Page 197 of Ride the Sky

I arch a brow. “No regrets?”

“None. Maybe I’ll get my own ring,” he husks. “One to match.”

My heart flips over in my chest. “Wouldn’t stop you.”

A flapping noise fills the cab.

I sit up. “What’s that?”

“Shit,” Wyatt says, checking the rearview mirror and pulling over onto the side of the road. “We got a flat.”

He cuts the engine and hops out. I follow suit, watching as he pulls a spare tire and a tire-changing kit from the pickup truck bed.

“Shit,” he mutters. “It’s dark as hell.”

I pull out my phone. I don’t have service this far out, but I do have a flashlight.

“Here,” I say, offering him some light.

Wyatt’s face is creased in a frown.

I move closer. “What’s wrong?”

He splays his long fingers over the tire. “It don’t look like a nail.”

I peer over his shoulder. Instead of a puncture, there’s a long cut in the tread. “What the hell?”

Headlights sear my eyes. The sound of a vehicle approaching. My stomach dips.

“Hey.” Tripp pulls up beside us. “You need some help?”

“Sure.” Wyatt’s voice is dry. “You’re here. I’ll take it.”

Tripp reverses his pickup, parking behind us on the shoulder of the road. Flashlight in hand, he hustles up to us, giving Wyatt some more light.

“What can I do?” I ask.

Wyatt glances at me. “I want you to stay off the side of the road, Fallon.”

I roll my eyes.

As they work on getting the tire off, manly grunts and growls filling the night air, I pace the side of the road. My hip’s tight. Walking will get the kinks out.

“Here, I’ve got gloves,” Tripp says, drawing my attention back to him and Wyatt.

A thought strikes me like a brick to the face.

What’s Tripp doing here? He left the bar before us.

I turn, glancing at Wyatt.Relax, I tell myself.Just fucking relax. It’s nothing.

Boots crunching gravel, I pass by the passenger side of Tripp’s pickup. Through the windows, in the shadowy light, I see bottles of water on the backseat. And on the floorboards—

I suck in a breath. Every hair on the back of my neck stands up.

My cane.

The beautiful, glossy cane Wyatt gave me. Tripp has it.

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