I held up my hand, turning back to face her. “You already know the answer to that. It’s a hard no.”

She sighed. “In that case, where are your car keys and please tell me you drive an automatic.”

“It’s a stick, and they’re in my jeans pocket, which are on my bedroom floor.”

Hope nodded as if she’d been drafted into battle and didn’t know a damn thing about warfare. “Wait here.”

I didn’t have time to reply as she flew through my living room and disappeared into my bedroom. The sound of drawers and my wardrobe opening and closing made my possessive temper flare.

What the hell is she doing in there?

Finally, she came out with a grey T-shirt, clean pair of jeans, black socks, and my trusty steel caps. Placing everything on the countertop, she forced her eyes to stay on mine and not linger on my half-naked body. “Put those on. We’re leaving.”

“Leaving?” I fisted the T-shirt, throwing it over my head and feeling marginally more comfortable and not so exposed. “Where are we going?”

“To the hospital.”

“Whoa. Yeah, no way in hell we are.”

Hope stepped right into my personal space, popping it, infecting me, hurting me far worse than any trapped nerve in my back. “Listen here, Jacob Wild. You’re hurt. You don’t want your mother to know, and I’m not equipped to deal with this. I can’t drive, but I’m going to learn just so I can take your sorry butt to see a professional who can tell us if this is serious or something time will heal. If you don’t like that, then I can leave. But if I leave, I return with Della, and you can see if you’ll win a fight with her …which I doubt, by the way.”

I glowered.

The bruise on my jaw ached as I clenched my teeth. “You truly are the most annoying person I have ever met.”

“Bite me.”

“Oh, I’d like to do more than that, believe me.”

Her eyes flared, her cheeks pinked, but then her anger was back in force.

She stomped to the door and snapped her fingers as if I was some belligerent pet. “Get in the car. Now.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Jacob

* * * * * *

“YOU’RE GONNA STALL again—”

“Shut up.”

“I’m just sayin’, feed the gas with your right foot. Otherwise—”

“When I want you to talk to me, you don’t. And when I want you to be quiet, you’re suddenly the most talkative person on the planet.” Hope threw me a glare as she stalled my ancient hand-me-down truck that used to be my dad’s and brushed chocolate hair away from her eyes. “Ugh, this is going to take days to get there.”

I held back my laughter.

Her pout was rather adorable—especially as she’d actually done quite well. Better than I thought she would for a total beginner. It’d helped that my house was on a hill and the roads through Cherry River were on a gentle decline right to the road. She’d struggled to get it into first gear, but after that, her coordination with changing gears and steering wasn’t too bad.

Equestrians usually had good hand-eye coordination and picked up complex tasks quickly, thanks to a hobby of riding creatures that could kill you at any moment.

But now, we were on the main road, and the small town’s only traffic light had broken her momentum and created havoc with her trying to roll forward smoothly rather than bounce in a bunny hop.

“Look, I’ll drive.” Unhooking my seatbelt, I couldn’t hide the hiss of pain as I twisted in my seat to open the door.

“You can’t drive.”

“I can drive better than you.”

“You’re hurt.”

“I can still drive.”

“No, you can’t.”

“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Hope.”

She huffed impatiently. “It took you ten minutes to climb into this thing. You’re not getting out of that seat.”

“Yeah, see, this is the point where your worried routine becomes a bossy routine, and I don’t take orders from girls—”

“You don’t take orders from anyone.”

“Exactly.” I nodded, cracking open the door and bracing myself for yet more torture. “Now swap.”

“Don’t move.” Clamping a hand on the steering wheel that was far too big and ancient for her dainty hands, she faced me with a quick corkscrew of her body. “Don’t you think I can tell how much pain you’re in? You’re sweating, and it’s not that warm today.”

I tensed. “You don’t know me, Hope. Don’t pretend you do.”

“I know enough to see when you’re being stubborn and stupid.”

“Did you just call me stupid?” My voice fell deathly quiet. “I’d be careful if—”

“Oh, please. I’m not afraid of you, Jacob Wild.” Her forehead furrowed in concentration as she turned away from me and attempted to drive off again. “Close your damn door.” The crunch of old gears made me wince, and the roar of the accelerator being stomped to the floor made the engine squeal.

Tags: Pepper Winters The Ribbon Duet Romance
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