Page 41 of Drive
“Women who don’t ask a lot of questions.”
“Har, har,” I said as I leapt into him, purposefully knocking the cigarette out of his hand.
He let out a grudge-filled chuckle. “You little asshole.”
“Seven minutes of your life I just saved you, Crowne. A cigarette takes that much off your heartbeat, buddy.”
“That’s a myth,pal,” he said, opening the passenger door.
“What if it’s the best seven minutes of your life? That’s two songs. I saved you two songs, Reid Crowne. Someday, you’ll thank me for it.”
He shut the door and took the driver’s seat, as if it was the most natural thing. I stared at him across the seat. “Well, I’m sorry if she hurt you.”
He sighed as he started the truck. “We hurt each other.”
“What happened?”
He sat back and winced, as if he was trying to see something through the wheel. “It was good and then it was bad. Too much static. Too much chaos. I got tired and she got pissed.”
“You really loved her,” I said as I watched him trace the steering wheel with his finger, touching every groove.
“There was love. There were a lot of things.”
“And then?”
“We crashed.”
Despite my protest, Reid drove us back to the complex and parked Neil’s truck.
“Wait here, okay?”
He nodded as I made double time up the stairs and opened the door to silence. I made quick work of dumping Neil’s keys and changing into a T-shirt, shorts, and Chucks. I grabbed four beers from the fridge and walked back down the steps, motioning for him to join me on a large patch of grass on top of a hill between apartment buildings.
“I’m not tired, you?” I asked as he shook his head, followed me into the grass, and sat next to me. I popped a beer and handed it to him.
“God, I hate this heat,” I said as I piled my hair on top of my head and fastened it before I downed the beer. Reid glanced around the complex and then back to Paige’s apartment.
“You scared of my sister?”
“Only when she’s pissed,” he said with a chuckle.
“I agree. She’s scary. She shrieks.”
“I’ve only seen it once. I’m good with only seeing it once.”
We laughed and clinked our beers.
“You met at work?”
“Yeah,” he said as he leaned back on his elbows and crossed his boots. He surrounded me with his length.
“You two are nothing alike,” I told him.
“I like being around her. She’s grounded and she smiles a lot. She’s easy.”
I couldn’t help but take offense. “Opposed to the big mouthed sister who’s loud and opinionated.”
“Most definitely,” he said smugly, “but don’t go changing to please me.”
