Page 94 of His to Love
He squeezed his eyes closed and ran a hand down his face. “Fuck. I know. I’m sorry,” he said when he opened his eyes and looked at me. I saw the sincerity in his eyes, the dark circles under them. “Please. Just let me get you home so I know you’re okay.”
My glance went to Chelsea. Standing next to Tyson—he still had an arm on her back, holding her up—she shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt.”
She was wrong. Dead wrong.
Being around Tyson could hurt me. It already had.
I also knew he wasn’t going to leave. If I forced it, he would probably end up following the cab around town anyway, just to make sure we didn’t get abducted.
My shoulders slumped in defeat and I pushed myself off the bench, slower than Chelsea did so I wouldn’t fall as well.
“Fine,” I muttered and began walking in the direction he came from. “But it’s just a ride home.”
Tyson’s truck was parked just down the street, so close I was surprised I never heard him pull up. It was late enough that there were few cars on the street and most of the restaurants, with the exclusion of Fireside, were closing for the night. Tyson helped Chelsea into the backseat and then opened the passenger door for me to enter.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice low and thick as I climbed into the seat. “For this chance.”
“It’s just a ride home, not a chance at anything.” I looked away, knowing my words lacked the conviction I intended.
“Whatever you say, Blue.” He smirked and shut the door just as I began to scowl at him.
“He’s not a bad guy,” Chelsea whispered as Tyson walked around the front of his vehicle.
When I speared her with an angry look she shrugged, her lips twisting into a mischievous grin. “Just sayin’.”
I pointed a finger at her and mock glared. “You’re off my Christmas list for getting us into this mess. And I buy kickass Christmas presents.”
She rolled her eyes and leaned against the back of her seat, her eyes closing almost immediately. “We’ll see,” she muttered, when Tyson opened the door on his side and climbed in.
“We’ll see about what?”
“Nothing.” I crossed my arms and looked out the window, wishing like hell I wasn’t trapped inside his truck.
It smelled too much like him.
I hadn’t been this close to him in months, and even though I wanted to ignore him, the pull toward him was strong.
We dropped Chelsea off at her house, and I hated that my heart softened toward Tyson when he walked her up to her front door, helped her inside, and didn’t leave until I knew he had heard her front door lock behind him.
He could do so many things so wonderfully, so many things that showed he cared, and I didn’t doubt that he cared about me.
I doubted that he loved me like I loved him.
I doubted my ability to trust him again.
It wasn’t until he pulled into a visitor’s spot directly in front of my apartment building that my drunken mind caught up to what had just happened.
I frowned. “You know where I live.”
The apartment complex I moved into was large, with four separate buildings. Each building had three areas for visitor parking, and I didn’t believe for a second that Tyson just happened to pull into the one spot with the closest entrance to my third floor apartment.
My irritation spiked as he climbed out of his truck and began walking toward my side. I flung my door open and jumped down, slamming the door behind me.
“I wanted to know you were safe.”
“Because it wouldn’t be good for your job if your target got hurt, would it?”
“It’s not like that,” he hissed.
