Page 31 of Give Me a Reason

“Will you be okay driving home?” he asked stiffly. She was 97 percent positive that was not what he’d been about to say.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She searched for something witty to say, not ready to part ways with him. “Unless there was alcohol in that strawberry milk.”

He didn’t even crack a smile at her poor excuse for a joke. Instead, he jerked his chin toward her car in a not-so-subtle hint that she should hit the road, and her fragile courage withered inside her. “I should get back to the station.”

“Of course.” It surprised her when her voice didn’t waver. “Thank you again. Good night.”

With a curt nod and a grunt, he got into his car and started the engine. Anne thought he would just take off, but he stayed until she drove away… until she couldn’t see his car in the rearview mirror anymore.

CHAPTER TEN

Frederick stared unseeingly out the windshield even after Anne’s car disappeared down the road. It took all his willpower not to slam his head against the steering wheel. Hard. Repeatedly.

He couldn’t believe he’d nearly asked her out to dinner.Un-fucking-believable.Well, it didn’t seem right that she fed everyone at the station, but she basically skipped dinner.Sure, that’s why.He was just chivalrous as fuck.

He gripped his cheeks in one hand, squeezing until his lips nearly puckered. Not for the first time in recent weeks, he considered the possibility that he might be losing his mind. He told himself not to butt in when Coraline told Joe about Anne’s flat tire. But his big mouth just blabbered that he would go help her out.

Then he gave himself a firm talking-to on his way to keep conversation to a bare minimum and not to look at her, if at all possible. He didn’t tell himself not to touch her, since that was a given.

He might even have succeeded if he didn’t almost have a heart attack, thinking she was choking. Then he manhandled her until he was certain she wasn’t. The most problematic part came after that, when he ran his finger down the bridge of her nose. What kind of man became aroused touching a woman’snose?

It all went downhill from there. He couldn’t stop staring at her, thinking how adorable she looked with powdered sugar allover her face. How adorable it was that she still loved strawberry milk, barely feeling bitter at the reminder of their history. She somehow got past his defenses every time he saw her.

When she was near, he couldn’t stop himself fromcaring. So much so that he’d almost asked her out to dinner. His ex. The one who had shattered his heart into a fine powder.God.Why couldn’t he stop thinking about the powdered sugar on her nose? And what was she singing at the top of her lungs? It had sounded like K-pop.

Exhaling like he was trying to blow a house down, Frederick leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He couldn’t deny it any longer. The wild chemistry between them hadn’t changed even after a decade. And she felt it, too. He saw it in the widening of her eyes and the catch of her breath every time they touched. Buthehad changed.

Frederick wasn’t an idealistic nineteen-year-old anymore. He would not go down the same road—the road that led him straight into Anne’s arms—that had wrecked him all those years ago. Because this time, he didn’t think he could piece himself together again. This time, if he lost her, he would be irrevocably broken.

Who even said she wanted him back? He flinched at the thought but forced himself not to look away. She was the one who had left him. She had no reason to want him back, especially if she agreed with her imo that he didn’t deserve someone like her. He tried to smother the hurt swirling deep inside him, but it refused to quiet.You’re not good enough for her.

He gritted his teeth and pressed the ignition button with more force than necessary. He quickly piled his anger on top of his hurt. It didn’t matter what Anne Lee thought of him, because he didn’t want her anyway.

When he returned to the station, the somber, wounded mood had lifted from his crew, and the family room bustled with conversation and laughter. Joe, Coraline, and Pete had laid claim to one side of the sectional, and Frederick went to join them,dropping heavily onto the couch. His encounter with Anne had drained him, as though he’d been fighting something the entire time he was with her.

“Is Anne okay?” Coraline asked as soon as he sat down.

“Yeah, she’s fine.” He nodded. “I changed her tire, and she went on her way.”

“That’s good. I’ll text her in a bit to make sure she got home safely.” Coraline smiled at him. “Thank you so much for offering to go help her.”

“You’re welcome,” he mumbled. When Pete arched an eyebrow at him, Frederick shot to his feet. “Man, I got grease under my fingernails. I should go wash it off.”

Without waiting for anyone’s response, he ran out of the family room and made a beeline for his office across the bay.

“Hey, wait up,” Pete said from down the hallway.

“What?” Frederick skidded to a halt and turned around to face his friend. “You’re going to follow me to the bathroom?”

“There’s a perfectly good sink right here.” Pete steered him toward the kitchen, one door down from the family room. “You only need to wash your hands, right?”

Frederick briefly considered lying to his friend about needing to use the bathroom, but he was overcome by shame and abandoned the thought immediately. He never lied to his friends, and he wasn’t about to start now, especially about needing to go potty.

“Right,” he grumbled, walking into the kitchen.

Pete followed him to the sink and stood close enough to nudge Frederick with his elbow if the need arose.

“Are you seriously going to stand there and watch me wash grease out of my fingernails?” Frederick scowled at him.

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