He seemed to find that funny. “I’m the asshole, sure, Alba.” His face was pinched and even though he sounded angry there was hurt in his eyes. And what smarted was that I knew he wasn’t wrong. I was the one who had pushed him away and here he was after all that still coming to help me.

“Fine,” I said, woodenly, sliding my sunglasses on.

He exhaled, like he had no fucking clue what to do with me, but when he spoke he didn’t sound annoyed, or at least not as annoyed. “If the tow doesn’t come now they won’t be able to get here until after the storm and that might not be until morning. My service is already on its way.”

“And your tow company is magically not affected by the weather like mine is,” I argued, because I was also my own worst enemy.

“My tow company gets paid generously so they’re always available when I need them.” Since the moment he got to Dallas I’d wondered how long it would take for New York Theo Ganas to make an appearance and here he was in his full arrogant pain-in-the-ass glory. “If anything, with my service your car won’t be unlocked with the key inside for hours.”

Dammit. He was right.

I quickly texted the tow truck company, who replied saying they had to go deal with an accident on the expressway and wouldn’t have gotten to me for a few hours anyway. That information I kept to myself. I wasn’t going to give him more gloating material. Then I put the keys in the glove compartment while Theo watched beside the car like my own personal bodyguard.

“Done.”

Without a word he turned on his heel. I thought he was going to get in the driver seat and glare until I got in, but instead he opened the passenger door for me. That was worse than him being rude, because then I could just be mad back. But him being gentlemanly and courteous even when I knew he was irritated was just one of the things that had my feelings all over the place when it came to Theo. Because yeah, he was furious, but he’d still dropped everything to come and help me. And maybe he wasn’t happy about me asking for space, but he still made sure I had a hot meal when I was working late. No wonder my head was a fucking mess.

“Thanks,” I said quietly and gathered the skirt of my dress so it didn’t get blown up by the wind, which by now was pretty strong. He looked at me weird but didn’t ask questions. Thank goodness.

I gave him the address and within a few minutes we were on the road. I caved first, not able to stand the stony silence.