Page 19 of Truck Me

“You okay?” she asks.

“Yeah,” my voice croaks, and it comes out all scratchy and rough. I clear my throat. “I’m fine. Why?”

“I don’t know. You always seem so tense and angry. Is it just me, or are you like this with everyone?”

I furrow my brows. The answer on the top of my tongue is to tell her yes, but I keep quiet. I don’t want to hurt her feelings. I’m not sure why I care. Pissing her off would solve my problem. It would make her stay away. But I can’t bring myself to be that mean to her.

“What’s up with you and Rayne?” she asks. Her sudden change in subject confuses me.

“What do you mean?”

“She seems to like you. Can’t say I see why. You’re so grumpy all the time. But not with her. She actually drags smiles out of you. Why?”

I shrug, not liking the direction this conversation has taken. “She’s a good kid.”

When I don’t say more, she pushes again. “Yeah, I know. But why does she get your smile and no one else?”

“Because I like her,” I say a little too harshly and with more emphasis on her than I should put on it.

She slinks back in her seat. “Okay, fine. You like Rayne and no one else. I get it.”

I clench my hand around the steering wheel and swallow a groan. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap like that.”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” Her voice is a little wobbly, suggesting it’s anything but okay. “Maybe we should keep the talking to a minimum for the rest of the drive. I seem to bring out the worst in you.”

My grip tightens on the steering wheel, and my urge to protest confuses me. Because she’s right. She does bring out the worst in me, but not in the way she thinks.

If she knew the inner workings of my mind and knew the things I imagine doing to her—naked, still wearing those fucking shoes—she’d run back to Chicago without a backward glance.

So, a quiet ride home might be exactly what’s best for everyone.

Chapter 5

All it takes is a cookie.

Charlotte

Six things not going well since I moved back home:

1. Dad’s health and the fact that my parents hid it from me for two years.

2. Being dad’s power of attorney and the fact that Mom won’t talk to me about it.

3. Rayne doesn’t trust me. She thinks I’m going to leave.

4. Finding a job is proving to be more difficult than I expected.

5. My car broke down.

6. Garret Mutter.

I give the dough one last stir before I set down the large wooden spoon and prep the cookie sheet. After yesterday’s disaster of a day, I need something to take my mind off it. Baking always calms my nerves and centers my soul.

I’m jobless, my car broke down, and I can’t get the grumpy neighbor next door out of my head.

Disaster.

After we finished breakfast, I cleaned up the kitchen and got to work. Mom needed to run some errands so it’s just me and Dad in the kitchen while Rayne is in her room getting ready for school.