I had to pretend like I wasn’t falling out of love with my fiancée because she had a higher chance of dying now.
Because if I left her now and she died, I would be the jackass no matter how you looked at the situation.
“Why do you keep bringing her up?” I demanded when Summer did it yet again. I was beginning to lose my patience.
“It doesn’t matter,” she muttered. “How far is the next stop?” She quickly changed the subject, her pretty eyes darting between the road and the GPS.
Pulling out my phone, I humored her swift subject change and looked up the nearest rest station. “About ten minutes,” I eventually answered when I finally located it. “Do you need a break?”
“No – just need the bathroom.” She turned up the volume on the music again. The country music floating through the speakers seemed to calm us both until we pull into the rest stop.
She lowered the volume to pull into a parking stall, and I fought back the urge to tease her about seeing better with lower volume. But after seeing the concentration furrowing her brows, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She was clearly nervous about driving this truck and trailer, and I didn’t want to make it worse for her.
“I’ll be back.” With that, she hopped out of the truck. I quickly jumped out to check the straps on the car. We had about an hour left until we reached the rich guy’s house, and I didn’t want to face any mishaps just because I’d been too lazy to double-check the car on this stop.
Summer eventually made it back with snacks, her arms full as she juggled the different bags of chips and soda bottles. “I was a little hungry,” she sheepishly admitted as she slid back into the driver’s seat. I followed suit and got back into my spot, clicking my belt in while I waited for her to reverse out. After, I asked if she needed any help. She, of course, declined, instead using her knees to steer as she opened her soda bottle and packet of salt and vinegar chips.
She sure was a weird one.
“Tell me about yourself,” I said, unable to help myself. I wanted to learn everything about her.
“Can’t say that I’m as exciting as you are,” she said, loudly munching on the chips.
I snorted. “Come on. I shared my past.” I shrugged. “It’s only fair that you do the same.”
She sighed and drummed her fingers against the steering wheel.
“I grew up with a perfect family, went to school and then college, fell in love with the golden boy only to have my heart broken.” I clenched my jaw at the reminder of her abusive ex-boyfriend. “I graduate early in May with my undergrad, and then I get to pick where I go for my masters. I have a dog that my grandparents got my brothers and me for Christmas, and he’s a righteous pain in the butt, but he’s my prince charming.” She smiled as she spoke about her dog, and it made an ache rise in my chest at the thought of Nala.
“Where do you want to do your Masters?” I asked her, honestly curious. This girl was on the track to do really big things, and pride for her swelled in my chest even though we barely knew each other.
“Anywhere but here.” That surprised me. “It’s a two-year program that I can do anywhere in the world. I just don’t think my parents could handle me leaving.”
“How far do you want to go?” The thought of her leaving made my gut twist, but I pushed that aside, not even wanting to know what that might mean.
“At least out of the state. I want my independence back. I need to be confident in myself again.” She paused for a moment, a frown pulling at her lips. “Thomas took that away from me.”
Without letting me say anything else, she turned up the volume again, signaling the end of our conversation. I busied myself on my phone, scrolling through Twitter for the next thirty minutes as I tried not to dwell on the anger swirling in my gut at the thought of her ex.
I still wanted to hurt him and strip him down just as he’d done her.
When we pulledup at the fancy house, I swallowed the shock down, but Summer’s jaw dropped. “I didn’t realize he was this rich,” she muttered in astonishment. She shot her dad a quick text, letting him know we arrived before we both got out of the truck and double-checked the car.
I met her at the trailer and started undoing the straps as an elderly man met us, dressed in a pair of worn jeans and a ratty t-shirt. Besides the big, gold Rolex hanging from his wrinkled wrist, you wouldn’t know he had any money to his name.
“You must be Ace’s daughter,” he said, smiling at Summer. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, dear.” He held out his hand for Summer, who smiled and shook it. Jealousy swirled in my chest, but I shoved it down.
Was I seriously jealous that some old man was touching Summer?
“Mr. Aldees?” He nodded, and her smile brightened. I wanted that gorgeous smile aimed at me, but she rarely smiled in my direction. I seemed to annoy her and aggravate her more than anything. “Here’s your new, custom hot-rod, sir. Thank you for choosing my father for your new toy. Welcome to our family!” She walked over to him, and the two started discussing specifics as I unloaded the car.
I kept a watchful eye on them, making sure he wasn’t one of those unassuming assholes, but the old man seemed to be smitten with Summer.
He wasn’t the only one.
After pulling the car into his driveway, I exited the vehicle and walked over to the truck, leaning against it. Crossing my arms over my chest, I waited and watched as he handed Summer a check, a big grin on his face as he looked over his new car with much enthusiasm.
Summer walked back over to the truck, holding the check in her hand, a look of relief crossing her features.
She looked up at me, and for a moment, I couldn’t think past anything except how beautiful and radiant she was.
“Ready to go home?” she asked.
I blinked for a moment before clearing my throat and nodding my head, swiftly turning away from her to hop into the truck.
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We drove for about an hour in silence, nothing other than her soft music filling the cab. It was . . . pleasant, to be honest. Being around Summer was like a breath of fresh air, one I craved all the time.
The car in front of us suddenly swerved, but Summer didn’t have enough time to react and correct. She drove right through something big on the road. A loud noise startled us both, and she gripped the steering wheel with both hands while screaming, a look of terror on her face.
“Oh, my God – Colton!”
I drew in a deep breath, gritting my teeth, trying to stay calm so I didn’t do something rash – like find the asshole responsible for this, dragging him out of his car, and bashing his face into the asphalt.
“Stay calm and pull over,” I ordered, glad my voice came out calm and steady.
Her hands shook on the steering wheel as she guided the truck to the side of the road. It bounced from side to side as we slowly moved across the highway, finally coming to a stop on the shoulder. I quickly unbuckled my seat belt and jumped out of the truck, briskly walking across the front. I threw open her door, but she hadn’t moved. Her hands were still tightly gripping the steering wheel, her knuckles white.
Prying her hands off, I unbuckled her belt and helped her from the truck. I got her a good distance away from the road before I grabbed her shoulders and gently shook her, trying to snap her out of her shock.
Her giant, panic-filled, blue eyes met mine, and her hands trembled as she reached out for me.
I tugged her into my arms, cradling the back of her head as she sobbed, though no tears spilled down her pretty face. “You’re okay,” I soothed. I could feel her heart hammering in her chest. “We’re okay. The truck has a flat tire. I’m going to put the spare on, get you back in the truck, and drive us home, okay?” She nodded, her hands clutching my shirt for a moment before she forced herself to release.
I reluctantly moved away from her to assess the damage to the truck. It wasn’t bad – all I could see was the flat tire. I easily found the spare tire in the bed of the truck and made light work of changing it, checking her over my shoulder every few minutes.
She hadn’t moved since I left her, her wide eyes watching the passing traffic with fear. She looked like the slightest wind might completely blow her over, and it pissed me off – not at her, but for the guy that put us into this situation.
Once I finished, I guided her to the passenger side of the truck. She momentarily fought me when I opened the door. I gritted my teeth in frustration. I knew she was supposed to drive, but she was in no condition to make the rest of this trip.
“I’m supposed to—” I didn’t let her finish. I just hoisted her up into the seat and buckled her in.
“Your dad will understand,” I assured her before I closed the door. She didn’t even get a chance to respond before I was striding around the front of the truck and sliding into the driver’s seat. I adjusted the seat for my long legs before throwing the truck into gear, slipping back into traffic. This was how it should have been from the beginning – me driving while she sat and looked absolutely gorgeous in the passenger seat.
“Thank you.” Her voice was soft, barely audible, a few minutes later.
“Anything for you, darling.” And I meant that.
This time, she didn’t say anything when the term of endearment slipped past my lips. She made my control over my mouth disappear, and no matter how many times I told myself this was wrong, I couldn’t help but want her.
I wanted to kiss her pink lips.
I wanted the forbidden fruit.
I was surely going to hell for this.