Page 88 of Forever Relentless

“Isn’t the whole fact of emergency assistance, so they come in emergencies?”

“It’s not an emergency, Bri, it’s a dead battery in a town with free parking, and it saves you a huge bill you can’t afford. Take the win.”

I glanced at Noah, who was suspiciously expressionless.

“Fine.” I almost hung up. “Thank you for calling them,” I added grudgingly.

“It’s fine, they have an app, I just used it.”

My roadside assistance service had an app? News to me.

“How will you get back to campus?”

Such an innocent question. Such a complicated answer. “I met a friend from work, they’re giving me a ride.”

“Which friend?”

The way my brother’s voice could change in an instant from cajoling little brother wanting more peanut butter than jelly on his sandwich, to ‘I will break every bone in their body,’ used to amuse me. Not so fun on the receiving end of it.

“From work,” I stressed. “I’ll let you know how I get on tomorrow.”

“You’ll call me tonight, Briar.”

I didn’t bother arguing. The silent shadow beside me was loving this.

“Whatever.” I hung up. “As I said earlier, jocks are assholes.”

Noah’s chuckle was enough to lift my crappy mood. “The car will be okay?”

“Your car will be fine,” Noah assured me, opening the door. “Mason checked, and let’s face it, he probably knows this town better than we do.”

That was true. I hesitated at the car door. “No kissing in the car, okay?”

“Done.”

I believed him. “Okay, good.”

The drive back to campus was quick and quiet. Noah took me right to the building, but instead of stopping, he carried on turning the corner.

“What’s happening?”

“This is Dust’s car. If Hadley looks out her window and sees it driving away from her building, I don’t want to be responsible for that mix-up.”

“Good point,” I murmured. He pulled to a stop just around the corner. “Thank you.”

“How will you get back to Halston for eight tomorrow?” he asked me. “I’m at practice.”

I hadn’t even thought of it, but the fact that he had? I felt warmth in my belly as it dipped again.

“Oh, I’ll get the bus, don’t worry about it.” I heard back what I’d said. “Not that you would be worried about it.” His eyebrow rose. “No, I mean I know you’d be concerned, not, no, that’s not right either. Um . . .”

Amusement flickered across his face.

“I think I should shut up.”

“I like the way I shut you up,” he told me smoothly, “but you said no to kissing in the car.”

My insides wanted off this roller coaster.