Page 23 of Rush of Insanity

The tiny smile faded, and she quickly turned away. “Bye, Judd.”

She stepped from the bus, the crunch of her shoes grating against the deserted street as she strode for Tank, who stood at a car parked a few feet ahead. He would’ve killed to have a reason to go after her. For the briefest excuse to get her to stay. But there was nothing.

His friend helped her into the escape vehicle, then climbed into the driver’s seat and drove her away—from the bus, from the road and from his life.

Again.

Chapter Seven

He didn’t chaseafter her.

She shouldn’t have been surprised. She definitely shouldn’t have been heart broken. But she was, even more than the last time.

“Are you okay?” Tank glanced at her from the driver’s seat.

“I will be.”

He nodded and gave his full attention to the road. “You did the right thing.”

Wait.What? “I did?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “If you’ve been playing him with a false persona all this time, you were right to walk away.”

“You were listening?” Her cheeks heated at the thought of Kyle and Tank overhearing her private conversation.

“Believe me, if I had a choice to be anywhere else this morning, it wouldn’t have been stuck on the roadside, listening to the two of you bicker in a volume that could’ve been heard miles away.”

“Well, I wasn’t playing him.” Her heart felt like it was being removed with an ice cream scoop. She didn’t want anyone thinking she’d misled Judd. That wasn’t the case. It was just…complicated. “I wasn’t pretending to be someone else. I was just…” She sighed and rested her shoulder against the passenger door window. “I just couldn’t control who I was around him. I couldn’t control anything.”

“So you weren’t acting under a persona?”

She focused out her window, at the buildings that glowed with the early morning sunlight. It was going to be a beautiful day. Clear skies and warm weather. In complete contrast to the dreary thoughts and cold heart overtaking her. “I don’t know what I was doing. It wasn’t me. But it wasn’tnotme either…Does that make sense?”

“Not at all.”

See, this was her problem. The entire situation was confusing. Nothing added up.

Tank cleared his throat. “But then again, I’ve never been in love.”

She sighed, wishing this big, gruff man would stop trying to be her shrink.

“I’m pretty sure that’s the answer to all your psychotic issues.”

“Psychotic?” She glared. “I’m allowed to call myself names. But you? Not so much.”

He grinned, the biggest grin she’d ever seen his thuggish features morph into. “My apologies.”

Silence invaded the car. Nothing but the whir of the tires and the traffic surrounded them. She wanted to reach for the radio, to turn the volume loud to drown out the thoughts of Judd, but it would only delay the inevitable need to over analyze her decision.

“You fit in, Harper.”

She straightened in confusion. She thought she understood what he said, only she refused to believe it. “Pardon?”

“You told him you didn’t fit in but you’re wrong. You fit.” Tank looked at her with solemn eyes. “With him. With his life. I don’t think he’ll ever find anyone else that will match him the way you do.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I can’t stand the limelight. It’s not me.”

“And that’s exactly why you fit. He hates that side of his career. He doesn’t interact with the crowd because all he wants to do is sing. He loves the music and everything else is static that gets in the way. You let him be himself when every other woman has expected to be wooed with the limelight. You remind him of how we grew up and what he wants to return to once the fame fades.”

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