“It could be a coincidence and was just a chancer up for a late-night drag race.”
“You really believe that?”
My lips part to tell him that I do. But there was something about my reaction to whoever the guy was when our eyes locked that stops me.
“No,” I mutter. “It felt like he was waiting for us. That he knew it was me. Not sure he was expecting me to cream his ass, mind you.”
Theo groans. “Stop, please.”
“Your girl’s seen all kinds of excitement tonight,” I smirk. “More than you’re giving her, anyway.”
He stares at me, clearly unimpressed, but he can hardly moan. Seb lost his mom today, his only parent. I think that trumps wanting to keep your car safe.
“You really think he was a Reaper?”
“As I said, it was too dark to see. I got the license plate though.”
“Great, what is it?”
I rattle off the numbers and letters I’ve memorized and he writes them in his cell.
“I’ll run it and see what comes back.”
“You can do that?”
Again, he just stares at me, silently telling me to stop underestimating him.
“Okay, so you’ll let me know what the results are.”
“Of course. Go and get some sleep. You look wiped.”
“Yeah,” I say, pushing a few loose strands of hair from my face. “It’s been a long day.”
“Go,” he says, reaching for his laptop again. “Look after him,” he whispers when I get to the door.
“Always.”
Silently, I slip back into our bedroom, finding Seb still snoring, although as I crawl back into bed he immediately tucks me into his body and holds me as if he’d drown without me.
Lacing my fingers with his, I make him a silent promise to be there through whatever hits us next.
* * *
Seb’s still asleep when I come to the next morning. His arm is still wrapped around my waist possessively, but I manage to slip out without waking him, and when I emerge from the bathroom a while later after freshening up, he’s still out cold.
“Morning,” I say, finding Theo on his favourite seat with his laptop once again.
“Those plates were fake,” he says in way of a greeting.
“Of course they were,” I mutter, going straight for the coffee machine.
“Would you remember the bike if you saw it?”
I think back to the night before and shake my head. “Seb said it was a Ducati, but I don’t know bikes. It was a fast black one.”
“And here I was thinking you were a petrol head.”
“Just cars.”