Page 53 of When a Soul Cries

Rome looked toward his own phone and then back at me. He didn’t argue, roll his eyes, or remind me that I’d agreed to an hour. He just nodded. “Aight.”

I looked at him for a second. “You ain’t gonna try to convince me to stay?”

One eyebrow lifted. “You want me to?”

“No.”

“Then why you asking?”

I rolled my eyes, and that damn smile came back.

“You ready?”

“Yeah.”

And somehow, the fact that he respected the answer made me like him a little more.

That was becoming a problem.

---

By the time we made it back to the parking lot at my job, my mind was already back where it had been before dinner. Halo, home, bills, reality.

Rome walked behind me toward my car, and I glanced over my shoulder. “I can walk by myself.”

“I see that.”

“So why you following me?”

“Making sure you get in your car.”

I unlocked the door and pulled it open before turning around with one hand resting on top of it. “See? Made it.”

Rome laughed and stepped back, lifting both hands like he surrendered. “Aight.”

I slid into the driver’s seat and dropped my purse into the passenger side. The sooner I got home and put my hands on Halo, the better I’d feel.

I put the key into the ignition and turned it.

Click.

My brows pulled together. I turned it again.

Click.

My stomach sank. “No.”

I tried again. Nothing.

“No, no, no, no.”

I twisted the key harder like that was somehow going to make a difference.

Click.

My eyes started burning instantly.

Absolutely fucking not.