Page 96 of Ride With Me

“Honestly, once I finish this route, I’m going to get the bed in my truck fixed. Then I can enjoy it as much as I want.”

We were both quiet after that, and I wondered if he was trying to figure out the logistics of whether or not there was enough space for two people. He’d been so busy trying to hide beneath the blanket I’d left back there that I didn’t know if he’d gotten a good look at the actual bed frame.

There was enough room, even if it would be a little cramped.

He was quiet until we got to the truck, and I caught the way his eyes lingered in the back space for a second before finally flicking back to me.

“Benji…” I didn’t know why I said his name like that as I started the ignition, and I saw it the second he drew in on himself. He could tell that I was about to ask questions, and he’d been so keen on avoiding them yesterday when we’d been talking.

I wasn’t sure why I suddenly needed answers today, but I did.

“My ex’s brother is after me,” he almost whispered. I could barely hear him over the sound of the truck roaring to life.

“You told me that…” I was careful to keep my eyes on the road as I pulled out. “Do you want to tell me why?”

He hesitated, worrying his lower lip until I was half afraid he was going to make it bleed. I was almost ready to tell him he didn’t have to say anything when he finally dropped his hands into his lap and sighed.

“Neither of them were very nice men. His brother was an abusive asshole, and Mitchy’s probably worse. I hurt Aaron when I left,” he hesitated, like he was waiting to see if I was going to ask him to elaborate. When I kept my lips firmly pressed together, he continued on. “Mitchy didn’t take very kindly to me leaving his brother like that, so he stole my car and threatened to kill me.” Benji finally looked up from his hands, and I could see it in his eyes again.

The pleading.

Theneedthat he had to be here with me, to keep heading in the same direction I was.

“Okay.” I didn’t know if that was enough.

“Okay?”

“I’m not going to throw you out on your ass, Benji. If you need help, I’ll help you.”

He paused, but only for a second. “You don’t even know me, Warren. You don’thaveto help me.” The genuine confusion and curiosity in his voice made me want to ask even more questions. What kind of people had he known before me?

“I don’t have to, but I want to.”

“You didn’t even ask me how I hurt Aaron.” He paused at that, his dark eyes fixated on me, almost daring me to pry.

I wanted to. There was a part of me that wanted to stop the truck and absolutely flay him open so I could see every answer along his ribs, every little part of him that I was suddenly so curious about that it was eating me alive.

But I shrugged instead.

“It sounds to me like he deserved whatever you did to him. And it sounds to me like his brother will deserve whatever he gets if he doesn’t stop bothering you.” I didn’t know if the last bit was as reassuring as I wanted it to be, but he needed to know that I wasn’t going to let some asshat named Mitchy hurt him. I couldn’t spell it out in so many words, because I didn’t know how well he’d take to me making open threats, but I hoped he could see it on my face, hear it in my tone.

I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt him.

Benji sat back in his seat and looked at me—really looked at me—and then the softest smile blossomed across his features. It was sweeter than anything I’d seen from him, and for some reason, it felt more genuine than any expression he’d shown me before.

“You’re strange, Warren.”

I turned my attention back to the road with a small laugh. “Yeah, I know.”

“It isn’t a bad thing,” he added.

“A lot of people think it is.” There was a reason I drove alone, why I was most comfortable in the company of the stars and the empty road instead of other people. I didn’tbelongwith other people. I never had.

“Well… lucky for you, I’m not most people.”

Maybe I didn’t belong withotherpeople, but Benji was starting to make me think that maybe there was really a person out there for everyone.

One person it was okay to break your own rules for, because theybelongedto you.

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