I shake myself from my thoughts, focusing on putting the truck in drive. I signal and pull onto the road. The sooner I can get us both home, the quicker we can put some much-needed distance between us.
“You guys played well tonight.”
Her compliment takes me by surprise. I hadn’t expected her to say it, especially after I’d been such an asshole to her earlier.
“Thanks. I caught you watching us a couple of times. I’m glad you liked it.”
She smiles briefly, before biting her lip to cover it up. I don’t even think through my next words before they’re out of my mouth.
“If you want, I can take a look at your car for you tomorrow. See what’s going on before you drag it into the shop.”
My dad mentioned the reason why she was back home was to save up some money before her next semester. Hell, I’m pretty sure tonight was her first shift at Whiskey Barrel. I doubt she wanted to throw any extra cash at her piece of shit car.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to worry about it. I’ll figure it out tomorrow.”
“Alright, well, if you end up needing a ride anywhere, you know where to find me.”
Pulling into the driveway, the house is dark, and the storm shows no signs of letting up any time soon as lightning cracks overhead, and the rumbles of thunder are felt rolling through.
Ivy peers out through the windshield, her arms still shivering as droplets of water drip from her hair onto her arms.
She glances over to me, her eyes locking on mine. The urge to reach out and touch her consumes me. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she wants me to, too.
“Thanks for the ride, Brix.”
She gives me a half-ass smile, leaning forward to pick up her purse and t-shirt, clutching them both against her chest. She reaches for the door handle, hesitating for a second. Letting out a heavy sigh, she pushes it open and quickly jumps out. Slamming it behind her, she makes a mad dash toward the door, disappearing from my sight through the heavy rain, leaving me alone with nothing but the smell of her still wrapped around me.
Fuck.
Six
Ivy
Shortly after I woke up and got out of the shower the next morning, I got a call which caught me completely off guard. The local auto shop, Miller’s Auto, was letting me know my car was ready for pick up.
Immediately, I thought it had been ticketed and towed in, but when he told me the cost of the repairs, I knew that couldn’t have been the case. The police don’t look for stranded, broken down vehicles on the side of the road in desperate need of saving.
“I’m sorry, what? My car was towed to you?”
The man on the other end of the line pauses, seemingly confused by my question.
“Yes…” His voice trails off.
“I’m sorry, I just hadn’t expected it. Can you tell me who had it towed?”
The sound of papers shuffling filter through the other end of the phone.
“Oh,” he says, surprised. “It was Brix. The name on the credit card bill is for Brix Ward,” he responds gruffly.
“Wait, what? You mean Brix paid the bill?”
There is another long pause before he replies, “Yes, ma'am. That’s what it looks like.”
I guess I shouldn’t be too shocked. The only person who even knew was Brix, but after the way he talked to me at the bar, I hadn’t expected him to give me a ride, let alone have my car towed to the auto shop to be fixed.
“Okay…” I pause. “I’ll be by to pick it up shortly. Thank you.”
Hitting the end button, I drop my phone in my lap from where I sit at the end of my bed gazing out the window overlooking the backyard. The sun has begun to rise in the distance. It had stormed long into the night. I’ve learned Brix likes to fall asleep to the sound of music playing, but I was thankful last night he didn’t bother. I opened the window letting the sound of raindrops pounding on the ground outside lull me to sleep. It was the first good night’s sleep I’ve had since moving here.