I don’t want you to disappear.

Those words from Ryder froze me. Here I’d thought that he wouldn’t want anything to do with me, and he was saying things like that, that we had to talk, holding my hand and insisting…

Snap out of it! The man is drunk; you can't let him get behind a wheel! Especially after his last incident!

I was brought back to myself, and I felt my eyes go a little wide. When did we start walking toward the entrance?

“Ryder, wait up!”

He paused and looked at me over his shoulder, still slightly swaying in place.

“What is it?”

“Look, I don’t think we should go to your car,” I said frantically, tugging on his hand. But even with him drunk, I wasn’t nearly strong enough to pull him if he didn’t want to go. “We can just talk here, can't we?”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk at all, but anything would be better than going to his car.

He frowned, looking unhappy that I was resisting. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, someone bumped into me from the side. I stumbled, and even with Ryder still holding onto my hand, I nearly fell. He pulled me out of the way, then let go of me to shove the bastard that bumped into me. When he turned back to me, he was scowling.

“That is why I don’t want to talk here. This place is filled with drunk idiots, and I want this talk to be private. Just please come with me. I’m parked right by the curb.”

Then he turned and walked out.

I knew better, but I went after him. I had to keep trying to talk him out of it! I worked at a hospital, so I’d seen first-hand the kind of shit that happened when people got behind the wheel drunk. What if the idiot crashed!

“Ryder!” I called, running behind him. He was taller, and his long legs ate up the distance fast. “Please, just wait up!”

He stopped, but when he pulled out his car keys, I realized it was only because he made it to his car.

“Fuck!” I cursed and ran faster as I watched him get in. “Would you just wait for a moment, Ryder!”

But he was already inside the car, and when I got there, he’d swung open the passenger side. Gritting my teeth, I got inside.

“Why won’t you listen to me?” I demanded. “You say you want to talk, so why won’t you stop and listen!”

He just shot me a smile. “Don’t worry. We’ll get to talk all we want when we get to my place.”

“But Ryder, you don’t live—”

Then he stuck his key in the ignition and turned on the car. Then, the car started moving, and I let out a small shriek.

“My car door isn’t even closed, Ryder!”

“Then close it,” he said, shooting me a confused frown. “Why would you leave a door open while I’m driving?”

I reached for the door and slammed it shut, then hit the lock, my heart beating hard in my chest. I turned a glare on him. “Oh, I don’t know, Ryder,” I said, voice sarcastic. “Why would you start driving with a car door open then, huh? Answer me that.”

“Because,” he said slowly. “I don’t want you to walk away from me again. You did that before, remember? Started pulling away out of nowhere. And the next thing I know, I can't even reach…”

I tightened my lips, sitting back in my seat. I reached for the seatbelt and pulled it on, then paused when I noticed he didn’t have his own on. I growled to myself, but didn’t dare try to reach around him to do it myself. He wasn’t in the right state of mind, and I was worried what would happen if I distracted him even the slightest bit. Uneasiness grew in my stomach.

“Ryder,” I said carefully. “Look, I need you to pull over, right now. At least so we can pull on our seatbelts.”

He glanced at me, frowning. “The fuck are you talking about? I don’t need to stop the car for that.”

He took one hand off the wheel and reached for the seatbelt. I let out a short scream when the car went unsteadily for a moment.

“Forget that,” I shouted, frantic, reaching a hand for the wheel to steady it, as the other grabbed onto the handle above the car door. “Just keep both your hands on the wheel, please! And pull over!”

He slapped my hand off the wheel and scowled at me as he gripped it with both hands.

“Screw that, Alexis! I am not pulling over so that you can run again!”

“But I’m not going to run!”

“Of course you are!” he shouted back, hitting the wheel. It surprised me so much I flinched back into my seat. “Of course you’re going to run, it’s all you ever do! Well, I’m not going to stand for it this time! Is talking to me such a hard task for you, huh?”

My unease was growing. Ryder was talking bullshit; I wondered if he even heard himself. Just how drunk was he? And how could I be so stupid to get in the car with him, knowing the state he was in? Maybe if I just refused to get in, he wouldn’t have started driving…

No! I shook my head hard. Don’t think of that! You’re in this situation already, so just fucking fix it!

How, though?

“Ryder, please!” I cried out, my voice desperate, but I didn’t try to reach for him. “We can talk, I fucking swear, but pull over to the side of the road for a minute!”

“No! If I do that…”

He’s wavering! I thought with a sudden excitement. When I spoke, my words were fast, running over each other as I tried to get everything out at once. “I swear, Ryder, we are going to talk. You know what? We could leave your car somewhere, and I could call a cab for us. I could take you to my place, and you can sleep over. Wouldn’t that be so much better, Ryder—?”

“No!” he shouted, making me yelp and flinch again. “No stopping, no going anywhere else! I’m taking you to my place, Alexis, so just shut the fuck up and wait until we get there.”

I bit my bottom lip, my body trembling, and my eyes stinging with tears. I didn’t think I could get him to stop. I didn’t know how far away he lived, but I knew it wasn’t here in Romeoville; he’d obviously moved near his latest team since I last spoke to him, but I had no idea where that was. There were only a few other cars on the road. If he didn’t live too far, nothing might happen…

Then why are you crying?

I growled and shoved that pessimistic voice away, blinking the tears that wanted to escape back.

Just relax, I told myself. Maybe nothing will even happen!

I tried to make myself believe it, but that didn’t stop my body from trembling. In just the next moment, I realized pretending was useless.

“Alexis…”

Ryder’s voice was quiet, and when I glanced at him, he was squinting and blinking. His expression looked dazed. My heart jumped in my throat, but before I could say a word, bright lights appeared in the windshield from a car heading toward us. Ryder’s eyes slammed closed, and the car swerved just slightly when he turned the wheel on instinct as he turned his head away from the bright light.

It might not have been so bad if we hadn't veered off the road and moved toward the sidewalk—and right at a fucking tree.

I let out a short scream and squeezed my eyes shut because I didn’t want to see anymore. The tree was there, and Ryder aimed the car right for it. Even drunk, he couldn’t miss it. My heart jumped in my throat, and the last thought I had, that might have been more hysterical than anything else:

Now we’ll never have that fucking talk!