Page 73 of Swerve (Boosted Hearts 1)

“I found Scott and called Hunter.”

“The fuck?”

She crossed her arms. “Scott called, told me he had some information for me. I agreed to meet him. When I got here . . .” She motioned to the house. “That’s what I found.”

“You agreed to meet him?”

She shook her head. “Don’t start, Neco.”

My fucking head was going to explode. “Are you fucking serious?”

She cursed under her breath. “I knew what I was doing, I came prepared.” She lifted her shirt at her hip, flashing me her gun. “Despite what Scott did, I think in his own fucked-up, warped way . . . when he tried to get me in his car that night, then again on the street, he thought he was protecting me, or trying to.” She shrugged. “From what? I have no clue, which is why I came, to find out.”

“On your own?”

“I had Harry with me.”

“You should have fucking called me.”

“Would you have let me come if I’d called you about this?” she said.

Jesus fucking Christ. “No.”

“Let me put it this way, could you have sat at home and sent Hunter or Zeke in your place if this was happening to you?”

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“It just is.” I was close to punching a hole through the window of my car.

“This is exactly why I didn’t call you. Maybe if you’d stop freaking out and started trusting my damn judgement, it would have been you I called for backup.”

If I said all that I was thinking right then, acted on the way I was feeling, I’d make things a fuck of a lot worse between us, so I bit my tongue, which wasn’t easy. “Go home, Ruby.”

“Goddammit, Neco . . .”

A siren wailed in the distance. “The cops are on the way. You want to explain to them what you’re doing here?”

“Jesus,” she said, fury clear in her voice. “You’re so goddamn stubborn. I know exactly what you’re thinking, and that’s the reason I never called you,” She shook her head. “I’m not helpless, Neco. You make all the right noises, but I don’t know if you really mean the things you say.”

“This is different and you know it,” I said, trying so damn hard to keep my voice even. “We had a deal. You leave Scott to me.”

She shook her head. “This . . . your reaction, it has nothing to do with that, not really.”

Jesus fucking Christ. I snapped. “What the fuck do you want from me?” I roared.

She stiffened, staring at me for several long seconds. Finally, her eyes slid shut and she sucked in a harsh breath. When she looked at me again, I saw her disappointment. I hated it, but I had no idea how to make it better.

“If I need to tell you,” she said softly, all the fire gone from her voice, “what hope do we have?” Then she turned and jogged down the street toward her car.

I stood where I was until she’d gotten in, until she drove off.

I was fucking everything up and I had no idea how to stop it.

* * *

Ruby