Not Just Friends (Hot in the City #3) - T. Gephart Page 0,101

girls on fire as we left Long Island in the rear view and headed toward Manhattan.

The air was electric, Presley laughing as she switched lanes so she wouldn’t have to slow down. Everything about her was infectious, the light that had been missing from her eyes making a reappearance.

She didn’t slow down until we got to the tunnel, easing off the accelerator as we hit a wall of brake lights. And even though I’d been worried, there was no backward slide as we made our way onto the island.

It must have been on her mind too, her eyes cutting from the road and over to me and giving me a big smile. “Thanks,” she said, bringing Elena down to a crawl as we hit East 37th.

“For what?” I shrugged, thinking the gratitude was a bit much just for letting her drive my car.

“For everything. For being here, sticking around, and not pushing me. I feel like I’m so much drama right now, and honestly, given the choice, I’m not sure I’d stick around.”

It was hard to hear but her words were honest, and that was the only thing I expected from her. She could be messy or dramatic, and fly off the handle as much as she wanted. Some people were worth sticking around for, and what we’d been through wasn’t even close to my limit.

I reached over, covering the hand that was cradling the gearshift. “None of those are things you’re ever going to have to thank me for. I’m here because I want to be with you, and even on your worst day, I’d still count myself as lucky.”

And that was it right there.

I was lucky.

Even though shit wasn’t perfect, I’d take a slice of imperfection with Presley than a guarantee of smooth sailing with someone else. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she was the woman I was going to marry, and if she wanted, have a couple of kids with.

Yeah, lucky was an understatement.

Presley

I HAD A lot of anger.

Confusion, hurt, and guilt as well, but anger was by far the worst. And most of all, I was angry at myself. Angry I couldn’t snap out of it. Angry I couldn’t stop replaying the possibilities in my head—of Hayden being hurt or something worse happening—and angry that I should’ve known better.

And I didn’t wake up one day and suddenly the anger was gone. There were days I was better at handling it—along with all the other emotions—and then something would just set me off and I’d snap. Like my mother suggesting I move back home.

I understood why, and intellectually I knew storming off was an overreaction. But I couldn’t make myself stop. It was like the part of me that had always been rational had taken a vacation, and what I was left with was a ticking timebomb I never knew when it was going to explode.

Jared had been amazing. Asking me to drive his car home had meant more than I could ever put into words. Apart from the obvious, where it was just a fun thing to do, and letting me drive Elena before Tibbs. I was going to totally rub salt in that wound. But it made me feel like he was literally putting me in the driver’s seat. He wasn’t trying to fix me or solve my problems, sitting beside me as I got there on my own.

There was no talk about me going back to see my parents and apologizing. Or even telling me that they were only doing it because they loved me. He didn’t talk about it at all, instead just holding me and telling me it was okay.

That I was okay.

And it made me feel valid.

Even though part of me felt weak for even needing that external validation, I realized that he was just giving me what I couldn’t give myself at the moment. It wasn’t a competition, and no one was keeping score.

After my initial night off, I went back to work. I had a modified schedule, delegating where I could and trusting the people around me. Bennett and Rae stepped up in a huge way, making my reduced hours barely noticeable to the other staff. And like Jared, they didn’t coddle, letting me find my way through it with the best cheer squad in history.

Therapy helped too, talking things out allowed me some perspective I hadn’t seen before. It was refreshing, feeling that maybe I wasn’t totally crazy and that letting go of some of