Page 17 of Rejected Broken Mate

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Fine."

We headed down the street towards my car. Her eyebrows went up. "You know, I figured you would have a truck," she said.

I shrugged. "I like my car; it gets good mileage. I also have my motorcycle at home, which is pretty good on gas."

As we got into the car, she made a face. "You ride a motorcycle?"

"Why does that surprise you? I was on BMX when we were in college."

I started the car, and she shrugged. "I don't know. I just pictured you growing out of that."

I laughed, shaking my head. "No. And for future reference, you don't even grow out of that rush you get."

She laughed. "Is that why you went into firefighting?"

A little. I enjoyed feeling like I was doing good rather than telling people they didn't know how to handle their money.

"Maybe, if Michael likes things like that, he would join their group. They have all ages."

She shook her head. "No, he will not be doing that."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"He could get hurt," she said, looking at me. "I remember when you slammed into a building, and you got a concussion."

I looked back at the road. "Yeah, but football is just as dangerous, if not more."

"How?"

"You only get hurt at the beginning on dirt bikes. You're pretty much safe once you know what you're doing."

"I don't think so."

"Why don't you ask him."

"Because he doesn't need any more sports. He needs something that works his mind."

"It does," I add with a smirk. "You have to be a quick decision-maker."

She laughed as I pulled up in front of her house. I felt a strong pull to go inside, but I couldn't put my finger on why.

She looked outside her window and smiled. "Thank you for the ride home."

"No problem." I looked at the house, suddenly wishing I could go inside. As much as we talked, Laura hadn't told me enough.

"If you don't mind me asking, why isn't the dad around?"

Laura opened her door and grabbed her basket. She shrugged. "He isn't the person I thought he was. I didn't know him at all."

The answer only gave me twenty more questions. Where was he? What did he do? How long had he been out of the picture?

"Thanks for the ride," she said again before hopping out and heading to the door. I watched her walk away. I felt a tug in my chest, missing what we used to be. Laura used to tell me everything before I could even ask, and now, I don't know who she was anymore.

Chapter 7 - Laura

I rubbed my eyes, feeling a headache just behind my eyes. I rub my thumb and point my finger into my temple, wishing for the ache to ease up. I didn't think it would. It was from a lack of sleep.

Michael was up again last night, crying because he was hurting again. He was running another high fever, and the medication wasn't taking it down. He sweated through his pajamas, so I put him in a cold bath, hoping it would help.

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