Page 23 of Point of Contact

"Did you want me to leave you in your disgusting clothes?" She took another swig of her energy drink. "They smelled like shit and were covered in blood. And I didn't want to have to smell you the whole way to Alaska." She peeked his way, her cheeks pinking up the tiniest bit. "And I didn't really even look at anything. I was very respectful." Her eyes moved back to the road. "I'm not the kind of girl who mauls unconscious men."

"Only conscious ones, then?" The snarky words slipped right out of his mouth, hanging in the air between them, unable to be taken back.

And, for the first time, he wanted to take them back.

Courtney gripped the wheel, her expression tight as she changed lanes again, quickly jumping onto the exit ramp in a move that had him sitting straighter in his seat.

"Why are we pulling off?"

Courtney worked her jaw from side to side, before letting out a long sigh. "Because I have to pee." She faced him, lifting her brows. "Is that okay with you, or would you like to talk more about what an awful person I am?"

Fuck. He shouldn't have said that last bit. She clearly worked hard to save their skins and he was being ungrateful as fuck because she broke the law to do it.

Like he hadn't broken the law a few times himself.

Courtney whipped the RV into a spot, parking it and jumping out, keys looped around one finger like she expected him to take off without her.

Because he probably made her think he would take off without her. Abandon her at any moment, leaving her to fend for herself. Even worse, he acted like she would deserve it. Like everything that happened would be her own fault.

And even after everything, she still didn't do that to him. Even though saving him was certainly a huge risk, and she would have been better off to get the hell out of Dodge and leave him where he laid, she didn't do it.

And she wasn't holding it over his head.

"Godammit." Reed shoved open the door, pausing before climbing out. His feet were still bandaged, and there probably wasn't much gauze to go around, so destroying it by running across the parking lot didn't seem like a great idea. He pulled the door shut and stood, wedging himself back into the narrow walkway between the dinette and the sofa that led to the back bedroom. He opened one of the tiny cabinets, and sure enough a few more clothing items and a set of slide-on sandals sat inside, the tags still on them. He grabbed the shoes, yanking them in different directions to pop the plastic binding them and dropped them onto the cracking floor before slipping his tender feet inside. Once both feet were appropriately protected, he opened the side door and stepped out into the parking lot, giving it a quick scan for any sign of trouble before hustling to the rest stop bathroom. The place was nearly deserted, so he didn't slow down as he marched into the women's bathroom.

"Courtney?" He strode down the line of stalls, looking for a set of familiar feet. He reached the only occupied stall and stopped, staring at Courtney's dirty toes. He looked at the dirt crusting her nails and skin before taking another scan of his own body. Every inch of him was clean. Free of all the disgusting shit they’d hiked through the night before.

"Did you come in here to listen to me pee?" Courtney’s voice was sharp on the other side of the door. "Because I can make you a recording."

He relaxed a little as she gave him shit. At least she was talking to him. "Finish up and get your ass out here."

Courtney groaned. "Are you serious? You're really going to stand in here while I go?"

He leaned against the stall, gripping the top edge. "You wanted somebody to come protect you, Princess. You asked for this."

Courtney made an indignant sound on the other side of the door. "Can you at least go stand by the sinks? I can't go with you standing there listening to me."

He ran his tongue over his teeth, cringing a little at the stale taste of his mouth. "Fine."

He went to the sinks, ripping off a few paper towels and running them under the water before scrubbing at his scummy feeling teeth, getting them as clean as he could before rinsing out his mouth and chucking everything in the trash. It wasn't as great as a toothbrush and toothpaste would've been, but it went a long way.

It was another few minutes before Courtney finally came out, eyeing him warily as she went to the sink to wash her hands. She was still wearing his T-shirt, along with a fitted pair of stretchy shorts and sandals almost identical to his.

He propped against one of the wall-mounted sinks, crossing his arms as he watched her. "Did you clear out a Walmart?"

Her eyes rolled his way as she scrubbed at her hands, working the soap up her dirty forearms. "Have you ever been to a Walmart?" Courtney carefully rinsed away the suds. "It would take me a decade to clean one out."

Reed looked her over, trying to gauge what she was thinking. "They weren't suspicious when you walked in, covered in dirt wearing only a T-shirt and my boots?"

"Again, have you ever been in a Walmart?" She yanked off a few paper towels and went to work drying her skin. "I was the least unhinged looking person walking around the store at four thirty in the morning."

He couldn't help but be impressed by her ingenuity. "So while I was out, you stole clothes, bandages, beverages," he glanced in the direction of the parking lot, "andan RV?"

Courtney tossed her paper towels into the trash can. "Well I didn't see you doing anything to improve our situation." She bumped his shoulder as he walked past, still hell-bent on irritating him as much as possible. And it was working, but the irritation didn't chafe as much as it once did.

Reed snagged her by the hand, pulling her back before she could get away. "You did good, Princess."

Courtney wouldn't meet his gaze as she let out an almost defeated sounding sigh. "I just don't necessarily want to die today."

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