Nowhere But Here (Thunder Road #1)(91)

Considering there’s only one way out of this trailer and Mom’s bent on talking to me, she’s going to discover that I was in here with Emily very soon.

Emily won’t look at me. “What’s going on between us?”

We should have thought of that before we made out. “I don’t know.”

She stares at the blanket as if maybe concentrating hard enough could help her disappear. “You care about me, right? I didn’t imagine that, because I know I told you that I care about you.”

“Hey.” I slide my arms underneath her legs to bring her onto my lap, blankets and all. “I care about you. You got that? This wasn’t a hook-up. I swear it. But what’s happening between us...you have to admit it’s complicated.”

“Like how I live in Florida and you live in Kentucky and how my mom used to be in love with Eli and for some reason she left, pissing off everyone you love?”

Evidently, I’m not the only one who has thought about this. “Yeah.”

“It doesn’t mean we can’t be together.” But the defeat’s clear in her tone.

“Are you going to call your parents and inform them you’re living here next year? You’re seventeen and have one more year of school and even if you didn’t, would you call Kentucky your home? Because, this—Snowflake—this is my home.”

Emily draws in a quavering breath. Jesus, she’s killing me. I position my fingers under her chin, forcing her to face me. “Forget what I just said, all right? We’ll figure it out. I promise.”

“No one will be happy about this. I mean, Eli and Cyrus won’t let you into the club if they find out we did this, will they?”

I shake my head no. I’ll be lucky if I walk out of this alive. If I do emerge still breathing, I can’t guarantee I’ll be mobile. “I’m going to talk to Mom. Ask her to keep this quiet. Take your time. Get dressed. And then come out when you’re comfortable.”

She lowers her face into her hands when I release her chin. “Then I don’t think I’ll ever be able to leave this room.”

I can’t help but chuckle as I pull her into my body. “You’re not the first person to be busted half-naked.”

“Well, it’s my first time.” My world rights itself when she lays her head on my shoulder.

I kiss the top of Emily’s head before easing her onto the bed. I stand then shrug on my jeans. “Welcome to Snowflake.”

Emily

IZZY’S PENSIVE AS she shuts the door to her car. After hearing Oz explain it was me in his bed and after she faded into ghost white when I walked out of his room, Izzy grabbed her car keys and declared she was driving me home. I’m still attempting to figure out if she meant Florida or Olivia’s. She found me half-naked with her son in his bed. I’m betting she’s sending me to Florida.

“I’m sorry,” I say, because I can’t stand the silence any longer.

Izzy’s dressed in blue scrubs. She’s worked third shift this week and when she left the hospital last night she went to Olivia’s, so I’m officially the worst person ever for piling stress on the sleep-deprived. She starts the Ford Focus and the wheel whines as she turns it. The motor doesn’t sound much better. A single crystal hangs from the rearview mirror and it creates small beams of rainbows on my lap.

Izzy flips her long black hair over her shoulder and peeks at me out of the corner of her eye. “Are you in love with my son?”

Yes. My entire body convulses with the truth. I was falling for Oz before and after what happened last night...it changed me. It changed him. It changed us.

“Shit,” Izzy whispers. “Just shit.”

We hit a pothole and the car dips. Izzy peers in the rearview mirror and I glance at the passenger-side mirror when a motorcycle rumbles behind us. Oz has a folded black-and-white Reign of Terror bandanna across his forehead and his black hair blows wildly in the wind. I tear my eyes away and focus on the rainbows.

“Did you know that if Eli or Cyrus or my husband or any man from the club walked in on the two of you, Oz would be ostracized?”

I sink lower in my seat. God, I’m in love with him. I’ve fallen in love with Oz and I’m costing him his dream.

“Did you know that you’re my goddaughter?” Izzy asks without waiting for my answer.

Like so many other times during the past month, the sensation of running face-first into a wall stuns me. “No.”

“You are.” She concentrates on the road and through the limbs arching over the road, the sunlight bounces on and off her face. “I wasn’t the best godmother at the time, but I loved you. Oz told me about the picture you found and your talk with Olivia, otherwise I wouldn’t bring it up. I need you to hear what I’m saying because I love you and my son.”

She commands my attention like a dropped nuclear bomb. “Okay.”

“Your mother ran from Snowflake for a good reason. She ran to keep you safe and she did an excellent job. Thinking that Olivia died must have completely floored your mom for her to make the mistake of allowing you to return, but it happened and I’m praying that neither you nor my son pay the price.”

Izzy slows the car as we near Olivia’s cabin. “You’re in danger here and I see how my son looks at you, even before I caught the two of you today. He’s falling for you and Oz doesn’t fall. Even if Eli told him that his assignment was over, I doubt Oz would leave your side.”