I stopped at the driver's side door, but didn't open it. Our gazes met across the low roof of the car. "Never mind," I said. "It's nothing."
He glanced at the broken window. "It doesn't look like nothing to me."
"Forget it." Had he already talked to Brittney? Had she told him about the little fun she had last night? "What are you doing here, anyway?" I asked.
His gaze met mine. "You wanna make me say it?"
"Say what?"
He crossed his arms and gave me a hard look. "First, tell me what happened."
I raised my chin. "No. You tell me what you're doing here. Wait, lemme guess. You're just in the neighborhood?"
"I live in the neighborhood."
Well, that made one of us. But that was beside the point. "I gotta go," I told him.
"Where?" he asked. "To get it repaired?"
I let out a breath. "Not today."
"You're driving it like this?" His hands dropped to his sides. "In this weather?"
He had a point. But it's not like I had a lot of choices.
"I'm not going far," I said. Just a fifty-minute drive. I shivered just thinking about it.
"You want a ride?" he asked.
I'd love a ride. But I was heading out to sign those employment papers. What would I do? Ask Lawton to wait in the parking lot? Invite him to come in with me?
I had no idea how long the whole thing would take, and asking him to tag along was a bad idea on too many levels to count, especially since we hadn't resolved anything from our earlier argument.
"No," I said. "But thanks for the offer. Seriously."
He looked at me a long time. "What's wrong?"
"Why does something have to be wrong?" I asked.
God, why was I acting like this? I hated that whole I'm-not-going-to-tell-you-what's-wrong routine. This wasn't me. At least not usually.
He stood, lips pressed together into a thin line, looking for all the world like he wasn't going to budge until he had his answer.
"You talk to Brittney today?" I asked.
He gave me a strange look. "Brittney?" He glanced down at the window. "What's she got to do with this?"
I shrugged. "I dunno."
"She knows better," Lawton said.
I made a scoffing sound. "Really? Does she?"
"Well, she wasn't around here last night, if that's what you're getting at."
I laughed, a bitter sound that sounded fake, even to my own ears. "Yeah. Tell me something I don't know." I opened the car door. "I gotta go."
"Wait."
