Page 121 of Ride With Me
I climb into the cab of his truck, dropping my sodden backpack in the footwell, and he frowns as he looks me over inthe dim light, carefully lifting my shirt and sleeves to get a good look at my grazes. He hisses in sympathy when he sees them.
“I don’t like the look of some of these.” His voice is soft. “There’s mud in them, and I don’t want them to get infected. But”—he sighs—“we can’t do much right now.”
“I don’t live very far away,” I tell him, then I frown. “I think. I don’t know if I was even walking the right way. I got mixed up.”
With a small smile, Vince tilts his head. “You were heading the right way…if your address is the same one I ordered the Uber for last night. For all I know, you moved house today, too. It sounds like it was that eventful!”
I giggle at that. “I didn’t move, silly. That’s still where I live.”
“Alright.” He nods, gently turning me to face forward. Then he reaches for the seat belt and pulls it across my body, leaning over to click the buckle into the socket. It’s such a Daddy move that my heart flutters.
Oblivious, Vince moves back and shuts the door, jogging around the front of the truck, the headlights bringing him into vivid focus as he passes them. When he climbs into the driver’s seat, he gives his head a shake like a dog, throwing droplets of water from his dark hair and beard. Then he smiles at me and, before he puts the truck into gear, he hands me a Tupperware container from his dashboard. “Want a cookie?”
CHAPTER 5
VINCE
It tookme an hour to mow my parents’ lawn, but I’m happy to have helped them in the end. Mom’s in her mid-sixties now, with Dad in his early seventies, and even though they’re spry, I worry about them sometimes. I know Dad’s doctor has been talking about knee replacement surgery, and Mom’s supposed to be watching her cholesterol, but they’re set in their ways, determined to remain independent for as long as possible.
I can’t exactly blame them. But a glance at the sky this afternoon told me that if I didn’t get my ass into gear, my efforts would get rained out. There was no way Dad could have managed their yard on his own. Not before the rain came.
Afterward, Mom fed me as promised, then gave me a Tupperware container filled with my favorite cookies, freshly baked.
“Mom”—I’d gaped at the sheer amount of sugar and carbs—“this is too much.”
She shrugged. “Maybe one day you’ll have someone to share with, hmm?”
“And that’s my cue to leave.” I’d laughed, grabbing my jacket from the coat stand by the door. “But, I will say, waiting this long to nag me about my singledom is a record for you.”
Then I headed home with her laughter ringing in my ears. The clouds rolled in fast as I drove, obscuring the light from the setting sun. Darkness fell quickly, and I decided taking the back roads would be better than battling city traffic in the rain. For some reason, people seem to forget how to drive the second the tiniest drops of water come down.
And this weather wasn’t just a light sprinkle. Not even ten minutes after leaving my parents’ house, it was bucketing down. I had my high beams on and my wipers swishing steadily. Hyper-focused on the road, I almost didn’t notice the figure limping in the direction I’d just come from, drenched from head to toe, their thumb stuck out as they tried to hitch a ride.
I barely needed to consider turning my truck around. Taking some poor soul to shelter was worth putting myself out for another twenty minutes or so. After all, if they stayed out in this weather and in the dark, they could get sick, or hit by a car, or fall down into the ditch beside the road.
So, I turned around and slowly came up behind them, blinking in surprise at the mop of red hair, though lank and drenched, illuminated by my lights. I drove past slowly, convinced my eyes were deceiving me. But, no: I really had known the hitchhiker.
Instantly, I’d needed to know why Baron was out so late in the rain on his own and, more importantly, why he was limping.
Hearing everything he’d been through, the entire comedy of errors which had brought him to that point, was heartbreaking. I’d just wanted to wrap him in my arms and soothe him, especially when he broke down in tears. How could I not give in to that temptation? Especially when there was nobody else around to offer him comfort?
And that all leads us to now, with me driving him home.
It hasn’t escaped my notice that he lives on the same side of the city as my parents, or that I could easily visit him any time Istop by their place. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Right now, I need to focus on getting him clean, warm, and patched up.
“I’m happy you found me,” he murmurs, and I briefly glance over to catch him looking up at me from beneath lowered lashes, his chin to his chest and his face angled away. Color has returned to his cheeks now that he’s scarfed down a few of Mom’s cookies. He’s gorgeous, even while he’s caked in mud. Still cute and innocent.
“I’m happy I found you, too,” I reply before focusing back on the road.
“It’s like…like you’re meant to be my Daddy,” he continues, and the hopeful note in his voice does things to me.
Even after everything he’s gone through, he’s still flirting, still bringing the kink.
Fuck, that’s hot.
Shifting in my seat, I shoot him another quick grin, this one a little more lascivious. “I still like it when you call me that.” I admit, before asking, “You still want to be my Baby Bear?”
In peripheral vision, I see his head bob enthusiastically. “Yes please, Daddy. I’d like that very much. I can’t wait to show you my toys.”