Everything else aside, I’d forgiven Luke for doing so much worse—repeatedly. Thoughtless things, hurtful things, horrible things. It had my sense of right and wrong all kinds of skewed. I didn’t know what was and wasn’t worth getting upset over. Especially something with good intentions behind it from someone who’d been nothing but caring and thoughtful.

“I see what you were trying to do. But I can’t believe you did that.” The last words were harsh, but my tone wasn’t. Raking a hand through my hair, I nervously combed through the tangles at the ends. I was overdue for a haircut I couldn’t afford, which was ironic, given the topic at hand.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for going behind your back.” Reaching across the center console, Chase took my hand in his. His skin was warm and rough as he stroked my palm with his thumb, moving back and forth.

“I appreciate the apology.” My shoulders relaxed in response to the combination of his words and bodily contact. “How much did you give Derek, exactly?”

“Fifteen grand.”

My breath snagged. As in, fifteen, followed by three zeros?

“Carter.” I grimaced. “That’s a lot of money.” I could live off that amount for a long, long time. I lived on significantly less than that, in fact.

“I’ve spent money on worse things.”

I widened my eyes. “Fifteen thousand dollars’ worth?”

“Well, no,” he admitted. “I know I joke about being an idiot, but I’m responsible when it comes to finances. I’m not going to be one of those athletes who blows through his paychecks and ends up broke. My dad drilled being frugal into my head before I even learned how to count.”

“This isn’t what I would call being frugal.”

But the mention of his father made it that much harder to lean into being angry with him. Any time the subject came up, hints of vulnerability surfaced. And they so rarely did that I didn’t want to risk shutting him down emotionally.

“Do you want to get into the money thing?” he asked, tone gentle. “Because we can. I’m fine with it, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Make me uncomfortable? I was already there. Chewing my bottom lip, I scanned my apartment building. Most of the windows were dark. A chill was seeping into the truck interior now that the engine was off. I wasn’t sure why we were still parked outside instead of going in, but it was difficult to pause the conversation now that we’d started.

“I don’t need specifics,” I said, glancing back over at him. “I’m just confused.”

“Let’s say that this amount of money isn’t enough to worry over. Promise.”

I shook my head. “Fifteen thousand dollars is a lot, no matter how you slice it.”