“My car. It won’t start.” She put her hand on her hip and gestured to the car with the other hand in exasperation. “I just had it serviced like three weeks ago, and they said everything was fine. Now it’s not even making any turnover sounds at all. I don’t even know if that’s the word, but you know what I mean,” she chuckled.
“And to make sure I have the full picture here, can you tell me what those turnover sounds are supposed to sound like?” I laughed, and she swatted me. “But in all seriousness, they said the battery was fine when you got it serviced?”
“Yeah. And the mechanic is my dad’s friend, so I trust him completely.”
That’s weird that it went from fine to completely dead. I kept my thoughts to myself, but something about that felt off. “I’d say pop the hood and I’ll have a look around, but I know nothing about cars. Did you call someone like AAA?”
“I called a tow truck, and they said it would be hours. Murphy and Bennett are with Maverick, and I wouldn’t want to bother them after they’ve been drinking all day. I really just want to get home.” She sighed again.
“If there were only a Batman wannabe who was hanging around and could provide a ride service to you.” I looked at the sky with my arms out in an exaggerated fashion and a teasing grin.
“I don’t want to say yes to you right now,” she said, smiling shyly, shaking her head.
“Or you could say thank you for showing up, Donovan. Why, yes, I would appreciate a ride, Donovan. What fun gadgets do you have in your Batmobile, Donovan? And by theway, why don’t you want to say yes? What’s that about?”Besides pushing myself on you when you were merely trying to make someone jealous, and then trying to exchange numbers after refusing to read the room that you were pushing me away.
“Because I haven’t been able to reciprocate, I feel like all I’ve done is take from you.” Her words shocked me. It was rare in my world for someone to be cognizant enough to think about reciprocation for unselfish reasons. And here was this woman who was debating not taking a ten-minute ride because she was worried she was taking too much.
“Please, Audra. A couple of rides and a walk on the beach after a bad day hardly constitutes you incessantly taking from me. Besides, you did me a huge favor by coming to the Warrior Academy Vegas night with me. I wouldn’t have made it solo. Let’s go, and we can deal with the car tomorrow. Someone can bring you back in the morning, but if not, you can call me. I have nothing going on.”
She took a couple of seconds to contemplate her options, but knew she had none. “Ok, Batman. Let’s go. Or whatever Batman says when he leaves.” She bounced over to my car down the street while I chuckled in her wake.
Maybe the universe was intentionally putting me on the scene when she needed me. Help me out, universe, I sent into the cosmos. Help. Me. Out.
29
AUDRA
Of course, Donovan showed up in my time of need. Again. I can’t imagine why this guy wanted anything to do with me when it felt like one disaster after the next. Probably for the best, because he melted my panties whenever he was around. I was glad that there was no awkwardness between us that night on the way home, given how psycho I acted after that kiss. We just fell back into it, and I told him about how Cora was in the apartment, and how we were stocking the store tomorrow. He told me about how he spent the afternoon with the guys at the bar until they left for Maverick’s, and he gave me details about how horrible the store reveal went.
He pulled up in front of my house, but I was looking at him. “Thank you again, Donovan. I promise I’ll make this up to you.” He smirked and shook his head, but then his face turned into an angry stare as he looked past me. “What the fuck?”
Spinning my head, I saw what he was looking at. On my front porch swing sat Theo. He was completely engrossed in his phone and didn’t even look up at us. He probably didn’trealize it was Donovan’s car, even though I’m sure he watched me get in it the other night. It almost looked like he was sleeping with his phone in his hand. My stomach dropped out from under me. This was not ok for him to just be sitting here.
“I … I don’t know what he’s doing here.”
“What the fuck is up with this guy? What do you want me to do? Should we call the cops? Do you want to confront him? What do you think?”
He was tossing out these questions at me, but I was shutting down. All I could do was look at Donovan without an answer. I was tired, my car was broken, it was a crazy day on the heels of a shit week, I was wrecked for Cora, and then to find Theo on my porch was too much. He took charge in the way I needed him to, without me having to ask. “Hey, let’s take a breath,” he patted my thigh. “We’re not going to stop here, though. We’ll head to my place. You can think on this, okay?.”
I just nodded my head. “Ok. I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. I’m glad you didn’t take an Uber home and find him here.”
We had a mostly silent ride home, which was great because I was lost in my thoughts. He was right, I would have called an Uber and ended up here with him waiting for me. I’m sure Donovan could see me shaken up. I tried to rationalize with myself that there had to be a reason for it. Theo was just an ex, and he was never bad to me when we were together. I knew him well. No flags or anything. I mean, we were a great couple. He was good to me, and that’s why it was so hard for me to let go. And even when we had broken up, and he was an asshole, he was never a creep like this.
We were at Donovan’s within ten minutes, and my goodness, what a house. It wasn’t gigantic like some of the McMansions on the street, but it was breathtaking. It was a Tudor-stylehouse that looked like it belonged in the English countryside. With a million windows and a turret, it looked magical.
“You live here?” I stuttered out.
“Nope, just breaking into this place.” He said with such conviction that if it wasn’t such an insane question, I may have believed him.
“But you live here by yourself?”
“Yep, I do. Just me,” he affirmed as he slowed his car at the top of the driveway. I noticed four garage doors. Did he have four cars?
“But what do you do with all this space? How big is it?” I blurted out. Something had to be missing here. Did he have big, lavish parties that no one in Savanah Springs had heard about? It seemed like most people didn’t know much about Donovan Wright at all. Normally, in smallish towns, gossip spreads like wildfire, and whether or not it’s true, someone always has something to say about someone. “Do you get lost in here?” There was no putting a lid on me right now, apparently.
“It’s not that big. I mean, are you asking about the square footage of my house, Audra?” He side-eyed me.
