Page 146 of Ride or Die

She stared at him.

“I’ll bring you back to your little mechanic boyfriend after. Would that make you happy?”

She snorted. “No.”

His eyes lit. “Then you can stay with me. I’ll sleep on the couch. If you want.”

He was completely serious.

“Why did you come here? And how did you know where I was?” Riley took a step back, the shop looming behind her.

“There aren’t that many mechanics around named Saint,” he snapped. “My mother told me.”

“That was unkind of her.”

His gaze flickered, and he gripped his belt tighter. “Riley. We can discuss this later. Get in the car.”

Her shoulders tried to curl inward.

Saint had never once spoken to her that way. No one did anymore. The only one who had talked to her like that recently was dead.

She forced her spine to straighten and poured steel into her heart.

“I’m not going with you. I’m not involved with Nico anymore. I told you, I quit this morning. I should never have called about the stalker thing—it’s over anyway.” He stared at her. “If you’re not arresting me, I’m not giving a statement.”

“Do you know what they’ve done?” The cold in Andrew’s gaze hurt.

“No.” She wrapped her arms around herself.

“Lucky you. Seriously. I’m glad.” Andrew walked around the front of the cruiser. “Get in the car, Riley. Please.” He got into the driver’s seat.

A dog barked in the distance, and Andrew ducked to look at her through the open door.

“I don’t need you to save me. I never did,” she said.

He stared at her, and all his thoughts and feelings scrolled across his face like a teleprompter. The frustration, the disappointment.

And it did sting. It was uncomfortable. Part of her might always flinch at disappointing people. But it didn’t change anything.

Andrew sighed, and his shoulders slumped. “Maybe that was the problem for us.”

The cool night air was moist and fragrant as Riley drew it deep into her lungs. “Maybe.”

Acknowledgement does not save us from ourselves… She forgot where the quote was from.

“Riley.”

She closed the door and walked back to the shop. When she reached the floodlight, she paused. There weren’t any dead bugs littering the ground like she’d thought there would be. They were just flying around it.

Andrew closed his door and drove away.

The dark of the shop was soothing, and she blinked as her eyes adjusted. The shadow on the stairs moved, and Saint was waiting for her at the bottom.

She walked up to him and laid her cheek on his chest. His arms came around her, so slowly, until she wrapped hers around him and pulled him closer.

He dropped his face into her hair. “I thought you were going to leave with him for a second there.”

Riley swallowed against the sting in her throat. “Me too.”