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“Here.” I bent down, taking over and grabbing the bike. I walked over and put it in the back of my SUV, ignoring the glare Bexley sent my way.
“I can carry you, honey,” she said softly, but Cole shook his head.
“I can hold on to you and hop there,” Cole offered weakly, while he stared down at her bare feet. He couldn’t put any pressure on his injured leg, which meant a fracture or a break, and there was no way Bexley could hold him steady while running on the hot sidewalk, not to mention the asphalt between her block and this one.
Before either of them could protest, I walked closer to the two, scooped the kid into my arms, and headed toward my car.
“Ryan, you don’t need to—” Bexley started, but I cut her off.
“He can’t put any pressure on it. He needs to get to the hospital…you should have had him ride in the ambulance.”
Opening the side door to my SUV, I secured Cole in the back seat, ignoring Bexley yelling at my back to stop and not to worry about them.
“Thank you, Mr. Prince,” Cole muttered softly as I sat him on the seat.
“You can call me Ryan, bud.”
I shut the door, got into the driver’s seat, and pulled the rig over to the side of the street where Bexley was. She stood with her arms crossed and a pinched expression on her face. I was sure she was just pissed at herself for not wearing shoes, because there was no way she could be mad at the fact that I was being nice.
“Well, come on,” I said through the window.
Heaving a sigh, she opened the passenger door and got in.
I drove down the few houses until we were in front of hers. Putting it in park, I turned to look at Cole’s mother. “Let’s take him right now…no use in moving him again.”
Her eyebrows drew together. “That’s not necessary. I’ve got it from here.”
She opened her door and immediately started hopping from foot to foot.
“Cole, baby, I’m going to get my shoes, okay?” she said, giving me a warning look before darting off toward her house.
Cole spoke up from the back. “She can’t take me…her minivan is in the shop and my Aunt Shay is at work.”
How nice that Shay managed an invitation to stay in Bexley’s life.
“Why didn’t she just let you ride in the ambulance?” I asked, confused and slightly irritated that she was being so stubborn.
“Do ambulances cost money?” he asked curiously, shifting around in the back seat.
“Uh…yeah,” I replied cautiously. It was too much work to try to explain insurance to this kid, so I figured I’d just stick with simple answers.
“Mom can’t afford a lot of things. She doesn’t think we notice, but that’s why she started her new job.”
Fuck, that made me feel like shit for messing with Bexley at her job and threatening it.
Bexley ran up to the car door a second later with a little girl trailing behind her. The girl had golden curls that were tamed with a pink headband. Again, like it had with Cole, my heart beat unsteadily in my chest at the sight of what must have been Bexley’s daughter.
Bella.
“Cole, we’re going to call an Uber and get you to the hospital, buddy,” Bexley said while examining her son’s leg.
“Bex, just let me take you guys. You’re wasting time,” I argued, leaning toward the back so she could see me more clearly.
Indecision flickered along the planes of her beautiful face, so I pressed harder.
Opening my door, I walked around and helped adjust the little booster seat Bella had on the ground next to her, putting it into the third row.
“Here, sweetie, you can sit here, so we don’t bump your brother's leg.” I set the seat in the back and carefully moved the closest seat forward, so she could crawl in.
