Page 7 of Too Safe

He tilts his head and looks past me to my new friend. “Hunter. Hey. Haven’t seen you around for a hot minute.”

She blows out a breath. “Here I am,” she declares half-heartedly.

“Welcome home,” Locke says with a quick smile. Then he sets his sights back on me. “You got your phone on you?”

I nod in a way that’s no doubt reminiscent of a bobblehead, forgetting where I am and why I’m here. All I see is him.

With a lift of his chin, he says, “Unlock it and give it here.”

I reach into my back pocket and hand it over without taking my eyes off him.

“What do you need her phone for?” Hunter scoffs. “You can’t just demand she give it to you. You’ve been hanging out with Crusade too much.”

Locke arches his pierced eyebrow in amusement and studies Hunter. But then his sole attention is on me again, and a salacious smile takes over his face as he holds my device in front of him and inspects it. “She knows what I need her phone for.”

Good grief.He may as well have just whispered the filthiest dirty talk in my ear with the way my body tingles in response to his words.

The magnetism between us is twice as strong now that he’s standing over me, invading my space in the best possible way. His tatted fingers fly over the screen, then he sets my phone on my desk in front of me with a satisfied smirk. I don’t even have to glance at it to know he texted himself and saved his number for me.

“I’ll text you later,” he promises. Then he’s gone, turning to head to a seat somewhere behind me.

“Oh my gosh. What just happened? Joey!” Hunter chirps in my ear.

The professor flies into the lecture hall, a mess of papers tucked under one arm.

I’m still grinning as he calls the class to order.

A new friend. A potential hookup. The morning didn’t start as planned, but things are already looking up.

Chapter 3

Josephine

Slowingtoaglacialpace, I ease my car over the uneven curb of Sam’s Salvage and Parts—my new home.

I learned to take it easy the day after I arrived, when I almost hit Scout, the junkyard’s armadillo in residence. Sam warned me to stay out of her way, because not only is she territorial, but armadillos can spread leprosy.

I came to North Carolina for a fresh start, not to contract a bacterial disease.

Slipping through the back entrance of the shop, I ease the screen door closed behind me. I’m barely two steps into the building when my uncle calls out from the reception area.

“Hey, Jo. Welcome home! Come on up here once you’re settled.”

My natural response is to grit my teeth at the invitation, but I force my jaw to relax and let out a breath instead. He means no harm. If anything, he’s going above and beyond to be supportive. I’m just not used to having anyone care about me, let alone someone who’s aware of my comings and goings. This move is a big change for both of us.

With a sigh, I dump my backpack on the floor by my bed and turn to the set of plastic storage drawers beside it.

Sam picked them up in preparation of my arrival. They’re all pink. Just like the duvet on the twin-size bed and the new fluffy towels stored under the bathroom sink. Pinkusedto be my favorite color—when I was nine. But I love that he tried.

Before I head out to greet him, I change out of my jeans and pull on a pair of leggings, then spin my hair into a messy bun. I plug my MacBook in to charge—one of the purchases I made with the money Alice left me—and feel a surge of satisfaction when the little chime indicates it’s connected.

My room is tiny. If I stand in the middle and stretch my arms out, my fingertips graze the walls. But Sam rearranged the entire shop, his entire life, really, to give me a place to stay.To give me a second chance. It’s not much to look at, but it’s everything to me.

“Jo?” Sam hollers from the front office.

“Coming!” I call back, making my way past the living room/kitchen combo that’s recently become Sam’s room, too. He insisted I take the only private space when I moved in, opting to sleep on the couch.

He’s out of town four or five nights a week anyway, acquiring storage units and scouring estate sales all over the eastern side of the country.

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