Page 42 of Take Care, Taylor

“Can’t.” He looked at me. “She’s extremely upset with me right now.”

“Oh, okay.” I shrugged. If he was waiting for me to ask him to elaborate, he’d be waiting until his last breath.

“She’s mad that we can’t come back to my place,” he offered anyway. “Something about not buying my roommate-rules excuse.”

“You can bring her home if you can’t keep your cock in your pants.” I shrugged. “I probably won’t be coming home tonight anyway.”

“Where are you going?”

“Someplace I can write with a change of view.” I downed the last of my drink.

“Do you need a ride there?”

“Yeah. I mean, no. No, I don’t.”

“I wouldn’t mind driving you.”

“Please keep the hateful energy we have going,” I said. “I’ll be fine.”

“This is about being a decent human being.” He pulled out his car keys, dangling them between us. “You can drive yourself if you don’t trust me.”

“I’m not driving your car, Taylor.”

“You used to.”

Silence.

“How will you get home, then?” I asked.

“I’ll ride with whoever when they get back,” he said.

“Then I’ll just do the same. That’s how I got here in the first place.”

“I’m sure you were biting your nails and tensing up the entire time.”

I didn’t say anything.

“Here.” He pressed the keys into my palm. “We’ll pretend it’s for old time’s sake—a temporary truce—just this once.”

I closed my fingers over the keys, feeling his hand brush against mine. That mere touch sent a jolt of heat through me so sharp that I jumped back.

From the look on his face, I could tell he felt it, too.

As I was standing to my feet, headlights flashed in front of us. A black town car rolled onto the sand, stopping right next to the bonfire.

The driver stepped out, looking right at Taylor.

“Mr. Wolff,” he said. “Miss Stacey said you’d be covering this fare. Is that true?”

Taylor stood up, looking confused. “I guess…”

“I’ll bill you in the morning after I get the cost of cleaning my seats.” He opened the back door and reached for a hand, but someone slapped it away.

Stacey climbed out, wobbling on her heels, clutching the door handle for balance. Her eyes narrowed the second they landed on me.

“Why are you hanging out with your roommate this late at night?” she slurred.

“Everyone’s hanging out tonight, Stacey.”