“It’s not fucking fine,” I growl and then look at Brock. “Was anything else damaged?”
“Not that we can see. But I’ll be doing a checkup anyway.”
“Brock,” she interjects, “really, that isn’t necessary. It’s probably some kids causing chaos.”
“I don’t care what you say.” His tone is clipped. “I’m doing a checkup.”
“Well, how much will that be?” I can hear the weight of the question in her tone.
“It’s on the house. The tires will be a hundred dollars each, new. Or I can call around and see if maybe someone has some used ones.”
“Um . . .” Her finger taps the countertop.
“We can work something out like we did the last time,” he assures. “I’m not worried about it.”
“Oh,” she murmurs.
“The only thing is, it won’t be ready until maybe tomorrow.” He puts his hand on the desk in front of him.
“That’s fine,” I say. “I’ll take her to work and pick her up.”
“That’s—” She lets out a huge sigh. “I guess we have no choice.”
“I’ll call you when we get the exact price for the tires,” Brock says. The two of us share a look that lets him know I’ll be taking care of this bill.
“Thanks for your help, Brock,” she says softly. “Oh, I have to pay for the tow.” She starts to grab her purse, looking away from Brock, and I shake my head at him.
“It’s good,” he deflects. “I’ll put it all on one bill. You can take care of it when the tires are on.”
“Okay,” she says, “if you’re sure.”
“It’s fine, Collins,” he assures. “Don’t worry about it.”
She smiles at him, and it’s a sad smile. The burning in my gut starts to form. “Thanks, Brock,” I tell him. “See you tomorrow.”
I slide my hand in hers as we walk out of the shop. I take one look back at Brock, and he nods to confirm he got what I was silently saying. He wears an expression that tells me he’s going to hurt me if I fuck this up with Collins.
“Hey,” I say softly when we get to the truck. “It’s okay.”
“It’s actually not okay.” She quickly wipes the tears away from one eye. I reach up to catch the tear from her other eye as I cup her face.
“Collins . . .” I start softly. She tries to look down, but I stop her, making her look at me. “It could have been so much worse.”
“I know. That’s the only thing keeping me from freaking out.”
“We need to talk—” My phone rings, and I glance at the caller ID. “I have to take this. Get in the truck, I’ll just be a minute.” I bend to kiss her lips softly, and it calms me down.
I wait for her to get into the truck before I put the phone to my ear. “Hey, it’s not a good time,” I tell Caleb, walking around the front of the truck.
“Someone just tried to break into the office,” he says. “Got the door open and had enough time to grab the laptop off the desk before the alarm started ringing.”
“Shit, shit, shit.” I try not to punch the side of my truck. “Well, someone slashed Collins’s tires.”
“Theo,” he says, “it’s time to go to the cops.”
“Yeah, I think so also. I just don’t want Collins to worry.”
“Well, then don’t tell her until you talk to the cops, but she needs to know to look out for someone.”
