Page 97 of One Good Crash

My smile was a total waste.

Hewasn't smiling, not even a little. All he said was, "You ready?"

I gave a nervous laugh. "As ready as I'll ever be."

The laugh was a waste, too.

Looking grimmer than ever, he said, "I've got a van out front." And then, he stepped aside, as if wanting me to go first.

Out of politeness? Or to make sure that I didn't back out?I didn't know, and I didn't want to speculate. So instead, I stepped through the open doorway and locked the door behind me. Silently, I moved past him, heading down the stairs that led outside.

Sure enough, parked in front of the house was a white van that looked oddly familiar. Momentarily perplexed, I stopped to stare.

And then, I realized where I'd seen it. Holy hell, it was the same van that Jax had sideswiped on the night we met.

I was almost sure of it.

Drivable or not, the thing looked awful. There was a long jagged dent that extended the vehicle's entire length. Plus, the dent itself was marred by streaks of red paint that matched the color of Jaden's car, the one that had collided with the van.

As I stood a few paces from the curb, I couldn't help but wonder why Jax was driving the van at all. Was he looking to make a point? Like, was this some sort of reminder of how much I'd inconvenienced him?

It seemed so out of character, and yet, I had to wonder. Ialsohad to wonder why the van hadn't been repaired. If the vehicle belonged to anyone else, I'd assume they simply couldn’t afford it.

But surely, this wasn't the case with Jax. Was it?

No. Definitely not.

As he strode past me to open the passenger's side door, I asked, "Is that the same van? Meaning the one you hit that night?"

He flicked his head toward the passenger's seat. "Probably."

As I climbed inside, I said, "You don't know for sure?"

"Alright. Yeah. It is." His jaw tightened. "Is that a problem?"

I stiffened. "No. Of course not."

"Good to know." And with that, he shut the van door, leaving me staring at him through the passenger's side window. More confused than ever, I watched as he circled around the vehicle's front and then silently settled himself behind the wheel.

When he fired up the engine, I said, "I guess I should give you the address, huh?"

"No. I already have it."

"Oh." I hesitated. "How?"

"Does it matter?"

Again, I hesitated.No. And yes.Finally, I asked, "Is something wrong?"

He gave me a look. "What doyouthink?"

I had no idea what to say. Even though the engine was still running, he'd made no move to pull the away from the curb.

Maybe that was a good thing. Suddenly, this was feeling like a giant mistake. Oh sure, I'd known it would be awful, but I hadn't known it would be awful likethis.

Here, I'd been bracing myself for a family spectacle, only to be waylaid by something even more humiliating – the dawning realization that Jax didn't want to be here.

Already, my stomach was in knots.Damn it.I should've known.