Page 226 of Skate the Line

Did he come here, or is she confused?

“Who?” I ask with skepticism.

“Me.”

My breath catches.

I can hardly stand. The room spins when I lock onto his angular jaw with his usual scruff lining the edges.

“Rhodes.”

What is he doing here?

Something squeezes my heart, and I don’t know what to do.

It doesn’t matter, though, because Ellie zips around his legs and jumps into my arms.

I almost don’t catch her, but at the last second, I do, and we both collapse to the floor.

I can’t help but smile when she pops up laughing with her wild, messy braid swinging over her shoulder. “What are you doing here?” I ask her.

She climbs off me. “All I know is that Daddy said we were going somewhere Sunny.”

“Sunny?” Nana repeats. “It’s colder than a polar bear's toenails outside.”

I glance at Nana. She used to say that to me as a child, and every time, I’d do exactly what Ellie does: laugh.

“Come here, you!” She opens her arms to Ellie, and to my surprise, Ellie walks over and gives her a hug.

Rhodes watches the embrace with a soft expression. His hands are in his jeans pockets, and the longer I look at him, the more I realize how much I care about him. He was so angry when I left…and hurt.

He swings his expression over to me, and I stop breathing. “Can we talk?”

“Oh yes, you two go talk.” Nana grabs Ellie’s hand and pats it. “We will play a game.”

“A game?” Ellie is excited.

Nana pulls out the brand-new tablet that Rhodes bought her and clicks an app. “Have you ever played bingo?”

I hide a laugh.

Bingo is her new favorite thing.

Rhodes turns and walks out of the room. I gingerly follow after him with my pulse racing and my legs heavy.

Everything I’ve found out in the last twenty minutes comes rushing to the tip of my tongue. I have to tell him about the wreck, how Nicholas has been following me for months, and how I plan to take the evidence to the police and make sure that he and Ellie are included in the protection order. Then I need to apologize for bringing a man like him into their lives, particularly Ellie’s, because she could have been harmed in the wreck.

I exhale shakily and look at the floor.

“Rhodes—”

He grips my wrist and pulls me into him. The words surrender on my lips when he wraps his strong arms around me in a tight embrace.

Home.

He feels like home.

He backs away, putting very little space between us, and gazes into my eyes. “I lied.”

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