pretty telltale sign it wasn’t going to give in.
Keegan was off the wooden porch and heading her way before Kaden realized what he was doing. He motioned to Bristol as he neared. A second later, she was out of the car with her phone in her hand.
“Need some help?” Keegan offered, his tone curt as he moved toward her.
Like he didn’t want to help.
Right.
Clearly Bristol hadn’t realized they’d come out, because her eyes widened as they focused on Keegan then darted over to Kaden.
“Happens all the time. It won’t start. I’ll just call Bianca, see if she’ll come get me.”
Keegan glanced back at him. “Bring the truck around. We’ll jump it.”
If it was what Kaden thought it was, jumping it wouldn’t help. But who was he to intervene?
Figuring his brother had a plan, Kaden made his way to the truck. By the time he pulled it around, Keegan had the hood of Bristol’s car propped up, shining the flashlight on his cell phone at the engine.
Kaden made quick work of grabbing the jumper cables from the toolbox in the bed before joining Keegan.
Ten minutes later, they were in agreement that her alternator was bad, and the battery would no longer hold a charge.
“What does that mean?” Bristol asked when they explained the situation.
“Nothin’ major,” Keegan assured her. “Little pricey, but won’t take much to change it out, get a new battery along with it. We’ll get it towed to the Walker Demo shop tomorrow. Fix it right up.”
Bristol shook her head. “You don’t have to do that.”
Kaden urged her toward his truck. “Of course we do.”
“I can call a mechanic,” she told him, her eyes sad.
Keegan cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve got two right here. Why pay someone when we can knock it out for free?”
Kaden held his breath, prayed WWIII didn’t break out between these two. It was obvious they were both harboring a grudge, but the situation prevented them from being outwardly hostile about it.
He hoped.
Bristol didn’t say a word and Kaden waited for her response. He recalled the last conversation he’d had with her. It had been through her front door when she refused to talk to him. The night he’d told her he loved her. He hadn’t made any more attempts at conversation since, despite the fact he’d seen her around town numerous times since.
Her pretty blue eyes bounced back and forth between them for a moment. She looked incredibly sad and more than a little wary.
“Curtis and Lorrie would insist,” Kaden told her when it was clear she was still debating. “In fact, they’d have our hides if we didn’t do it.”
There was real concern in her eyes. Or was that regret?
“As long as I can pay for the parts,” she finally said.
Knowing she wasn’t going to relent, Kaden nodded. It was late and he wasn’t in the mood to argue.
“We’ll give you a lift to your place,” Kaden told her.
Not exactly in line with the fantasies he’d had as of late, but hey, you win some, you lose some.
While she grabbed her purse and locked up her car, Kaden stored the jumper cables back in the toolbox, then the three of them piled into Kaden’s truck. Much to his dismay, Bristol had gotten comfortable in the back seat. He would’ve preferred she sat up front with him, but when Keegan offered, she had refused.
“You know, my dad was a mechanic,” she said absently as Kaden was pulling the truck out onto the main road that led away from town.
Yes, Kaden knew that. He knew quite a bit about her, actually.
“That was his life,” she continued. “The only thing he loved in this world.”
Kaden peered at her in the rearview mirror.
“Besides me, of course,” she added with a sad smile.
“Sorry for your loss,” Kaden said.
Because it was such a small town, the ups and downs of someone’s life were pretty much fair game. He knew her father had passed away many years back, knew she lived alone in the house she’d grown up in. If the rumors were true, her mother had abandoned them when Bristol was young, but that was all he’d heard.
“Thanks.” Her gaze shot to his in the mirror. “I still miss him. Your parents are in El Paso, right?” she asked, her voice coming across somewhat stronger.
Idle chitchat. That was what she was going for. As though they were fucking strangers.
Kaden gritted his teeth, focused on driving.
“They are,” Keegan answered.
“When’s the last time you visited?”
“It’s been a while,” Kaden told her. “But