Page 60 of Until I Found You
“What’s up?” he answers, the sound of music blaring behind him.
“Where are you?”
“At Tattered with Ryan. What’s going on?” Tattered is the tattoo shop his girlfriend, Ryan, co-owns.
“I’m with Halle, we’re driving back from Big Nasty and we’re being followed.” I glance over at Halle, reaching to touch her thigh again. “It’s Krate.”
Halle’s eyes flash to me, wide with worry before focusing back on the road. Her hands grip the wheel with so much force, her knuckles turn white.
“Where are you?” Mav asks. He tells his girlfriend, Ryan, he’s gotta go and a few seconds later, the music disappears just before the exhaust on his pickup roars to life.
“We’re coming down Highway 30. We’re in Halle’s car, heading to my place.”
“Alright, I’m heading that way.”
He cuts the line. Thankfully he’ll be coming from Everton, so he will likely be coming up on us very soon.
“It’s gonna be alright, baby. You’re doing good,” I reassure her, just as the loud rumbling of the engine behind us revs.
Krate drives up on us, nearly rear-ending Halle’s car, before breaking and doing it again once more.
“Graham,” she cries, her hands fisting the steering wheel as she picks up speed.
“Be careful, baby, you’re doing great. We’re almost home,” I say.
We’re still about seven minutes away. In this moment, I hate that I let her drive tonight. I wish I would’ve driven, and it was me in the driver’s seat. Although I know if the roles were reversed, there’s no way in hell that stupid son of a bitch would be playing this game with me.
Glancing out the side mirror, I notice a pickup truck come up on us and a moment later a honk ensues.
“Oh, God, what was that?”
“That’s Maverick, baby. You’re doing great. Pick up the speed just a little bit but be careful. I don’t want you to get into an accident. I just want us to get home.”
“Okay.” She trembles, pressing on the gas.
My phone vibrates in my hand and I quickly swipe the screen, answering it.
“It’s definitely Krate, that stupid son of a bitch!” Maverick shouts.
“Yeah, I know. He’s been riding on our ass. Do me a favor and get rid of him. I want to get Halle home.”
“You got it. Let me know when you make it home.”
“Alright,” I say, rubbing my hand along Halle’s leg again hoping to reassure her.
I disconnect the call and turn my attention to my woman sitting next to me. All my biggest fears feel like they are about to become reality. Ever since the day I lost Gage, all I’ve thought about is what would happen if something happened to Halle or my mom. The fear of losing one of them, letting them down, has damn near crippled me.
Here I am in this moment, feeling like I’m out of control and could lose her, and I don’t even know what to do.
“Baby, Mav is here and he’s going to help us lose him. Okay? I need you to just focus on the road and getting us home. We’re almost there, baby. Just get us home.”
Maverick pulls his truck into the lane next to us, toward oncoming traffic and races up next to Krate as he revs his engine again before slamming on his brakes and swerving back behind him. He continues to run up behind him, riding on his ass warning him to let us go.
Distracting him long enough, Halle quickly swerves over into the right turning lane that veers off onto the gravel road leading to my house. Slowing enough to take the corner, I turn back to check if Krate is following us to see that he and Maverick continue to fly past us.
Halle lets out a heavy sigh as she pulls over to the side of the road.
“It’s okay, baby.” I lean over and kiss her, as she puts it into park and wraps her arms around my neck holding me close to her.
