The next day, I stand at the curb of my apartment once again waiting for Rhodes to come pick me up for our session, not wanting to keep him waiting. As promised, his truck rolls up right on time and I climb in.
"Eager?" he repeats himself from the other day, and I throw him an exasperated look, making him chuckle.
"As eager as you were to take my twenty dollars last night," I mumble, making the small smirk on his face disappear, a scowl replacing it, giving me a tingle of satisfaction.
He shifts in his seat, clearly still agitated about the move I pulled last night. "Like I said," he states, putting the truck in drive and pulling away from the curb once my seatbelt is on, "you better not pull that shit again."
I make no such promise and the rest of the ride to the gym is filled with silence, minus the slight hum of the radio.
Rhodes puts me through a brutal workout, probably channeling some sort of punishment for shoving that twenty in his glove compartment last night. Why he's being so sour about it I don't understand. He can't seriously expect to keep picking me up and dropping me off with nothing in return.
I walk out of the locker room, wincing as I throw my gym bag over my bad shoulder, the muscle still sore from yesterday's workout plus today's.
"That shoulder still bothering you?"
I look up to find Rhodes putting away equipment, a slight frown on his face as he observes me.
I wave a hand dismissively. "It's fine. It just bothers me every once in a while."
He doesn't seem to like that answer. "What have the doctors said about it?"
Instinctively, I adjust the bag on my shoulder, the weight of it and his questioning making me uneasy. "There's not much they can really do," I admit.
His frown deepens as he puts away the last of the weights before walking towards me, gesturing for my bag.
"I got it," I insist, refusing to hand it over.
Not listening—per usual—Rhodes swipes my bag off my shoulder and tosses it over his own before brushing past me, walking towards his office.
"Rhodes!" I argue, following after him.
Ignoring me and my complaints about how I can carry my own bag, he ducks into his office where he grabs his keys and his own gym bag, tossing it over the same shoulder my gym bag is on. He turns off the lights and locks up, and I follow him out to the parking lot. Unlocking his truck, he opens the passenger side door for me, making me roll my eyes. He only smirks in response, finding my annoyance amusing.
Once I'm in the truck, he closes the door and tosses our bags in the back seat before climbing into the driver's seat and navigating his way back to my apartment.
Mindlessly, I roll my shoulder and the joint pops loudly in the silence of the truck, making both Rhodes and I cringe.
"Are you sure you shouldn't get a second opinion on that shoulder?" he asks.
Cheeks now turning a shade of red, I shake my head. "It's fine," I say. I feel like I've seen enough doctors this past year to last me a lifetime. I don't need another one.
Rhodes purses his lips, the silence stretching between us once again for a long beat until he hesitantly says, "I don't mean to pry, but how did the accident happen?"
My throat suddenly becomes dry and I quickly cast my eyes down to my hands in my lap, embarrassed and ashamed. "I, uh—I was driving home from my parents one night," I explain, surprised and even more embarrassed by the slight shake in my voice. I attempt to clear it before continuing. "I was taking the back roads and it was pitch dark and raining... A deer jumped out and I swerved..." I trail off, not knowing how to finish.
"Can I ask you something?" he asks after a moment, his voice still hesitant, soft with sympathy.
Still looking down at my hands, I slightly nod, despite wanting to say no.
"Your car isn't really in the shop, is it?"
My heart rate picks up in initial panic as I scramble to think of an excuse. "It is, I—"
"Don't lie to me, Claire," Rhodes says, his voice surprisingly gentle with a hint of desperation.
More shame and embarrassment wash over me, to the point I feel like I'm drowning. "No. I haven't driven since the accident," I admit through a whisper, my eyes starting to sting and my throat tight.
God I'm pathetic.
Awkward silence engulfs us and now I feel like I'm suffocating on top of drowning.
I want to look at him so bad, to see whatever expression is on his face, but I can't seem to tear my gaze away from my hands.
"Do you want to drive again?" he finally speaks up.
I immediately shake my head, the thought of getting behind the wheel again absolutely terrifying. While it would make my life so much easier to drive again, to have that freedom, I just... can't.
"Are you afraid to?" he asks, seemingly reading my mind.
I close my eyes, so fucking embarrassed, and reluctantly nod.
"It's okay to be scared," he assures.
I huff out a bitter laugh. "I think you mean embarrassing."
I finally manage to look over at him, finding a frown etched onto his mouth. "Not at all. It's a completely normal response to be scared after going through something like that."
I swallow thickly, not knowing how to respond. Thankfully, though, we're pulling up to my apartment.
"Well, thanks for the ride," I reply lamely as he pulls into a parking spot near my door.
"Same time tomorrow?" he asks.
I shake my head. "Rhodes, you don't have to keep driving me," I explain. "I know you were only giving me a ride because you thought it was going to be a short period of time with my car in the shop, but since that car is nonexistent, I don't expect you to. I can totally find another way to the gym."
"I'll drive you as long as you need me to," he says.
"I don't need you to drive me to and from the gym every day. It's a huge waste of your time and gas," I point out. "Plus, I've been Ubering frequently for the past year. It's no big deal."
"I know you don't need me to, but I don't mind," he insists. "I don't trust rideshare services—and not just because they're stupidly expensive." He unbuckles his seatbelt and opens the door, slipping out of the driver's seat. "Plus, it's no big deal," he mocks, a stupid little smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Before I can even argue back, he shuts the door and rounds the back of the truck, opening the back door to get my gym bag. I hop out of the passenger seat and extend out my arm for the bag, but all he does is stare at my arm before brushing past me and heading for my front door.
"Rhodes," I groan in annoyance, following after him.
I meet him at my front door where he leans against the wall, patiently waiting as I grumble about how he didn't need to carry my bag all the way up here and as I try to find the correct key on my key ring. I manage to find the key and unlock the front door, holding out my hand expectantly for my bag.
That stupid smirk still on his face deepens but he finally slips the bag off his shoulder and hands it to me. "Thank you, Rhodes," he mocks.
I throw him and exasperated look.
He chuckles before his expression turns somber. "Same time tomorrow?" he reiterates softly, although this time there's hardly any question to his words.
I don't know if it's the softness of his voice or how soft his gray eyes are right now or if it's just his unyielding resilience, but my stomach flutters and I start to feel a little guilty for giving him a hard time. Maybe Victoria was right and Rhodes is just simply a good guy.
I nod, and I don't know if it's the guilt or the slight intimacy of the moment, but my mouth opens before I can even think my words over. "Do—do you want to come inside?"
Rhodes looks as surprised as I feel by my offer. "Uh—yeah... Sure."
Stupid. I'm so stupid, I scold myself.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Merry Christmas! (I finally updated, it's a Christmas miracle! lol jk)
All jokes aside, I'm sorry for the lack of updates these last few months. So much has been going on in my personal life and I'm going to spare you all the details and excuses, but I'm going to be honest with you as well. To be completely transparent, as much as I would love to have a set update schedule and be able to give you consistent updates, I just don't think thats attainable for me at this time. Hopefully with the new year things will settle down and I'll have more time to write, but I can't guarantee that and I don't want to make any false promises. I absolutely adore Claire and Rhodes and have every intent on finishing their story, but it may just take a little longer to complete than I'd (and I'm sure you'd) like.
I just want to say a sincere thank you to everyone who is sticking with me through this story. I've gotten so many messages about updating and I know it's frustrating not having consistent updates, but I hope you guys are willing to still stick it out with me to complete Claire and Rhode's story. I really appreciate your patience and support🤍