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She hesitated, thumbs hovering over the screen, biting her lip.

Brooks saw her response and exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. He knew it. There wasthatI.N.D.E.P.E.N.D.E.N.Tbullshit he wasn’t trying to hear every time he tried to help her. Transportation is transportation. It had nothing to do with pride. He had it, she needed it. Simple math. No feelings involved.

Brooks:Can’t what? Drive a Mercedes? It’s automatic.

Taylor:You know what I mean. LOL I can’t be driving around in your car but thank you.

His smirk deepened.

Brooks:I’m just saying I don’t remember seeing a question mark. I made a statement. There's nothing to debate or discuss further. Have a blessed day!

Taylor:Oh, you got jokes, I see.

He knew she’d be pissed. Good. She needed someone to cut through her bullshit. His phone rang almost instantly. It was her. He declined her call. Calling wasn’t going to change his mind. He couldn’t hear that gentle, naive voice come through his phone. He’d be at the dealership buying her a new whip.

His phone buzzed again; it was her calling back.

This time, he answered, voice lazy, amused. “Speak.”

“You can’t just…”

“Already done.” His tone left no room for debate.

Silence. Then a curious defeated, “Why are you doing this?”

Brooks paused, and flexed his fingers against the steering the wheel, letting the question bounce around in his head. Why was he doing this? He’d asked himself already but still hadn’t reached a definitive answer. He could lie. Could brush it off and say it was for Blake. For community service? But he didn’t owe her a lie.

“Because somebody’s gotta look out for you,” hesaid finally. “And right now, that’s me.” The line went quiet. But he could almost hear her breathing. He wasn’t sure what made him say it. But he couldn’t take it back.

∞∞∞

“Fine, Brooks.”

“Okay. I’ll call when it get there.”

She giggled. “You still on the line?”

“Uhm... enjoy your day and shit.”

“You too.”

Taylor disconnected and exhaled. She dropped her phone to the desk and held her head in her hands. She gave herself five minutes and got back to work until he let her know he was pulling up.

She made it downstairs in no time, spotting the car, then him stepping out, Black polo, creased jeans, keys dangling from his hand. He didn’t rush. Didn’t need to. Time moved for him.

“Seriously?” She asked, arms crossing as he approached. “You couldn’t just let Marco drop it off?”

“Nah,” Brooks said simply, stopping in front of her. “Didn’t feel right handing this off. Figured if I’m gonna piss you off, I should do it face to face.”

He tossed her the keys.

“It’s yours. No strings.”

She caught them mid-air. Her eyes flicked down, then up to meet his.

“I told you I could figure it out,” she said, almost in a whisper.

“You could,” he said. “But you shouldn’t have to. Two days at Mack’s and your car’s ready. In themeantime, this one gets you where you need to go, without stress. It ain’t a favor. It’s math. You need it. I got it.”