It was Brett Broudou.

My eyes got even wider and my heart started racing again. His words weren’t very reassuring. I started backing away. “What do you want?”

“Nothing.” He held his hand out to me. “Stop. Please. I’m really not here to hurt you or scare you.”

“I beg to differ. I’m scared shitless right now.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re huge.”

“I know,” he grimaced and slunk back a few steps. His shoulders went down, like he was trying to make himself smaller. “I’m really not here to scare you. That’s my brother. He’s like that.”

I hadn’t taken much account of how he looked in Manny’s the other week. I’d been too focused on avoiding them and the guys hid me right away at the gas station, but I had a better view now. He had a square face that was a little meaty from his bulky size. His nose was crooked, like he had broken it once and it never healed right. A slight scar ran down from his nose to his top lip. His lips had formed into a tentative grin. Peering closer, I tried to see his eyes better. Mason always told me that you could read a person’s intent through their eyes, but I couldn’t see his. It was too dark. Again, because we were in an almost emptied parking lot that only had one working light over it. Not the best meeting place to pick.

He didn’t look ready to attack me, but looks could be deceiving. My tone went flat. “Tell me what you want or I’m leaving. Next time find me in a crowded place if you want to talk, or better yet, don’t.” But there had been something in his tone. Regret? Maybe something else, friendliness? I wasn’t sure, but my heart slowed a little and my chest wasn’t as tight.

“I know.” His head went down, and he made a show of taking another large step backwards. “I … um … whoa. This isn’t going how I thought it was going to at all.”

This? How he wanted it to go? I frowned. What was he talking about?

“Um,” he cleared his throat and tried another smile. “So … you’re friends with Jax?”

“Jax?”

“Heather.” He gestured inside. “Channing, her on-again-off-again whatever they are, goes to my school. He’s pretty cool. So’s she.”

“She threatened you guys.”

“Well,” he shrugged, shifting on his feet, “I mean, I can understand. My brother can be mean … sometimes …” he trailed off, glancing around.

Was he checking for witnesses?

“Um.”

He didn’t sound like someone getting ready to attack.

“So …”

Yes? My heart began pounding again. Thump. Thump. Thump.

“I was wondering,” he stopped, and looked around once more.

Seriously. The guy was going to give me a heart attack. “I’m going to go home.”

“No. Wait.” His hands fell down and he cupped them together; his head lowered too. “Heather doesn’t seem to like us coming to Manny’s, so I’ve stayed away, but I don’t know you. I’m figuring you don’t go to our school. I was looking for you this past week.” A self-conscious laugh came from him. “I don’t even know your name. She might’ve said it, but I was just paying attention to my brother. Budd can be a jerk sometimes … Shannon too, though she’s a girl. There’s another name for that.”

“I know. It rhymes with ditch.”

The corner of his mouth curved up. It started to transform his face, from what I could see in the shadows. “Yeah. So …” His nervousness was now all-too clear.

My heart sank. I was starting to figure out where this was going.

“I was just … um … so, do you … No, that’s not right. Uh …” He took a deep breath, pinning me with his gaze now. “Would you like to go out sometime?”

Yep. I saw it coming. I figured it out, but it still didn’t curb the shock, and my mouth fell open. He just asked me out. A Broudou brother. Me. It all clicked with me now. He still had no idea who I was. I was just ‘that waitress’ who works at Manny’s. “Um.” I closed my mouth. I had no idea what to say.

“Oh.” He drew away from me even further. “I see.”

“No,” I started, but stopped. What the hell was I going to say? “Um … I have a boyfriend.”

“Oh.” He straightened, now filled with relief. His voice came out stronger, more confident. “I see. Who?”

“W-w-what?”

“OH!” His head flew up, and he slapped himself in the forehead. “I’m really sorry. It ain’t any of my business. I wasn’t going to beat him up or anything. Budd does that stuff. I don’t. I mean, he gets me in trouble too sometimes, but I wouldn’t do that. I think you’re really pretty. The guy’s lucky, whoever he is, and don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. I don’t want you to be scared. We have a reputation. I understand and all.”

He was rambling. I had rejected him, and I was beginning to feel sympathy for this Broudou brother. Hell had frozen over. The world had shifted on its axis.

“I’m going to go now.” He started to turn.

“Wait,” I stopped him.

He stopped.

Now I wanted to slap myself in the forehead. Why had I done that? I lowered my hand, hadn’t realized I even lifted it. “Nothing. Sorry.”

“Okay. Well, bye.”

“Bye …”

Awkward. The whole thing had been awkward, but lucky me. Brett left in the same manner he had appeared—he just disappeared. I had no idea where he’d gone.

Brett Broudou asked me out. Me, Samantha Strattan. I nodded to myself. There was something funny about that. Then I remembered Mason—my phone. Hurrying inside my car, I grabbed it and hit the screen. The first text stopped everything.

At the hospital. Car accident.

The phone fell from my fingers.

CHAPTER TEN

The drive to the hospital passed in a blur. I was on auto pilot and somehow found myself shoving through the doors to the emergency room without a clue how I got there. Taking two heart-stopping steps, my foot lifted for another when I spotted Logan in the corner. His head was down, his arms folded over his chest, leaning against a wall. His friends were around him—guys and girls I didn’t recognize—but no Mason.