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“If it means staying safe…”
I snorted out a laugh and began throwing a few toiletries into my bag. “You’re so full of shit, you know that?”
“Yeah, yeah, worth a shot. But I wanna hear every last detail when you get back. Not for scoop, just my own guilty pleasure.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”
“You better. I know you’ve got to go, and I should do some work at some point today, so—”
He kept talking, but now the connection was breaking up for real. All I heard was something like “be safe and don’t kiss Drew.”
Wait, what?
My face instantly heated. “Uh, why do you think I’d kiss Drew?”
“Kiss? What are you talking about? I saidkill,not kiss. I already know you’d never touch him with a ten-foot pole, I’m just sayin’, try not to beat him with it.”
Oh. Right.
I scrubbed a hand over my face and said my goodbyes, hit the end call button, and blew out a sigh. Of all the people and all the publishing companies Viper could’ve chosen, it just had to be Drew I’d be stuck with this weekend. At least from the sound of it, the place was big enough that maybe we wouldn’t have to run into each other. He could stay on his side, I could stay on mine—no reason to talk about what happened or relive it.
I just needed to remember not to let him get under my skin. He seemed to have a knack for that, for pissing me off and driving me completely out of my mind.
After making sure I had everything, I was ready to get on the road. Martha’s Vineyard was at least a six-hour drive, not accounting for traffic, and with the way the rain was coming down, I definitely should’ve left earlier. My windshield wipers were working overtime, and the farther north I drove, the more the gusts of wind attempted to knock me out of my lane.
“This is ridiculous,” I muttered as the rain pounded the glass so loud that I had to turn the volume up on the radio. My brother’s show was on, and he was still playing sad-sack love songs, though at least he was alternating them with some more current music. I had a feeling that wasn’t his choice.
“You’re back with Sawyer on WZNY’s anything goes show—at least, that’s what I’m calling it nowadays. My program director wants to nail my decapitated head on the wall after each of these, but you, the good people of New York, know enough about the wretchedness of relationships to get why this show is necessary. Now let me ask you, have you ever thought someone was too good to be true and it turns out…they were?”
I nodded along as I gripped the steering wheel. “Yes.”
“And when you found out what a dick—BLEEP—they were, didn’t it make you want to throw steaming piles of—BLEEP—at the door of their apartment?”
“Uh…no.”
“For all of you saying no right now, I call bull—BLEEP.”
Jesus, Sawyer. Was he even allowed to have bleeped-out words on the air?
“Now, just in case any of you were thinking that hey, maybe it wasn’t so bad, that everyone deserves a second, and third, and fourth chance—no. Do you know how many millions of single people are out there in the city alone? And you wanna waste your time on a loser? I’m talkin’ to myself here too, ’cuz we don’t need to reheat the leftovers, know what I’m sayin’? So this goes out to my dumb-as-rocks ex-boyfriend, and all of yours too.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle as “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” began to play, and made a mental note to check in on Sawyer when I got back in town. He sounded less sad, more pissed off—which I supposed was a good thing in the cycle of heartbreak, but he was such a sensitive romantic that a hug and a chat were probably in order. And really, he wasn’t wrong about the second chances thing. It was why I’d never let a certain someone back in.
Notthat I was thinking about him.
Glancing at my GPS, I saw that I wasn’t too far out from where I’d need to catch the ferry for the last part of my trip, but damn, I wasn’t looking forward to that. I could barely make out the road with the sideways rain. Even an umbrella wouldn’t stop my getting soaked completely.
That’s gonna be fun,I thought, trying not to shudder at the image I’d present once I finally arrived at Viper and Halo’s place. Hell, maybe they’d take pity on me and direct me to a luxurious oversized tub with hot water for days. Now that was an idea that could sustain me through this hell storm.
I turned the music up and found myself singing along to the chorus, not even realizing I knew the words to this song. Unlike the singer, I hadn’t done the whole breakup, make-up thing over and over, though. Once was enough for me to know I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice. Not that I’d really given many others a chance to get close enough for that. I’d been too busy helping my mom with her company once I graduated and proving it was my work ethic and not nepotism that kept me there and moving up the ranks.
I couldn’t say the same about Drew. Not after—
BAM!
My tire hit a huge branch that blew across the road too fast for me to avoid, and I swerved to the left, away from the cars on the other side. Only I didn’t see the dip in the shoulder, and when my tire slammed into it, I knew instantly I was fucked.
The tire light came on immediately, and I cursed as my car limped a few more feet before coming to a stop. My heart was pounding from the adrenaline, but somehow the sound of the rain pelting my car was so much louder.
