Page 40 of The Home Grown
I crouch back down, tighten the last bolt before I stow the flat in the boot, and brush the dirt from my hands.
That’sthat,I guess.
“Make sure you get the tyre replaced soon. You shouldn’t drive on a space saver for more than fifty miles. And don’t go speeding off down the motorway—they aren’t designed for speed. Best to stay under fifty. Just remember ‘fifty for fifty’.”
“Right, thanks.”
I hand back her keys and she slips the wad back in her pocket.
“Okay. You’re good to go,” I say, stepping back to let her pass.
“I can’t drive tonight,” she says. “I’ve had a drink.”
I look between her and the car. “Want me to drive you home?”
“You’re not insured,” she says.
“Yeah, I am. Team policy lets me drive anything under the fleet agreement, fully comp,” I shrug. “But if you’d prefer I didn’t?—”
Her expression softens, then she nods.
“I just need to grab my things and lock up.”
ELLIE
He said he was settling.
His words play on repeat in my head—not because I’m shocked, but because they ring true.
I’ve spent my life settling too.
Second best.
No one’s first choice.
But I try not to think about that.
And that thing he said about attention—when you don’t get it from the people you want it from, you take it from whoever offers. God. If that isn’t a mirror held up to my own choices, I don’t know what is. I want to stay mad at him, I really do, but I’ve never related to anyone so much.
Maybe we’ve both been doing the same thing all along: pretending we’re fine, patching the cracks with people who were never meant to hold us together.
“You okay, Kitch?” he says.
His voice is calm, easy—like he actually cares. Like the question isn’t just filler, but real.
And I don’t know what to do with that. I’m not used to it.
It’s unsettling. It makes me feel exposed.
“Fine,” I say, eyes locked on the road ahead.
We ride in silence for the rest of the journey, save for a few directions. And when Mike finally pulls into my street, I feel the relief hit me hard—like I’ve just stepped out of something heavy.
“Just here?” he says.
“Yeah, wherever you can find a spot. Parking is a nightmare,” I say.
Mike finds a spot big enough and parallel parks into the space with ease.
