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I focus back on the road, turning the car around and heading back the way I was coming from.
We don’t talk to one another as we pass through the city, my brain going over every scenario that didn’t happen but could’ve.
Scarlet’s smart. Maybe one of the smartest people I know. To think she got in her car, knowing it was low on electricity, and then drove without her phone… “Why would you get out of the car? Why not wait until someone passed and flag them down?”
She sits quietly at my side.
“Why didn’t you wave me down? You were going to let me pass. Surely you knew it was me?”
“I got out because I didn’t feel like sleeping in my car in the middle of nowhere, and I wasn’t going to wave down a stranger either. When you came around the corner, I kind of froze. I didn’t expect it to be you.”
“Yeah, well, same,” I snap.
“Can you not be angry at me about this?”
I force my attention away from the road, regretting it the second I lay eyes on her. Her face is still flushed pink, her hair dripping. “If something happened to you, Scarlet—”
“It didn’t.”
“It could have.”
“I’m sorry, Lance.”
I clench my jaw, knowing she means more than just risking her life by walking in the rain on the shittiest road I know.
We pull into Elliot’s drive and rush into the house, both of us wet through. “Go shower. You need to warm up. I’ll get you something dry to put on.” I head for the laundry room where I found a stack of fresh towels when I arrived earlier.
When I come back out, Scarlet’s still standing in the middle of the hall, a puddle of water forming at her feet, and shivering all over.
“You need to get out of those wet clothes,” I tell her, handing her the fluffy towel. “You know where the bathrooms are.”
“I was on my way here for a reason.”
“You can use the en suite in the main bedroom if you prefer. It has body wash but no shampoo.”
“Lance—”
“I don’t need to hear you tell me you don’t love me again, Scarlet.” I close my eyes, feeling like a complete asshole. I really did plan on slipping into her bed tonight, hoping we wouldn’t have to do this again. “Please.”
I know that she loves me, but if she tries to explain all the reasons she can’t and won’t, she might just finish me off tonight.
“That’s not why I came…”
I turn and start up the stairs, knowing I’ll say the wrong thing and hurt her if I stay.
“I’m just scared,” she calls to my back, and I slow before coming to a stop. “Aren’t we all a little bit? I’m terrified of falling in love with you, Lance.”
I swallow, staring at the shitty chandelier hanging in front of me.
“I couldn’t watch you fade to nothing in that hospital bed, and yet I knew I’d fall a little if I fixed you. I knew that having you close to me on the estate would kill me inside every day that I fell in love with you all over again, but I did it anyway.” I take a step back and turn, looking down at her. And the tears that threaten in her eyes almost bring me to my knees. “I did it anyway because it’s what we do. It’s what stupid humans do over and over again even though we know the risk. I don’t want to love you or my brother or my friends or my job or even my child because I’m scared I’ll lose every single one of you.” She goes to step forward, but I move first, taking the stairs until we’re chest to chest. Her eyes soften as she stares up at me. “But you need me. Mason needs me. The girls need me. Peopleneedme.” Her voice wavers. “Ave needs me, Lance.” A tear rolls down her cheek as she reaches for mine. I melt into her touch. I always will. “I knew the risks, and I fell regardless. For all of it.”
“Baby,” I whisper, dropping my forehead to hers.
“I never meant to hurt you—”
My jaw goes stiff. “You told me to go home. This isn’t my home, Scar. This is a million miles from home.”
“I know. You belong on the estate. You belong with us.”
