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How could he not see it too?
“You want to know why Ireallylove her?” I demanded, wanting to shove it in his face how truly wrong he was. “Because she loved me first. She knows exactly what an inconsiderate, inappropriate dickwad I am. She knows all my faults and shortcomings, and yet shestillaccepts me as I am. No, she fuckingchoseme and prefers me because of the way I am. She doesn’t want me to changea thing, which isn’t something evenyoucan claim.”
JB opened his mouth to disagree with me, I’m sure—not that he had a leg to stand on because I couldn’t count the infinite number of times he had ragged on me over the years about not going to college or getting arealjob or…whatever—but I lifted a finger, stopping him.
“And she lets me take care of her, too, which feeds my need to help people. I mean, not so much that I get a big head and turn all codependent on her or anything. Sometimes, she’s got to be a stubborn pain in the ass to remind me that she’s still her own strong, independent woman and could live without me, but she lets me step in and pamper her just enough to make me feel special and worthwhile. And it encourages me towantto work harder and become this good person she seems to think I am, even though I know she’s completely satisfied with what she gets from me now. She’s hot and sassy—calling me out during my stupid moments—and yet my safe place all in one beautiful soul. And I’ve never felt as fulfilled as I do when she’s in my sphere. So you just go ahead and think you know me better than I do and that I don’t really love her. I don’t give a fuck if I don’t convince you or not. I’mmarryingthat girl before she gets away.”
With that, I spun around to stalk off. I was so intent to ignore him as he called after me, telling me to wait, that I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and I ran right into a freaking uniformed police officer who’d been walking down the hall.
“Shit, sorry,” I said and stepped back to let him go first.
He lifted a hand in forgiveness. “No worries.”
As he started away, however, the radio on his belt started to squawk.
“...Ten twenty-eight on the first plate is current,” a voice announced mildly. “Registered to a Chloe Ryan out of Ellamore. Negative twenty-nine.”
My ears perked to immediate attention when I heard Chloe’s name, and I glanced back at JB to make sure he’d heard the same thing. When he blinked back at me in surprise, I leaped forward, racing after that cop.
“Wait…” I grabbed his arm, making him startle and whirl toward me. Jarring to a halt, I tore my hand off him and then lifted both, even as I demanded, “What…what’s that about? On your radio.” I waved toward his belt. “I heard them say Chloe Ryan, and she… She’s my fiancée,” I blurted, not sure what else to call her. “Is she okay? What’s going on?”
Meanwhile, the guy’s radio just kept spilling out more information. “Second vehicle,” the dispatcher was droning on. “Ten twenty-eight is expired. Registered to a Daxter Freston out of Pontiac. Negative twenty-nine.”
“Oh fuck…” I breathed when I heardhisname. Cupping my head, I bent a little and started to back away from the officer, as stars popped into my vision. “Whatis happening?”
“Car accident,” the officer told me as a new voice on his radio called through static-filled feedback.
“Both drivers are in critical condition. What’s the ETA on EMS?”
The uniformed man in front of me said, “Sounds like she’s going to be heading this way soon enough, so you might as well just stay put. You can meet her here.” And with that, he walked off, leaving me to gape after him open-mouthed.
“Luke?” JB gripped my arm, forcing me to look at him.
“She…she was in an accident,” I said hollowly, still not registering it quite right in my head. “Critical condition.”
She washurt.
“Motherfucker.” My knees started to buckle, but my brother tightened his grip on me and then led me to a nearby bench, where I wilted onto my ass and cupped my head between my hands.
But he’d found her. Son of a bitch, Freston hadfoundher.
My world seemed to fall apart around me, and everything went blank. “No, no, no, no, no, no…”
All I could focus on was the wordcritical.
“Luke?”
“What does critical mean?” I asked, trying to look up at JB, but I couldn’t seem to see him through the black fog of panic. “How bad is that? It’s, like, life-threatening, isn’t it? Oh God.”
Life-threatening.
What was worse, Bella texted the Freston-watch group chat at that very moment, checking in for her duty, only to report that Freston’s car wasnotin his driveway.
And that was all the confirmation I needed. The bastard had gotten Chloe.
“JB...” I reached out in his direction, seeking support as my brain went absolutely blank. When I caught hold of his arm, I squeezed hard. A sob tore from my throat, and my entire body started to tremble. “I can’t breathe.”
But this couldn’t be happening. It just couldn’t. I’d barely woken my dumb ass up and realized how much I loved her. I couldn’t lose hernow. That wasn’t fair. It wasn’t…
