Page 62 of Twisted Trails

“I don’t know. It’s just… everything.”

He exhales. “Yeah. It’s a lot right now.”

I nod.

“Do you think you can sleep again?”

“No. But it’s fine. You can go back to sleep, I just… I want to be here with you.”

“Youknow what?” He pulls back with a little gleam in his eyes. “Let’s get out of here.”

I blink up at him. “What?”

He tilts his head and presses a kiss to my lips before sitting up and rolling off the bed. Grabbing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, he tugs them on and turns to me, hand outstretched. “Come on.”

I stare at his hand before sliding my good one into his, and he pulls me to my feet.

“Where are we going?” I whisper as we sneak barefoot through the house.

“I have a surprise for you. I was gonna take you tomorrow night, but I think now’s perfect.”

I glance at my phone again. “Luc. It’s after two in the morning.”

He grins. “Exactly.”

We pull on our shoes and head to the garage, and I watch him grab a duffel bag from the floor. It’s stuffed with what looks like a blanket, maybe some snacks, and who knows what else. He tosses it into the back of the tiniest, rustiest yellow car I’ve ever seen.

I let out a snort. “Thisis the surprise?”

He raises an eyebrow at me. “Hey, I offered to buyMamana new one, but she told me she’d disown me if I touched her baby.”

I laugh, and for the first time since the nightmare, something inside me releases.

“Mademoiselle.”He opensthe passenger door with a dramatic flourish. “Adventure calls.”

I smile and glide into the car because I’d follow that boy anywhere, even in the dark.

Luc slides in as I pull on my seat belt, and he turns the key with a dramatic flourish that does absolutely nothing.Finally, the engine sputters once, coughs like it’s been smoking for forty years, then finally turns over.

“I don’t have a car, okay?” He glances at me with a sheepish grin. “I’m more the two-wheels kind of guy.”

I smirk. “So get a motocross bike like Mason’s.”

“That’d be fun.” He chuckles. “For sure.”

“You’d probably kill yourself.”

As soon as the words are in the air, I freeze, and my stomach drops.

Shit.

Luc goes quiet for a beat, but then he laughs, soft and a little crooked. “Yeah, that possibility is there.” He puts the car in gear and glances at me. “We’ve gotta drive a little, is that okay?”

“Sure.” I clear my throat. “It’s fine.”

The tires crunch quietly as we roll out of the garage and onto the road.

“Mamansaid she told you about my dad.”