She reached out and put her hand over mine on the table, the warmth of her skin causing my stomach to tighten. “That’s the thing, Tuck. You get to start over. You’re so needed right now, not just by me, but by so many people. I… I wouldn’t blame you if you sent me off on my own from here.”

I squinted at her. “I made a commitment to you.”

She bobbed her head and slid her hand away. I immediately missed the soft press of it on mine. “I know, but like Hosea said, this is a fluid situation and—”

“I’m getting you home, Em, and that’s that.”

Her gaze ran over my face as though searching for something. “Okay. Thank you.”

I looked over her shoulder. “Where’s Earthquake Man anyway?”

“He left to get new clothes and shoes and go to bed. I don’t think we’re going to talk a lot on the remainder of this journey.”

“Sounds awkward.”

She made a sound of agreement in the back of her throat. “You seem to have perfected the art of ignoring him, so I’ll just take your lead.”

We sat there in companionable silence for a moment before she tilted her head and looked at me, pausing for a moment before she asked, “Will you tell me about it, Tuck? What were you convicted of?”

I felt a stab of shame, stomach twisting. But she’d just humbled herself and apologized to me. It didn’t feel right not to answer her. “I did a lot of stupid shit when I moved to my uncle’s, Emily. I was grieving. My mom, the loss of Honey Hill.” You. Everything I held dear to my heart. All gone. “I wanted to lash out at anyone and everyone.”

“I remember,” she said softly, and I heard the hurt in her voice.

I met her gaze. “I never lashed out at you.”

She looked away so I couldn’t see her eyes. “No, you didn’t.”

I paused, sensing something unsaid, but then she looked back at me, her expression placid. “Anyway, none of it is any excuse, but I’m just trying to set the scene. When I moved to LA to live with my uncle, I fell in with other guys like me, ones who felt cut off from their families, or ones who had no family at all. In some ways, it was me rejecting everything I’d been before. If that life was no longer mine, then I’d make a new one—be someone completely different than the Tuck I’d always been. So, me and these guys, we banded together. We drank. We partied. We stole cars. It was a challenge to get them running in seconds.”

“You always did catch on quick. And that might be one of those special skills that Hosea mentioned coming in handy now.”