Page 120 of Hurry Up And Wait

“You need backup.”

“I don’t need you.”

She snorted. “I think you do. The last thing you need is to accidentally bed another man. Look what happened when you saw Kavanaugh again.”

I glared at her, not appreciating her attempt at cheering me up.

“What? I’m just saying, let’s take it one man at a time. One very hot, very sexy man at a time.”

“I still thinkwe should have brought some of the guys with us,” Riley rambled on. “They could have been helpful.”

“I’m here,” Bowie rumbled from the back seat.

“In what way?” I asked as we drove down the road. I was trying desperately to ignore Riley and concentrate on where we were going, but she wouldn’t shut up.

“Because they’re hot men, and IKE is a hot man. They speak the same language. They could probably get more out of him than you could.”

“Again, I’m back here. I’m a hot guy. You slept with me,” Bowie retorted. “You said you had to have me because I’m a mechanic. I guess that shit flew out the window.”

“Hush, sweetie. The girls are talking,” Riley said, completely ignoring him.

“We’ll be fine.”

“Sure, you say that, but what if we show up and he doesn’t want to talk at all? What if he asks where our backup is?”

Bowie sighed heavily. That was really all he needed to do.

“Since when do we have backup?”

“Well…we should. Two women like us should always have backup. We’re backup-worthy.”

“And what defines the worthiness of backup?”

She opened her mouth, but gaped like a fish when the answer didn’t immediately come to her. “Okay, maybe there’s no standard for the worthiness of backup, but that doesn’t mean we don’t deserve it!”

“I feel like there’s really no reason I’m here any longer,” Bowie muttered. “Sure, I’ll stay and watch over them. I’m not only former military, but I’m also a mechanic, which you were so desperate for the other night. But apparently, I’m completely useless in this situation.”

“Not useless,” Riley said, spinning in her seat. “You’re amazing, but…”

“But what?” Bowie asked, his face pinched in a frown.

She tapped his hand that rested on the back of her seat. “We’re very happy you’re here. We feel safer already. Right?”

“Right,” I muttered.

Sighing, I chose to block her out for the rest of the drive, focusing instead on how I was going to get IKE to tell me the truth. I couldn’t believe that Kavanaugh was engaged. And worse, why the hell hadn’t he told me? I despised secrets above everything else, and the fact that we’d barely gotten together and he was already lying to me really struck a chord deep in my gut.

I turned down the long driveway and parked next to the house. It looked like no one was home, but I still had to check. I got out and marched up to the house as Riley chased after me. Bowie strolled behind us, his hands shoved in his pockets.

“I thought you liked him?” I hissed.

“Oh, I do, but I’m not stupid enough to get too attached. What if he turns out like Kavanaugh?”

“A giant cheater?”

She looked at me funny. “No, a giant douche protector. I want a mechanic in the sack. Not a man who’s going to hover and drive me insane.”

The sad thing was I knew exactly what she was talking about. I liked Kavanaugh a lot, but I didn’t appreciate his need to put me in a cage to protect me. Although, it seemed now like perhaps he was doing that to keep me from finding out his deepest, darkest secrets.

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