Page 68 of Her Football Star Ex

“We’ll see you all tomorrow,”Derek said to the group of us still standing in the banquet room at Rioja after the dinner was over. “Thank you for spending the evening with us.”

And with a wave from both him and Kira, they left hand in hand.

Most of the other people I knew from the wedding party had left, aside from Emerson who was still talking to the groomsman she’d been with all night. So instead of torturing myself by sticking around and watching Emerson flirt with another guy who even I had to admit was a good-looking guy, I followed after Derek and Kira and headed out to my truck.

I sat in my truck for a couple of minutes to check the road conditions on my phone before I ventured onto I-70. The roads could get pretty dangerous when it was snowing, and I’d had a hard enough time getting to the church earlier. I didn’t want to get stuck in a road closure.

CDOT’s social media accounts said that the roads were clear, so I put my truck in gear to pull out of the parking lot. But just as I was about to back out of my spot, I noticed a figure in a familiar pink dress and white coat out of the corner of my eye.

I did a double take and realized it was Emerson, standing on the sidewalk and holding herself like she was shivering. I put my truck back into park.

When our eyes met, she walked to my door. I rolled down my window, confused.

“Hey,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Hey.”

She pressed her lips together and glanced around quickly as if uncomfortable. Then she stepped even closer. “So, um, my car won’t start. Do you think you could give me a jump?” She pointed to where her blue Mercedes was parked a few spaces away.

“Did you leave the lights on?” I asked, trying to figure out why it would be dead.

“I don’t think so.” She shrugged. “But maybe.”

“Okay…” I said, looking around the cab of my truck, trying to remember where I’d put the jumper cables. “Let me just pull over closer to your car and we can see about getting it started.”

Relief showed in her face. “Thank you.” She stepped back onto the sidewalk, and I pulled out of my spot and drove a few spaces down to where her car was parked.

I popped the hood of my truck, grabbed the jumper cables from the compartment under the passenger seat, then zipped up my coat. After pulling on my gloves, I climbed out of my truck into the cold night and walked over to where she stood in front of her car.

“I’m glad I caught you before you left,” she said, her teeth chattering as she braced herself against the cold.

“I’m glad I decided to check CDOT first.” I checked the front of her car. “If you’ll pop your hood and give me your key, you can just sit in my truck while I see if we can get you started.”

“Okay, thank you.” She hurried to her driver’s door, and a moment later, released the hood. I propped it up. After we switched key fobs and she went to sit in my warm truck, I hooked the cables to both of our batteries.

Then I indicated for her to start my truck. It started just fine, of course, and so I climbed into her car and pushed the button to start the engine.

Nothing happened.

I stepped on the brake again and pushed the ignition button. But just like before, the engine didn’t even make an attempt to turn over.

I frowned. Had I not connected the cables correctly?

I got out to make sure the cables had been attached properly. The black and red cable were indeed in the right spot, so I tried starting her car once more.

But it still didn’t do anything.

Her car was only a couple of years old, so I doubted she needed the battery replaced already. Could it be her alternator?

I didn’t know a lot about cars, but it seemed like this had happened to my mom’s car before. Deciding I couldn’t really do anything else with my limited skills, I climbed out of her car again and locked it up.

After removing the battery cables and shutting both our hoods, I went to the driver’s side of my truck and opened the door.

“I think you might need a new alternator or something,” I said, handing her back her key fob.

“Will I need to have it towed, then?” she asked.

“Probably.” I nodded and gestured for her to scoot over to the passenger seat so I could climb in. “It’ll be more expensive to call someone tonight, but I know a guy who would probably be able to help in the morning if you want me to give him a call.”

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