I do as I’m asked as Noah leans against the counter staring at me, probably hating that I’m refusing to look at him. I slide the release forms back to the officer and dig my hands into the pockets of Noah’s hoodie.
I go to walk away when the officer calls out to me. “Miss?” he says, drawing my attention back. I stop and turn to find him watching me with curiosity and interest which naturally puts Noah on edge. “You ever feel like dating someone who has their shit together, just let me know.”
“I…,” my mouth slams closed. How do I even respond to that? “Um, thanks.”
Noah all but growls beside me. His arm comes over my shoulder and I’m pulled into his side. Hell, I’m surprised he doesn’t whip out his dick and start pissing all over me to mark his territory.
Fucking men.
I shake my head, push Noah’s arm off my shoulder, and storm out the door, more than ready to get into the privacy of Tully’s Jeep and scream at the two idiots who thought it was a great idea to steal a car.
Yet, when I get in the car and pull away from the curb, the words refuse to come.
We sit in silence as I drive and it’s not until we’re halfway home when Noah finally speaks up. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs into the quiet car. “I know that’s not exactly how you had intended on spending your night.”
I snap.
My hand shoots out and I whack him across the chest. “Are you,” whack, “a fucking,” whack, “idiot?” My eyes shoot up to the rearview mirror, taking in Rivers in the backseat looking extremely uncomfortable. “That goes for you too.”
He gives me a tight smile but remains silent as Noah attempts to catch my hand so I can’t hit him again. “You stole a fucking car. What the hell were you thinking?”
“We had no choice,” Noah defends. “We had to. The job came in and we had to go.”
“In the middle of the fucking night? You just snuck out of bed, hoping I wouldn’t notice, and then went to steal some poor asshole’s car?”
Noah cringes and doesn’t respond, just leans back in his chair, letting out a heavy breath.
“Ummm,” Rivers careful voice comes from the backseat with a cringe, looking even more uncomfortable than he had before. “I know now isn’t a great time and you two seriously have some issues to work out, but I need you to pull over. I’m going to shit myself.”
“What?” I demand, glancing up at him again. “You’re shitting me, right?”
“No,” he grunts. “I’m about to be shitting me.”
“Fuck, Rivers,” I cringe in disgust. “Just wait ten minutes. We’ll be home soon.”
“Henley, I swear, if you don’t fucking pull over right now, you’re going to be the one explaining to Tully why there’s shit all over the backseat of her Jeep.”
“Damn it,” I growl, pulling over to the side of the road and slamming on the brakes a little too hard, but I think the boys get it – I’m fucking pissed off.
Rivers basically jumps from the Jeep and scurries off into the bushland beside the road and I secretly wish that he would sit his ass down on a porcupine or have a snake cross his path while he’s trying to take a dump.
The silence in the car is so freaking loud.
Without Rivers here, it’s like our issues are staring us in the face and neither of us is ready to talk about them, but we have no choice. The quieter we remain, the more they begin to tear us apart. “I really am sorry,” Noah murmurs beside me, reaching out and trying to weave his fingers through mine. I pull my hand away, way too pissed off for a gesture like that. “I’ll pay you back.”
“Don’t need to,” I grumble, staring straight ahead out the windshield to where the Jeep’s headlights shine on the dirt before us and watch the mosquitoes and bugs dance through the light. “I found your stash. You bailed yourself out. If anything, Rivers now owes you.”
I watch through my peripheral as Noah presses his lips together and slowly nods his head as the silence begins to grow again. “Come on, baby. Don’t hate on me,” he begs. “This is killing me. I fucking love you and I hate that you’re so mad at me.”
My mouth drops open and I turn to stare at him in horror. “You say it now?” I demand. “After all the times you could have told me that you love me, you do it now? Right when you need to butter me up, hoping I forgive you? Are you trying to make this worse?”
“I…I’m fucking lost, babe. Help me out here.”
“You can’t do that. You can’t tell me you love me to try and worm your way out the shit you dumped yourself in. Own what you did so we can move on.”