Page 108 of Rear View
There was a click, click, click from the car, then a shudder and a groan.
I flicked my gaze between the side mirrors, checking over the vehicle. “You feel that?”
“Four right, short, two hundred,” he said. “Feel what?”
Clickclickclickclickclick.
I took a steadyin’ breath. That couldn’t be good. Either way, I shook it off, ’cause there was nothing I could do as I hit the throttle, cut the wheel and took the next turn.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ryah
What had I done?
My heart ached so deeply, it was endless. I’d panicked. Lost myself. The terror took over. I couldn’t think. And I’d unleashed it all on Xavier.
I leaned heavily against the arm of my couch, Miles at my side, trying to console me. Xavier’s race was on in the background, and he and Alec were in the middle of a time trial.
God, my chest hurt, because the sound of his voice on that call… It was as if he’d been thrown. As if he hadn’t known who I was, because he hadn’t. It was a side I’d kept hidden with some ridiculous notion of protecting him. In the end, hehadneeded protecting.
From me.
As soon as he’d hung up, the void on the line had echoed through my head and rang in my ears. I’d doubled over and fallen to the floor, trying to catch my breath because I’d probably just destroyed the best thing that’d ever happened to me. I needed to apologize and explain. But he was racing. And I hated myself for sending him off like that. I swiped a tear from my cheek.
Miles nudged my elbow. “It’ll be alright, Ry.”
Barking a sob, I said, “I ruined everything.”
“Call him when he’s done. Talk to him.”
My lungs shuddered, and I hugged my knees to my chest, my eyes fixed on the TV. The cameras changed angles, pointing toward his car as he drifted through a corner.
I scrubbed my hands over my face, then along my aching scar. “You don’t understand, Miles. I completely freaked.”
“Then tell him. I don’t get why you’re holding back, anyway. The guy likes you, Ry. A lot.”
I’d held back for so,somany reasons.
Some I understood were ridiculous, but others…
I hung my head. “Because I don’t want him destroying his life for me. And right now, everything’snormalwith him.”
“But it isn’t. You’re just pretending it is.” His voice leveled. “I know you’re scared, Ry, but the guy’s got a right to know what he’s signing up for.”
I hated that he was right. But then that Christian-tainted voice of doubt whispered in my mind. What if Xavier didn’t want the trouble? What if my baggage made everything too real? I couldn’t blame him, he’d worked hard to get where he was, but the idea of losing him had my heart hurting in ways that made it hard to breathe. “What if he walks away?”
Miles shook his head. “Then he doesn’t deserve you.” He leaned forward and lowered his elbows to his knees. “But the guy does deserve a choice.” He rotated his glass, swirling his water, the ice cubes clinking against it. “If the shoe was on the other foot, how would you feel?”
My throat hitched, and I clutched my chest.
Xavier took a sharp right, and the car skipped, then skidded. A cloud of smoke burst from the front wheel. He snapped the vehicle left, sliding broadside before it bounced over the gravel and aimed straight for the trees there.
Over the radio, Xavier cursed.
I froze.
Time slowed as the car slid to the edge of the road, then jumped from it. It flipped once, twice, barrel rolling before Xavier’s door slammed into the tree and buckled. That wooden trunk snapped in half with a deafening crack and collapsed over the vehicle, which kept rolling. It flew through the air. Glass and metal shattered, then shrieked, then fell like rain.
