Fit for Love (A Stand By Me Novel Book 3) Read Online Free

you.”
    Her mouth curves into a smile so brief I almost miss it.
    We don’t talk for several minutes. She skips turning on a blinker and exits doing 60 mph. A car travels on the cross street and throws on its brakes to avoid colliding with us.
    My nerves scream for her to slow the fuck down. Use a blinker. Or the brakes. Maybe a parachute.
    “Makenna,” I say, barking her name. It comes out harsh and militant—maybe the only thing that will get her attention. I decide to stop this bullshit before she kills us.
    “What?” she yells.
    “Dammit,” I say between my teeth. “Slow down. You’re going to get pulled over and that’s not going to help me get there.”
    She lifts her foot from the gas pedal at my words. The dashboard gives off just enough light for me to see her concerned expression.
    “I don’t want you to miss saying good-bye.” Makenna shakes her head. “It’s important. There’s nothing worse than living with regret.”
    A blue light and siren sounds to our right. Someone would think I conjured the cop with my words. Makenna brakes and maneuvers to the side of the road before banging both hands on the steering wheel.
    “No, no, no,” she moans under her breath.
    We sit waiting in silence while the cop takes his time to get out of his patrol car.
    At his approach, Makenna lowers her window. The cop ducks his head and studies me, then stands again. “Do you know how fast you were going?”
    “Yes, sir,” Makenna answers.
    “I clocked you at sixty-seven in a forty zone. Have you been drinking this evening?”
    “No. Of course not. Do I look drunk?” She sounds angry and defensive—not a good stand to take against the guy holding a ticket pad and wearing handcuffs on his belt. He’s wearing two sets of cuffs. Wonderful. We can each have our own.
    “I need your license and registration.”
    “This is an emergen—”
    “License and registration, please.” His tone brooks no argument.
    She reaches behind her seat to grab her purse and sifts through the contents until she finds her wallet. Looking at me, she motions her head to the glove compartment. “Can you please find my registration in there?”
    I’m glad to have something helpful to do. A dull ache forces me to press a hand on my forehead, my heartbeat centered over my swollen eye. I find what she needs and hand it to her.
    The cop accepts both items and returns to his car. After what seems like a silent eternity, he returns. He gives us both a stern look, his brow furrowing as he points his flashlight into the dark car. I suddenly remember what I must look like to him with my swollen eye.
    “I’m giving you a traffic violation for exceeding the speed limit.” He shines his flashlight into my face, causing me to blink hard. “What happened to you?” he asks me while absently handing Makenna the ticket.
    “But—” she starts to argue, and I place a hand on her forearm to stop her.
    “I bartend at Dastardly Bastards and a girl hit me. Accidentally. You know how people can be on New Year’s,” I say with a smile on my face.
    “Sure it wasn’t this one?” he gives Makenna the side-eye as if making a joke. Makenna’s lips press together and she grabs the steering wheel, her knuckles whitening underneath her grip.
    He straightens and becomes serious again. “I suggest you two stay off the streets tonight.”
    “Thank you,” she says without sincerity. “We’re heading to the hospital now. Did you hear that? The hospital.”
    The cop nods and strolls back to his patrol car while we watch in the rear view mirror.
    “He didn’t believe me.” She passes me the ticket and turns the motor back on. “Jerk.”
    I exhale. “I’ll pay your ticket. You wouldn’t have been speeding if it weren’t for me.” I place the ticket in the console and notice a yellow toy car sitting in her cup holder.
    “Don’t worry about that right now. We’re almost there.” We pull back onto the road. “Five more minutes.”
    We’re at