Page 109 of One Good Crash

My heart sank. I wasn'treallyoffering him a kidney, just like he wasn't really saying no to some impromptu organ donation.

Sadly, this "no" was bigger, and it felt like a door slamming between us. I hated that, but not enough to change who I was.

I gave a hopeless shrug. "I guess it's settled then, huh?" I forced a weak little laugh. "No kidney for you."

With a slow shake of his head, he turned forward in his seat. He stared out in front of us, even though there was nothing interesting to see – just a basic road on a basic street.

I figured that would be it. That he'd just hit the gas, and we'd be on our way.

But then, he said something that made me pause. "How about half a favor?"

I hesitated. "What does that mean?"

"The favors – both of them – how about just for tonight?"

"You mean, like there's an expiration date or something?"

He was still looking ahead. "Right. Forget what you think you owe me – and forget that woman is your mom." His mouth tightened. "Which means no calls, no visits, nothing."

That didn't seemsohard. "Just for tonight?" I repeated.

Once again, he turned to face me. "If that's the best I can get."

A combination of relief and guilt coursed through me. In reality, his request was nearly nothing. Even the thing with my mom would require zero effort on my part, since the odds of her calling were slim to none.

I had to admit, "That's a pretty small favor."

"Good," he said yet again.

"Why is that good?"

"It means it'll be easy to keep, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, sure. Probably,tooeasy in a way." I tried to think. "I guess I'll have to owe you something else, huh?"

Finally, he gave me a smile, arealsmile. "Nah. Let's call it even."

My shoulders relaxed, and suddenly, I was smiling, too. "Next time, I'll try to be more reasonable."

Suddenly, he was looking intrigued. "Yeah?"

"Definitely."

"If I ask you to dinner, does that count?"

And just like that, the fluttery feeling was back. Still, I had to say, "But that's hardly a favor."

"Good to know." His gaze met mine. "So, you got any plans?"

"For when?"

"Tonight."

Chapter 46

I was still getting ready when my cellphone rang for the third time in ten minutes. At the sound of it, I literally cringed.

I knew the ring, and I wasn't happy to hear it, which is why I'd left the cellphone on the kitchen counter instead of bringing it with me into the bedroom as I considered what to wear.