Free Vindicated by eliza_ Page B

feelings.
    "Yes," was all she said. That one word was enough to drive away the chill of the winter day and warm him from the inside out. Her cheeks glowed with cold. The tip of her nose was bright red as she climbed into the cab. "Thank goodness you showed up," she said as she stretched mittened hands toward the dashboard vents. "Another ten minutes out there, and I would've frozen to death."
    "Where's your hat, missy?" he asked in his best stern voice, instantly at ease in her presence. A little of the former jealousy eased. She had every right to see other guys. After all, he wanted nothing from her but friendship. "Didn't your mamma teach you better?"
    "It's here." She whipped a blue-and-white knit cap from her pocket and waved it in front of him. "I don't like to wear it. It messes up my hair."
    "Of course. What was I thinking? Better to freeze to death than have a bad hair day."
    "You know it." She beamed at him again, and the loneliness of the night before disappeared.
    “Where are you headed today?” He shot her a sideways glance, struck by the up-tilt of her pert nose and the pouty fullness of her lower lip.
    “I was on my way to the hospital. Chelsea’s in labor, and I think Ally needs some backup.” Her fingers played with the hood of her coat as she spoke, like he made her nervous. He smiled and tried not to look intimidating, eager to put her at ease.
    “Yeah? Me, too. I just got off the phone with her. She said Jack is having a meltdown. I guess handling Chelsea and Jack at the same time is a little much for any one person,” he said.
    “You’ve known Jack and Chelsea for a long time, huh?”
    “Yeah. Jack since we were kids. Chelsea not so long, but long enough.” He pursed his lips in introspection, unsure how to explain a relationship fraught with tragedy and bad decisions. “Jack’s been my best friend since junior high, and they were kind of a package deal. I don’t like the way she’s treated him over the years, but she’s not a bad person, really.” He cleared his throat, overcome with the need to explain. “She’s the reason I left your apartment so quickly the morning after our hook-up last summer. She was in the hospital, and she needed someone.”
    “Oh,” Karly said. He felt the weight of her eyes on him, full of questions he didn’t want to answer. “Why didn’t you just tell me that?”
    “It wasn’t my secret to share.” The heavy tone of the conversation made him shift in the seat. He clamored desperately for something to lighten the mood. “Besides, I’m a little bit scared of her. I think she might be the devil.”
    They shared a laugh. The warmth of camaraderie filled the empty hole inside him and chased away the numbness from the previous night. Her hand rested on the seat between them, inches from his. A simple glide along the leather would bring them together. His fingers twitched. Then he remembered she wasn’t his to touch. He cast a glance in her direction and found her watching him with an unreadable expression. They both looked quickly away.
    “I see that dude got you home okay. What’s his name? Josh? I didn’t realize you were seeing each other. He seems like a nice guy. Although I always thought he might be gay.” Where the hell did that come from? He cringed inside, wishing he could suck the statement back inside and pretend it never happened.
    “He’s not gay. He’s heteroflexible,” she replied with a slight smile. Randy didn’t return the smile. A small furrow wrinkled her fair brow. “What about it?”
    “I saw the way he had his tongue down your throat.” The hairs on the back of his neck began to prickle as jealousy returned. The memory of the pretty boy with his hands and lips all over her pissed him off all over again. He was being unreasonable, and he knew it but couldn’t stop it. “I guess it surprised me, is all.”
     
     

 
     
    Chapter 18
     
     
     
    Karly turned to gape at Randy, who’d apparently lost his mind.