Free Last Breath by Brandilyn Collins, Amberly Collins

tonight?”
    â€œBecause I wanted to.”
    â€œWhy did you want to?”
    He pressed his lips, his right palm sliding up and down on the steering wheel.
    â€œI mean, all semester you’ve talked to me only when we had to do one of those stupid French conversations.”
    â€œThat’s the only time you talked to me too. Seemed to me you were pretty busy with all your friends.”
    My mouth opened to deny it, then shut. It occurred to me, even with the tons of people I knew, how small my world was. Because I only saw what I was used to seeing.
    â€œI’m sorry.”
    He shrugged. “It’s nothing to be sorry about. You’re just popular, that’s all.”
    I rubbed the side seam of my jeans. “I’ve wanted to talk to you for months. You just didn’t seem interested.”
    One side of his mouth curved. He shot me a glance. “I was plenty interested.”
    â€œThen why didn’t you … do something?”
    We stopped at a red light. He inhaled a long breath—and that’s when I knew. I could see it written all over his face—the hesitation. He had something to hide.
    â€œGuess I’ve just got too much going on in my own life. Like I told you, I work a lot, plus I keep an eye out for my grandmother. She doesn’t … we don’t live in the best area. I want to make sure she’s safe.”
    Why didn’t he think she was safe? What had happened? Questions crowded my tongue, but I bit them back. I didn’t want to come across like some Spanish inquisition.
    The light turned green. Gary surged the truck forward.
    I touched his arm. “Well, I’m glad you came with me tonight.”
    He threw me a smile. “Me too.”
    For the rest of the way home, I changed the subject, chatting away about this and that person at the party, making small talk. But I could tell Gary knew what I was doing. Beneath the light conversation ran a darker current—his secrets and my determination to find out what they were.
    At my house he walked me to the door. I leaned against it, looked up into his face. “You going to talk to me in French class now?” I said it half-teasingly, but the undercurrent still ran.
    He gave me that lopsided smile of his. “Yeah.”
    â€œWell. That’s something then.”
    Gary held my eyes, his expression turning serious. I felt a tingle at the back of my neck. He placed a palm against the door, leaned down—and kissed me. His lips were warm and soft. Incredible. A deep longing reached from his soul to mine, a longing that went way beyond physical touch. As if he wanted to tell me things about himself … but couldn’t.
    The kiss wasn’t long, yet in a way it seemed forever. When Gary pulled back, I knew we would be together for a long time. Whatever he was hiding, it didn’t matter. We could work our way through it.
    How wrong I would turn out to be.

15
    T he day had come.
    Before checking out of his hotel room, he picked up the phone to make a plane reservation to Denver.
    â€œOperator. What listing please?”
    â€œUnited Airlines.”
    â€œThank you.” The line clicked over to the recorded number. He pulled the hotel pen and notepad forward on the nightstand and wrote down the digits. Firmly, he punched them in.
    Put on hold for an agent, he sat on the bed and waited, tapping one hand against his knee.
    He needed a plan when he got to Denver. Rayne had to have all kinds of protection around her now. How was he going to get to her?
    â€œUnited Airlines, this is Sarah. How can I help you?”
    He booked a flight leaving at 3:45, arriving in Denver at 5:30. He’d pay for the ticket in cash when he arrived at the airport.
    He hung up and checked the digital radio clock. Just past nine. He had things to do before catching the flight. Buy clothes. Get to the bank for more cash. And he needed a cell phone.
    Quickly, he stuffed his meager possessions