Page 46 of Rich Girl
“There’s always a TV crew lurking around when there’s an accident on the expressway,” he shrugs. “And especially for one of this magnitude.”
I swallow hard, suddenly scared of driving. I wonder what goes through someone’s mind in the seconds leading to the crush. Do you see it happening? Is there anything you can do about it? Does it help to hit the brakes hard?
“Did anybody die?” I whisper to Ray, uncomfortable with saying the words out loud.
His face changes in an instant, deep grooves showing on his young face. I can’t imagine the things he’s seen.
“I didn’t get there early enough to know anything for sure,” he dodges my question. “I’d only be spreading rumors if I speculated.”
I frown at that. “But you did tell Evie and Carrie about the hockey players.”
“That’s already been confirmed in the news,” he shrugs. “I didn’t tell them anything they couldn’t just hear when they turned the TV on next.”
He starts walking again, and I notice that we have almost reached out destination.
“How would people even watch the news?” I wonder out loud. I couldn’t tell you the last time I had a news channel on. I’m not sure my streaming service offers news channels.
“We do that out here in the sticks,” Ray chuckles.
By now, we have entered the yard to his shop. It is huge, with wrecked cars lining up one side, while the other side contains a large building. From the outside, it looks like some sort of auto shop. I’m not sure though. I’ve never been in one before.
Ray yanks at my arm gently, pulling me toward the side door to the building. Once inside, we go up a set of steep stairs at the end of which there’s another door. He uses a key to open this one. He had an electronic key fob for the one downstairs.
I am surprised when we walk in and his office looks like an apartment inside.
“This is homey,” I tease him. “Do you come up here to take naps during business hours?”
“I wish I had time for that,” he laughs. “Wouldn’t it be nice?”
“Yes,” I agree. “And it would make for a very short commute.”
He stops laughing, but the way he looks at me, it’s like he finds me amusing for some reason.
“It is a very short commute,” he nods at me. “It works great.”
I nod and turn around on my heels, trying to check everything out. The more I look around, the more I realize that this is not an office. It can’t be. It looks like an apartment that’s lived in. Above a garage…
“Uh, Ray…” I turn back around to face him. “Where is it that you live?”
He crosses his arms over his chest and smiles knowingly. I have a feeling that I know why.
“This is my home,” he confirms my suspicions.
Despite the fact that I was expecting that answer, I am still beyond surprised. My mouth is slightly open as I take him in. A little too late I become aware of my reaction and how it might look to him.
I pray that he can’t see the judgement on my face, but I know that he does. I am even more surprised when his smile grows bigger, completely unbothered by the fact that he literally lives in a place the size of a box, on top of a working auto garage.
“You’re more than welcome to hang out with me here until tomorrow if you want.”
“What?” My voice comes out squeaky.
Ray takes a couple of steps forward until our shoes almost touch. He brings a hand to the side of my head and pushes the hair behind my ear.
“What do you say, babe?” he whispers to me. “Do you wanna slum it for the next twenty-four hours before you go back to your fancy hotel?”
I stare at him with dilated eyes and hitched breathing. It’s bizarre, but I think I want him even more now than I did before.
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