Page 4

His dark eyes studied her through the screen, calculating and steady. That was the thing about Brooks. He saw everything while giving away nothing, those eyes reading you. The neat beard framed a jaw that could cut glass, and even in just the glow of whatever light he was sitting in, his brown skin looked like velvety chocolate.

Taylor tried to focus. This wasn’t the time to notice how fine her best friend’s brother was. Nor even thinking of him in that way. He operated in a world she had never belonged to; a world her parents had spent their entire lives avoiding. And here she was, needing exactly what that world could offer.

She swallowed hard, her voice quieter now.

“Tyree...”

∞∞∞

Brooks had just cut his engine off in the drivewaywhen her name lit up his screen.

His thumb hovered over the answer button, years of deleting and re-saving her number flashing through his mind. He’d always told himself it was just a formality. No real reason to keep it. But now, seeing Taylor in bold letters on his phone, his pulse picked up in a way he wasn’t expecting.

“Speak.”

His tennis shoes hit the gravel as he stepped out of the truck. The smell of rain hung thick in the air, giving the night a chill he wasn’t in the mood for.

Then her voice came through, soft and uncertain—Taylor.

He froze halfway to his front door, keys hanging from his fingertips.

She’d never called him before. Not for a ride, not to say thanks, not even to be polite at Blake’s functions. She’d always kept her distance.

But now, her voice shook. And just like that, something shifted.

His whole body tuned in.

He was moving before he even realized it.

The door slammed shut behind him, engine roaring to life before she even finished explaining.

The rain finally broke. Fat drops slapped the windshield, but Brooks barely noticed. All he could hear was the strain in her voice. All he could feel was the sharp pull in his chest that came with it.

He hit FaceTime, needing to see for himself that she wasn’t hurt. That she wasn’t out there, stranded in the dark somewhere she didn’t belong.

She looked vulnerable in a way he hadn’t observed before.

He grinned before he could stop himself, caught off guard. He hoped she couldn’t see it. He didn’t want to spook her. But damn. She had always been pretty. But even in exhaustion, she was stunning.

“Tyree,” she muttered softly, the word trailing off. “I’m stranded at work and I, uhm, need our car picked up from impound.”

“Aight, what impound lot?”

“Wilson’s. Wilson’s on 6th,” she responded with a heavy sigh.

He noticed that her voice was low and tense, as if she was struggling to maintain composure.

“Aye, relax. I’ll handle it. I’ll be pulling up in like fifteen.”

He was relieved it wasn’t anything more serious. If it had been about Blake he’d be ready to flip Coupeville inside out.

“Ok, thank you so much. I’m in front of the hospital. I’ll be inside, just call and I’ll come out.”

“Aight,” he said.

“Brooks, please keep this between me and you. Please don’t tell Blake.”

“Fa sho, I got you. I’ll see you in a minute.”