Page 37 of Drive

“Promise,” I said before I mouthed a silent “Thank you” to Neil. Over the past week, Neil and I had gotten to know each other. As it turned out, he was a bit of a techie nerd. We’d stayed up late one night talking music—his favorite was country—and all the latest technology out there while Paige snored on the couch. He swore within the next ten years streaming video would take over mainstream media. He was a cool guy, my sister’s chosen beau, and I had to admit, after conversing with him for a few hours, I had a bit of a personality crush on him. I was in his corner when it came to Paige, and I knew he loved my sister by the way he kept bringing her up, with “Paige thinks this,” and “Paige likes that.” It gave me a lot of comfort to know he cared for her in that way. It also gave me the gumption to realize I had nothing resembling that with Dylan.

And he was about to get back as good as he gave.

With Neil and Paige in the kitchen cooking dinner together, I grabbed my keys and made my leave. I was at the foot of the stairs when I heard my name.

“Stella?”

I turned to find Reid with his mouth parted as he looked me over. His brow was covered in fresh sweat as he ran his fingers through his hair. I was already beginning to melt, but even more so under the weight of his stare. Hazel eyes scanned my face before they dropped to scour my body. I let him feast, and I was actually happy about the fact that he caught me all dressed up with some place to go.

“I wouldn’t go up there if I were you,” I said with a nod over my shoulder. “They kind of have a love fest thing going on. Things are about to get freaky!” I waggled my brows with a laugh while his gaze rested on my lips.

“And what do you have going on?”

“Sweet revenge, my friend,” I said lightly. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow.” I moved past him and was caught by the arm. His warm fingers seared my flesh, and I stared at them until he took them away.

“Look, uh. I was actually going to ask for a ride. You going downtown?”

“Yeah, my ex has a show.”

Reid’s lips twisted in a knowing smirk. “Revenge, huh? What did he do?”

I thought of the months I’d spent with Dylan and came up with the truth. “He forgot about me.”

“He won’t make that mistake again,” Reid said as he nodded toward my dress.

“Are we being nice now?” I asked before batting my lashes.

“We can give it a try.” He smirked and my pulse sped up. “So, how about a ride?”

“I can’t take you back here.”

He shrugged. “It’s cool. I’ll find a way.”

“Let’s go.”

In Neil’s Chevy S-10, Reid gave me directions downtown, and I pressed my brows together when we pulled into a gas station.

“This is where you needed to go?”

He nodded before he pulled an envelope of money from his pocket. Curious, I got out with him with a lie about being thirsty. Inside, he walked straight up to the attendant, grabbed a MoneyGram form, and then started filling it out.

Taking a soda from the fridge, I stood in line behind him and peeked over his shoulder to see he’d addressed it to Courtney Crowne, his mother. He was sending her five hundred dollars.

Once I paid for my drink and we were back in the truck, I couldn’t help my question.

“Everything okay at home?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure?” I asked with an easy tone. “’Cause that was a lot of money.”

His jaw ticked and his eyes went cool. “Wow, you really need to practice the art of subtlety.”

“What’s the money for, Reid?”

He looked at me pointedly. “None of your damned business, Stella,” he snapped. Still idling, I slammed the truck back into park and turned on him.

“Okay, well, I’m not one to pry—”