Page 97 of Truck Off

He leans on his elbows and narrows his eyes before he whispers, “You’re in deep.”

I sigh and run my fingers through my hair. I expected one or more of my brothers to call me out on my feelings for Lina, but I didn’t expect it to be Christian. Nor did I expect him to do it when she’s in the other room.

“Yeah, I am.” I admit.

“Be careful. I’m not convinced she’s in it as deep as you are. You’re going to get hurt.”

“Chill. No one is getting hurt.”

He shakes his head and his nostrils flare. “You will if you’re not more guarded. I don’t trust her.”

I rear my head back. Now it’s my turn to glare. “Well I do. She and I are on the same page about our relationship. I don’t need you deciding it’s time to step up and play the protective brother.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to do.” He growls. “I just want you to be careful.”

“Listen, this is new. Give us time to actually date and figure this out before you doom our relationship to fail.”

I push to my feet, but Christian grabs my arm, holding me in place. “It may be new, but I know you. She means more to you than you do to her.”

I shove his hand away and push back my chair. “Maybe so, but one day that will change. I’d appreciate your support rather than whatever the hell this is you’re doing.”

Before he can say anything else, I head across the kitchen to the coffee pot. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me as I pour myself a cup. I’m sure the rest of my brothers heard our conversation, which means at some point, the others will say something to me too.

That’s fine. They can say whatever the fuck they want to me as long as they don’t speak a word of their concerns to Lina. She’s enough of a flight risk without those assholes putting doubts in her mind.

I’ve finally got her.

She’s with me.

She wants to be with me.

And I refuse to let anything or anyone ruin what we’ve started.

* * *

It’s ridiculous how happy holding Lina’s hand in public makes me. It’s a seemingly little thing to most people, I’m sure. But to me? It’s huge.

Lina is not big on public shows of affection, not even of the hand holding variety. That she’s given me this is a major boost to my ego and my heart.

She even let me pick her up and drive us both to the school for a day of working on the derby bus. She’s so damn independent that I expected her to tell me no when I offered. The smile that spread across my face when she agreed nearly split my face open.

I was already struggling with my disappointment over her refusing to come over last night and stay with me. I’ve seen her almost every day this past week, even if it was only for a few minutes before she headed to work.

She only stayed with me one night. She doesn’t like leaving her dad alone, which I respect. I haven’t been able to work out if that’s because of his health or their poor living conditions. If something were to go wrong with the trailer, there’s no way her dad could handle it on his own. I’m hoping once we get that fixed, and it’s a safe place to live, she’ll relax and stay with me more.

Assuming she doesn’t kick me to the curb for stepping up and taking care of this for her. I haven’t worked out all the details, but I have a plan brewing.

I squeeze her hand and lift it to my mouth, kissing her fingers. My chest warms when she smiles at me.

Clara, Karla, and Trevor are sitting at the picnic table laughing when we walk up. They’re so engrossed in their conversation that I’m not sure they even heard us arrive until we step into view.

“Oh, hey,” Clara says as she hops off her seat and pulls me in for a hug. After she releases me, she does the same for Lina. Lina stiffens slightly, but she doesn’t retreat. Progress. “I didn’t hear you guys pull up. We were just talking about school stuff until you got here.”

“Anything worth sharing?” I tease.

“Not really. Unless you want a reminder of all the dumb shit teenage boys do to get girls’ attention.”

I nudge her shoulder and grin. “You say that like we don’t still do dumb shit when we’re grown men. I can tell you stories that prove otherwise.”

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