Page 46 of Embracing Sky
Sky wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Crunchy.”
“Delicious,” I singsonged back.
“Even jalapeños?” he asked, dubious.
It was my turn to make a face. “You know how my stomach handles spice. If Adam wants a little fun tonight, then spicy is a no-go.”
That made him laugh. “Valid.”
We found a sandwich place with a drive-thru right as we were leaving town. I pulled up to the speaker and placed an order, then went around to the window.
When I handed the purple haired twenty-something my debit card, she didn’t hide her obvious disdain for her job. She snatched it from my hand and tapped it on the reader, then quickly handed me back the card and the receipt with a brusque, “It’ll be out in a sec,” before all but slamming the drive-thru window in my face.
I blinked in surprise. “Wow. Okay.”
Sky snorted, muttering, “Bitch,” under his breath.
“Be nice. She might just be having a bad day. We’re all entitled to those,” I told him. “For all we know, she got some bad news and isn’t handling it well.”
Sky eyed me. “Or she could just be a bitch,” he suggested, which made me smile despite myself. It must’ve been contagious, because a grin peeked out a moment late, almost sheepish. “Just saying. You’re too kind, Fletch. She just treated you like shit, but you still jump to defend her.”
“Everyone has a story,” I murmured. “We don’t know hers.”
He shrugged. “So long as she doesn’t spit in my sub, I guess it’s whatever.”
I laughed. “Agreed.”
A few minutes later, she poked her head out of the window and handed us a plastic bag. “Have a good day,” she said, like it was a catchphrase, and then slammed the window again.
I shook my head, wondering if Sky was right, and I ensured everything was accounted for. Counting three subs, I handed the bag to Sky and pulled out of the lot, glad to leave the bad juju behind.
I found a shady spot in a nearby lot and parked. Sky began unwrapping his sub, and I thought I heard the faint sound of his stomach growling. He took a big bite and groaned with happiness.
I grinned and grabbed my sandwich. I was pretty hungry too. We’d skipped breakfast because Adam opened Bixby’s this morning, and we’d decided to take this little day trip. Sure, we’d stopped and gotten coffee on our way, but coffee wasn’t food.
My first bite crunched delightfully with all the vegetables packed on, the steak sauce lending a nice zesty zing to it all. Sky shot me a look that clearly said he was disgusted by my choices. I flipped him the bird. He gave it right back, and we both laughed.
We ate in comfortable silence, and when we’d finished and stuffed the trash back in the bag with Adam’s sub—sorry, Adam—Sky picked out a playlist for us to listen to on the ride home, and we settled in for the drive.
Tummy comfortably full and my soul humming with happiness, spending time with my boyfriend, we chatted back and forth on our way back to Greymercy.
Sky launched into a spiel about a book he was reading on his phone, telling me all about the different dragons and how people rode them and the whirling romance between the main characters, when suddenly something white flashed at the corner of my eye.
“LOOK OUT!” Sky shouted, his voice filled with fear.
I turned my head to the left, in time to see a white Ram truck barreling towards us with no intention of stopping. My heart leapt into my throat as I wrenched the steering wheel to the right in a desperate attempt to avoid a collision, but it was too late.
CRASH! The impact threw me forward, the crush of metal and shattering glass falling all around us as agony shot through me, fiery hot. I heard Sky’s scream as the car rolled, felt my own scream rip raw up my throat—and everything went black.
29
SKY
My head throbbedwith every beat of my pulse. Everything hurt. I licked my lips and tasted blood.Fuck…
I forced myself to breathe through the panic lapping up my throat like acid. Fletcher’s voice filled my mind, so calm and gentle:Breathe, Sky. Just breathe.
“Fletcher?” I croaked, turning my head, but when I saw him, a sob broke from me. He hung suspended from his seatbelt, unconscious, motionless, his face covered in blood. “Fletch?”
