Page 27 of Love at First Ride
‘Who’s that?’
‘County sheriff, you idiot.’
‘In Rapture?’ Noah exclaims. ‘Dang, they got a hard-on for me.’
‘Mom’s freaking out, shit bird.’
‘You think she’s proud of me?’
I can see how exasperated AJ is. He rakes his fingers through his hair, the same way he did in high school. I can see he’s about to cut Noah down with another barb, so I raise my brow at him, silently urging him to reconsider.
‘Mom loves you, Noah. No matter what,’ AJ says.
It’s not the words I expected to come out of his mouth, but Noah is thrilled, and the look on his face warms my heart.
‘Can we talk for a second?’ AJ asks me under his breath.
‘Um. Sure. Kitchen again?’
‘Hey, what about me?’ Noah objects, watching as AJ follows me. Except AJ stops in his tracks and goes back to the backpack on the floor. He unzips it and throws something inside a paper bag toward his half-brother.
‘Breakfast,’ AJ says.
Noah catches the bag and unravels it, pulling out a Blueberry Danish, another pleased smile on his face as he digs in. It looks to me like there’s another still in the bag.
We go back into the kitchen and I close the door, just like last night.
‘Thank you,’ AJ says on an exhale. ‘I half thought you might call the cops after I left last night.’
I’m not going to confess that I came close this morning. ‘I would never have done that. I can’t keep him here though.’
‘I know that. And I have a plan. But I, um… I wanted to ask for your help.’
His stands opposite me with his arms crossed over his chest, his feet slightly apart. He has no idea of the power he has over me at this moment. I want to tell him the answer to the question he asked me last night. That, if it hadn’t been for him, I probably would have bottled it and turned Noah in before midnight.
‘Oh? What help?’
He sighs, then shakes his head. He doesn’t look happy and lowers his voice when he speaks. ‘You can’t tell Noah any of this. Nothing about this conversation, understood?’
‘Um. Sure. I won’t say a word.’
‘I have an aunt. My mom’s sister, Rita. She lives north, outside Santa Fe in New Mexico. My plan is to speak to her today. Explain the situation. But if she agrees, I’d have to take Noah there. It’s about a twelve or thirteen-hour drive from here.’
My eyes widen. ‘You’d smuggle him out of Canyon? Away from here?’
He gives me a nod. ‘That’s the plan, yeah. Or else…’
‘When would you leave?’
‘If she agrees, soon.’
This time I’m the one nodding my head. ‘Okay. That’s good.’
AJ goes quiet for a moment. ‘I, uh, got a favor to ask you.’
He’s looking at me, his brows drawn together. My stomach flips over. I don’t remember ever having seen him look worried before.
‘Nobody else can know Noah was here. But I don’t have a car, and I can’t put him on the back of my bike, it’s too risky. Reyes is the same as me, a steel horse cowboy, he only has two wheels. My mom’s car would never get us there and back in one piece—’
