Page 62 of Ride or Die

He leaned forward, and she wondered who he’d been before—what, exactly.

“Yes.”

He sounded dead certain.

Must be nice.

“And I’m supposed to take your word for it? Just like that?”

In one step, he closed the distance between them. The air eddied around her, smelling like garlic and spices.

“That’s the idea, yeah.”

They were at the same height, her on the counter and him standing directly in front of her. Riley searched his eyes. The warm brown depth was a balm on her scraped nerves. She wanted to fall into them, just let go, and know he’d catch her, no matter what.

She wanted to believe him.

But she wanted it too desperately. She’d been down that road before and tried to make it all work, ignored all the little parts of her that she’d pushed back until they’d disappeared. She’d almost disappeared right along with them. She couldn’t do that again. She wrung her hands, looking down as they twisted into a knot.

“I’m not him.”

She jerked back like she’d been slapped.

She pulled her hands apart. Wringing them was a bad habit she’d picked up with Andrew. Was she really that transparent?

Saint held perfectly still, watching her like she might bolt at any second.

I just might.

A soft vibration jerked her gaze to Saint’s pocket, and he ignored it until it stopped. The screen glowed through the fabric.

Riley dragged in a breath. Saint’s jaw worked.

The vibrations started again. He closed his eyes and blew a breath out of his nose. He pulled the phone from his pocket.

“Go,” he said, then waited. “I’m hanging up.”

She couldn’t make out the words, but the drawling cadence was rapid-fire.

“Define ‘fucked,’” he said, face going blank. He glanced at the clock on the stove and then at her. His mouth pressed into a thin line. “Your timing is shit.”

Her heart sank.

“Yeah, I can get there—no. Aaron is out of town—” He cut off, and he stayed quiet.

Listening.

He was leaving.

“Understood. Hang tight.”

Saint slid the phone into his pocket.

“Looks like you heard enough of that,” he said, watching her. There was something expectant in his face, and it made her look away. Riley jumped off the counter.

“Yeah,” she said. “I’ll go.” Her voice was flat. She pulled up the rideshare app she’d used to get here. It was easy to reverse the route.

He froze, then stepped into her space. “Ri—stop. Please.”