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“Liam, what’s the matter? You’re scaring me.”
My shaking arms squeeze a little harder as I mumble into her neck, “My dad’s in the hospital. Mama wants me to go see him. She thinks he’s dying.”
Rachel pulls away from me, her gaze darting all over my face before she softly answers. “Let’s go, then.”
“No, I don’t want you coming.” I shake my head.
She huffs, looking uncharacteristically irritated. “It’s not a discussion. I’m coming. So let’s go.” Taking my hand, she starts pulling me back inside.
It’s a weird show of strength from her, and I’m initially so taken aback by it that I just let her drag me along. But once we’ve explained the situation to Ethan and have his keys in my hand, I finally find my voice again.
“Seriously, Ray, you need to stay here. Ethan can come with me.”
“Yeah, sure.” My friend nods, but Rachel is shaking her head.
“I’m going with both of you, then.”
“No,” I growl. “I don’t want you anywhere near that guy.”
She takes my face in her hands, her green eyes studying me with a look so calm, I can’t even find my voice. “He’s sick. In a hospital bed. He can’t hurt me. And you need support right now. So I’m coming.”
Working my jaw to the side, I try to conjure up a few more arguments, but she snatches the keys out of my hand with a huff and starts heading for the door.
My only choice is to muscle my way through the crowd and chase her.
“Good luck, man!” Ethan calls after me. “Keep in touch.”
I give him a thumbs-up without even looking at him. Rachel’s thin body is finding gaps in the crowd, and she’s pulling away from me. I grunt and try to be polite, but in the end, I just start jostling bodies apart so I can reach her before she takes off without me.
Not that she would, but shit…
“Ray, wait up!” I call as soon as I make it outside.
She looks over her shoulder and slows her pace so I can run and catch up to her.
Sliding my hand down the back of her jacket, I ask for the keys, but she shakes her head. “You can be the nav man.”
“Come on, let me drive.” I wiggle my fingers for the keys.
“No.” She gives me a pointed look, then mutters, “I don’t want you leaving me behind.”
I huff and shove my hands in my coat pockets. “I wasn’t going to.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but I can’t be sure of that, so I’m driving.”
“You don’t have much experience driving in the snow. I’m just trying to?—”
“I’m driving!” she snaps, stalking to Ethan’s truck and easily jumping in behind the wheel.
Clenching my jaw, I buckle up in the passenger seat, and we don’t say a word to each other as I set up Maps on my phone and put it into the holder so Siri can tell Ray where to go and I don’t have to say a fucking word.
I can’t believe I’m taking this beautiful woman down to see my dad. What a way to meet the family, huh?
Fuck. I hate this so much.
The car ride is slow and stifling. She wisely takes it easy, although Ethan’s truck is like a tank, so I’m not too worried. We finally reach the hospital after an hour and eighteen minutes of zero conversation. It’s been the worst trip ever, and I still don’t know what to say to her.
As we slam out of the truck and walk toward the hospital reception area, I can feel my insides vibrating.
