Page 118 of Love Collided

I dialed the number, Chase watching me the entire time.

“Hi, I need to talk to Sheriff Wells,” I said, waiting as they transferred me.

“What are you doing?” Chase asked, grabbing my hand.

“I’m taking care of the problem that I have. If he keeps popping up, we will never stop having to pay him or the peopleafter him. I’ll give him up. I should have done it before, but never knew what I could do.”

“Hello?”

“Hey, Sheriff. It’s your best friend, Scout Allen.”

He sighed. “Are you calling to confess to the street racing?”

“No,” I said, smiling as I looked at Chase. “But I am calling because I heard you have a warrant out for my dad.”

“Yeah. I’m one of many that does now. You should come forward and tell me if you know where he is.”

I rolled my eyes. “Do you think I’m calling just to check up on my dad’s warrants? No. I ran into him when I was racing in Vegas, and I would be willing to give you his exact location.”

He was quiet for a minute and then gave a long huff. “I’m waiting for thebutthat I’m assuming goes along with this.”

“Wow, you are right. There is one thing I’m asking in return.”

“If you think I’m going to back off all of you street racing, you’re wrong.”

“No,butcould you please stop patrolling the old road outside town? We like practicing there, and you’ve had a patrol car there every time lately.”

“Because even if it’s unused, it’s still technically a road.”

“Barely. That’s all I want in return.”

“Fine, tell me where your dad is, and I’ll back off. Only if we actually get your dad.”

I gave him the hotel and area before hanging up.

Chase was still staring, his eyebrows raised as he watched me.

“You okay?”

The warm breeze washed over me, and for the first time in a really long time, I didn’t feel the weight on my shoulders crushing me. Every problem I had months ago was gone, and even if I had a few new ones, the problems that had been drowning me weren’t a problem anymore.

He was still waiting for a response, the concern in his eyes only making me smile more. I threw my arms around him, and he pulled me hard into his arms.

“I’m okay,” I said, taking in a shaky breath. “I’m okay, and it feels nice knowing he might not be a problem for us anymore.”

He kissed my head and turned us back inside. “Well, all we need to do now is go meet the crew for breakfast, win you a few races, and see if we actually get a relationship after this.”

I thought he would be mad, but when I looked up, he was smiling.

“You’re not upset about that?”

“No, Hellcat. Not upset at all.”

“Why not?” I didn’t know how it couldn’t be fazing him when I had barely slept because of it. What if the crew came out and said they hated him for me? Or me for him? He had grown close to them all, and it’s not like we made a habit of dating other people in the group. It had never happened, and while he wasn’t exactly as close to everyone yet, it still felt like Fox had decided he was in now.

He dropped my hand as we made it to the restaurant the crew was at, but he still smiled down at me. “Because, Scout, I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure they are all okay with it. I mean, that and I still have great fucking negotiation skills, so I might be able to convince them that I am not the worst thing in the entire world.”

We were already heading to the table, but I stepped next to him so he could hear me. “Not even close, Chase. You might be the best thing in the world right now.”

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