“I think we should just try and make it in the Pathfinder,” she continues at my silence. “It’s what makes the most sense, I think.” Her lips press together, and then she rolls the map up, tossing it into the seat beside her.”
My mind flashes to what’s to come, already picturing the tears rolling down her pretty porcelain cheeks.Goddamn, this is going to be cruel.
Rue starts the car, then turns up the radio volume. The SUV starts rolling again. As I watch her demeanor, I see something different shifting there. She appears more…confident.She thinks we’ve got this.
And I hope like hell she’s right.
18
RUE
The roads aredesolate and flat, and no matter how many times I’ve made this drive, both east and west, I still can’t shake the nerves that roll through me in this stretch.
But I’m not traveling alone. And that makes me feel slightly better.
Some shitty country song plays on the radio now, and honestly, I miss my fucking phone. Ineedto know what the hell is going on with the search. I need to know whether we’re in the clear to keep moving as we are, or if we need to adjust.
I start flipping through the stations until I come to a news report. Some guy drones on and on about some sort of Alien spotting festival, then the weather, and when he makes it to thenationalnews, he never mentions Noah.
Maybe it’s dying down. There’s nothing new to report.
Still, I listen through the whole thing, immersing myself in the report, because to do otherwise at this point? I don’t even know where my head would go. There’s a sense of unease every time I glance back at Noah.
And I don’t understand it. But Idotrust it.
Maybe he’s hiding something from me? Or maybe he’s just angry still.
I chew the inside of my cheek until the taste of copper follows, which I promptly swallow. I glance in the rearview mirror, catching sight of Noah watching me, his blue eyes appearing dark in the moonless night. Sweat beads across my forehead; this strange, charged silence between the two of us is suffocating.
“You’re thinking really loud right now,” Noah’s voice comes out flat.
“Well, I guess I’m trying to decide at what point we become more than just two people who fucked in the woods,” I blurt out, the anxiety straining my voice.
He raises a brow. “Wedohave a history. That’s never going to change.”
I shake my head at that, an ache building in my chest. “I’m basically committing mylifeto being on the run with you, and I’m just getting labeled as someone you have history with?”
“Well, if you recall, I didn’tinviteyou,” Noah shoots back, his tone cold. “All I wanted was your car, and you could’ve just continued on your merry way, living in the fucking delusion you have in your head that you’re a good person.”
My jaw drops. I hate this version of Noah. Ihateit.
I grit my teeth and try to focus on the road, shoving down the urge to argue with him and defend my feelings for him. I mean, yeah, I did what I did. Or something like that. But I hadnoidea that Noah was being framed.
And I was so young… I had no idea what I was doing.
Those are just excuses.I rake my fingers through my tangled hair, wincing as it tears from my scalp. I glance back again at Noah, but he’s not watching me anymore; his eyes are pointed out the window.
I don’thaveto make it up to you, Noah. Does that not show that I’m trying to be a good person? That I’m trying to do the right thing?I don’twantto be the shitty, naïve girl who let her dad frame an innocent person for something she did.
I want to fix it and make it right. My head spins.
I could just come clean. I could turn myself in. I could drop Noah off at the border, then find the nearest police station and tell them the truth. I’m sure there’s some sort of evidence they could find, if they actually took me seriously.
A shudder runs through my body, and I reach for Bullet, who’s sleeping in the passenger seat, completely unaware and unbothered by the current circumstances. He has no fucking clue what’s going on.
And he is so lucky.
I blink away the moisture pooling in my eyes and then use my forearm to wipe it away. I do my best to focus on the road, but for the first time since we left Moccasin Cove, I feel more than just anxiety.
