Page 86 of Drive

“Oh, shit, Stella!” he yelled as he jerked me into his arms right before I bit the dirt. “Hey, hey, you okay?”

“Just hot,” I whispered as he picked me up—fully drained and fading in and out—and carried me past the mob, away from the noise. I relaxed into his chest and inhaled the smell of ocean I breathed from the skin of his neck before I was set down on a patch of grass and heard voices conspiring about my well-being. “She okay, man?” a voice called from what seemed like a mile away. “Need me to call a medic?”

On the ground, Nate pressed something cool to my forehead and I opened my eyes. He smiled down at me.

“Never had a woman faint on me before.” He winked. “I’m going to take it like I’m a handsome motherfucker.”

“You have an oddly shaped head.” I managed a smile.

“She’s fine,” he said as the blurred faces behind him disappeared. “Look at me.”

“I see you,” I said as he pulled me to sit up.

“Drink this.”

I avoided looking behind him into the mass. What was in there hurt.

“Stella, drink.”

“Okay, bossy,” I said as I took another bottle of water from him.

“Boss,” he corrected.

After a few minutes, I began to feel more like myself.

“I’m sorry. It’s just the dust and the heat. I’m not good with too much heat.”

“Stella, I think you should sit out tomorrow,” Nate said, looking around us, assessing the concert.

Sinking spirits led me to speak, though I was secretly hoping for an out. I couldn’t face Reid again, not like that.

“I’m okay,”

“It’s the conditions. Everyone is choking. It’s too hot. This isn’t a reflection on you,” he said as he sat down next to me, propped a knee up, his muscled forearm hanging over it. “LetJJcover it.”

“Okay,” I agreed far too easily.

Twenty minutes later, I felt like myself as Nate patiently waited next to me. “Thank you.”

He turned to look at me. “You’re welcome.”

“You can go back to your date.”

“Nah,” he said with a Cheshire grin, “I don’t like her.”

“That’s so wrong,” I said as I watched his eyes roll over my bared legs. I had on mid-thigh black shorts that looked non-existent when I sat.

“I was set up, and I don’t fucking appreciate being set up,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Oh, well, that’s a different story,” I agreed. “And why would you need to be set up? You’re a handsome motherfucker.”

He pressed his lips together and shook his head.

A few more minutes passed, and I had to use the facilities because of the gallon of water I drank. Nate stood waiting for me outside the porta potty, and when he saw me coming toward him, his expression changed. His eyes got soft, a subtle smile gracing his lips. “So, instead of wasting this night, let’s go watch some bands together?”

“Okay.”

“You good?” he asked, covering me with concerned eyes.