Page 87 of Tanner

Miles’ gaze dropped to the bags and came back up. “Lower them.”

Tanner frowned. “What?”

“Just a little.”

The instruction was calm and practical and that was probably why he listened so he let the bags drop an inch. The relief in his hands was immediate and it made him realize how hard he’d been gripping. He didn’t let go completely. He only lowered them enough that the straps weren’t cutting into his fingers.

Miles nodded. “Good.” The simple approval hit harder than it should have.

The driver stepped down from the bus again. “You boarding or not?”

This time Tanner answered. “No.”

The driver gave them one last look, then turned and went back up. A second later the doors shut and the bus pulled away.

He stood there watching it go, every part of him waiting for the regret to hit, or for panic to rush back, but it didn’t.

Miles took one careful step closer. “Can I take the bags?” Tanner hesitated, blinking at him. “Yes or no,” Miles said. “Your call.”

Tanner looked down at his hands. At the white marks where the straps had dug in. Then he held one bag out and Miles took it without touching anything else. Tanner kept the other. He didn’t know why that mattered, but it did.

“Okay,” Miles said.

Savannah gave a tired whimper and slumped more heavily against Tanner. He shifted her automatically, but the movement made his arms ache. He was shaking enough that he couldn’t hide it now.

Miles saw that too. “You want me to take her?”

The answer came out before Tanner thought about it. “No.”

Miles nodded like he’d expected that answer. “Alright.”

Tanner felt exposed all of a sudden. Too many people. Too much light. Too much chance that someone would start paying attention now the bus had gone and they were still there.

Miles must have read it on his face. “Let’s get out of here.”

They started walking toward the doors with Miles a little behind. Close enough to be there but far enough not to crowd him.

Savannah’s head lolled against Tanner’s shoulder. She had gone quiet in that wrung-out way that came after too much crying. Tanner kissed the side of her head.

Once outside, Miles led them toward a dark truck parked away from the front and Tanner slowed when he saw it. Not because he didn’t know the truck, but because getting in it made this real.

Miles stopped too, reading the hesitation at once. “You can still say no,” he said.

Tanner looked at him sharply. “And then what?”

Miles held his gaze. “Then I stay here with you until you can think clearly enough to tell me what you need.”

Tanner looked away. He was too tired to keep fighting every inch. Too wrung out. Too ashamed of the tears Savannah had cried and the way his own body still felt half-ready to run even now.

“We’re going home,” he muttered.

Miles unlocked the truck with a click. “Yeah.”

He opened the back door first and Tanner stared at the car seat already fixed there and felt something twist low in his stomach. Either Miles had kept it in there because he’d been coming around enough that it made sense, or he’d moved fast once he knew what he was walking into tonight.

Either way, the sight of it made Tanner feel worse and safer at the same time. It shouldn’t have mattered as much as it did, seeing proof that Miles had already been thinking about Savannah too.

Miles waited while Tanner got Savannah settled. She roused enough to fuss when he loosened his hold, then quieted when he buckled her in and tucked the rabbit into her lap. Her eyes were already closing again before he shut the door.