Free Where One Road Leads by Cerian Hebert

joking led to them wrestling with each other over the seat.”
    Krista shut her eyes. She could see the moment as clearly as if it were on a movie screen in front of her face. She’d yelled at them, threatening to dump them off at the side of the road so they could walk the rest of the way home. Ricky had laughed and grabbed her by the shoulders, giving her a shake that sent her into the opposite lane.
    “Before I could pull over, Ricky decided to try to climb over the seat, which instead turned out to be practically in my lap. I’d had enough, it was getting too dangerous.”
    So she’d hit the brakes. Even now she could feel the moment, the sound of her tires squealing on the pavement, the bulk of Ricky’s body as the abrupt stop sent him over the seat and against the dashboard. And lastly the sight of the headlights in her rearview mirror in those final moments before the car she hadn’t noticed behind her struck them full force.
    “I don’t remember anything after that. Just waking up in the hospital, I guess the next day.”
    “I can see both Jay and Ricky behaving that way,” Matt commented quietly. “I hate to say it but my brother was an ass. Ricky was a bigger ass.”
    “I loved him, Matt,” she said against her knees. “As much as an eighteen-year-old could be in love. I saw myself with him forever. I know better now. But I’d never do anything so crazy as to hurt them or Liz or myself.” Or my baby. “It was a careless moment I’ve regretted every day since it happened.”
    “I still don’t know what to think,” Matt admitted.
    At least he was being honest. She hadn’t expected him to change his mind in just a moment. She could only hope that over time, he’d accept the truth.
    “I was so scared when I recognized your car,” Matt said faintly, his gaze pinned on the horizon. By the way his mouth tilted down and the tightness in his jaw, she knew he visualized that night as clearly as she could. “I knew how close you two were, and the chances were pretty good he was with you. I honestly didn’t expect there to be any survivors.”
    “I know. It’s amazing Ricky and I survived. I saw the car over at Dupont’s Auto Salvage. It looked like a bomb had gone off in the trunk. It made me so ill.”
    “When I found you I didn’t think you were alive, Krista.”
    She raised her hand to stop him as she shut her eyes tightly, but all that accomplished was to give her a vivid image of the destroyed car. “Please don’t, Matt. I don’t want to know. I remember what I looked like after the doctor took care of me. I don’t want to imagine what I must have looked like at the time of the accident.”
    Tears burned in her eyes. She swiped them away quickly. She didn’t want Matt to see her hurt, fear, and loss. Those were things better locked away and forgotten.
    He’d seen them, though. He leaned awkwardly across Gus and put his arm around her in an effort to comfort her as best he could. The gesture oddly soothed her, considering the source. For now she let it sink in, took it for what it was worth because it wouldn’t be repeated. Once they parted ways here on the ridge, they’d go back to their guarded relationship and that would be that.
    Then she felt more, suddenly aware of him as a man she’d become—despite her better judgment—attracted to over the past few weeks. He’d been an antagonist until now, but she sensed something inside him, a fairness that drew her in. She inhaled his scent, soap and the outdoors, felt the smooth material of his sweatshirt against her cheek and the hard muscles underneath.
    The sensation, the ripple that traveled through her belly, was a lot like a girl’s first crush—sweet, innocent and tempting, like taking a tentative step into the unknown. She wondered if he felt it too. In a way she hoped he did, but it would only serve to make her more vulnerable if he realized her developing feelings for him.
    His fingers played with her hair, caressed her