“The kind of people you don’t ever want to be associated with, sweetheart. That incident scared the crap out of me, and I was desperately thinking up ways I could get us safely away, but he always seemed to be a step ahead of me.”
“Is that what happened when he had a gun to my head?”
I nod. “I still don’t know how he discovered, but he walked in that night with a bag of necessities I’d been hiding under the back deck.”
“Jesus, Mom.”
I stroke the back of my hand over her cheek.
“That was September fourth.”
Gray
“I thought you said you weren’t going to be in?” Jimmy’s head pops up from under the hood of the Cherokee he’s working on when I walk in. “Robin okay?”
“She’s fine. Her girl showed up. Giving them some space.”
“Her girl?”
“Paige. Her daughter.” I take a look around the shop and notice two other vehicles. “What’s with those?”
“Oil change and tire rotation. Kyle was supposed to get to those, but he’s out with the tow truck. Accident at the on-ramp to Highway 10.”
I grab my coveralls off the peg on the wall and pull them on. May as well make myself useful. Jimmy lifts his chin before ducking under the hood again in silent acknowledgement.
We work in silence with Jimmy’s favorite rock radio station blaring classics, when someone taps me on the shoulder. I jump and swing around, not having heard anyone approach.
I bristle at the sight of a smiling Becca in front of me.
“What do you want?”
She blanches, her face instantly falling at my gruff tone, and behind me Jimmy coughs in warning. Right. Customer service.
“What can I do for you?” I mellow my tone.
“Well…” she drawls, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I’m having some problems with my car.”
I try to wait her out, but when it appears there’s not more forthcoming and she bats her eyes at me, my impatience finally wins.
“What problems, Becca?”
“Oh, well…it makes an odd noise.”
To stop myself from rolling my eyes I close them, take a deep breath in, and wipe my hands on a rag.
“Let’s hear it.”
Her aging Toyota is parked in the drive outside the bay doors and I walk past her out of the shop. Her footsteps sound behind me as she follows.
“Keys?”
She hands them over and I climb behind the wheel, putting the key in the ignition when the passenger door opens and Becca slides in.
“What are you doing?”
She turns to me with surprise on her face at my snapped question.
“I…uh…assumed we were going for a test drive?”
“Not planning on it,” I grumble, cranking the engine.
“You know, I was thinking—”
I hold up my hand to cut her off, while I try to listen for whatever odd sounds she thinks she hears. There it is, a faint rustling. Leaving the engine running, I pop the hood and get out.
A firm brush of my hand to clear leftover fall leaves from under the vents solves the problem immediately. I slam the hood closed, reach in the driver’s side, and turn off the engine.
“There. Fixed,” I mutter, dropping the keys on the seat before backing out.
I turn to head back to the car I was working on when she calls out behind me.
“Wait!”
Reluctantly I stop in my tracks and wait for her to catch up.
“I was just thinking…do you have something going on New Year’s Eve? We could—”
Aside from the fact Becca clearly still hasn’t gotten the message, she knows damn well I’m seeing Robin, which rattles my chain even more.
“No.”
“But I haven’t even—”
“Doesn’t matter what you have to say, the answer is no. I thought I’d been clear I have no intention of going there. I’m with Robin and you know it, so why you would think I’d be even remotely interested in doing anything with you fucking boggles my mind. Go home, Becca, I’m not interested.”
Jimmy is standing in the open bay door when I approach, and I realize I may have been loud enough for him to hear. I don’t bother looking back when I hear her car door slam and the engine start up.
“Ouch,” Jimmy comments when I reach him. “Harsh.”
“Not a word of a lie.”
“True, but still…”
“Why don’t you take her out then?” I snap.
“Fuck no,” he says immediately, sharply shaking his head.
“Right, that’s what I thought.”
Indicating this discussion over, I dive back under the car I was working on.
It’s late afternoon when the last vehicle is picked up and I head back to my apartment for a quick shower and a change. I strip out of my clothes and dump them on the floor beside the hamper, since it’s already full. I should probably head over to the coin laundry downtown; I’m running out of clean clothes.
A muffled ringing sounds from the pile of laundry on the floor and I scramble to fish my phone from my dirty jeans.
“Hey.”
“Am I disturbing you?” Robin asks, and at the sound of her voice my flaccid cock immediately stirs to life.
I chuckle. “Not in the way you’re thinking. Just about to have a shower. How are things there?”
“Good. Thanks for giving us some time to clear the air.”
“Since I’m the one who overshared, it was the least I could do. Other than to say I’m sorry.”
“Turns out it was a talk that was long overdue, so don’t apologize, I should probably be thanking you.”
“Oh?”
There’s a moment’s silence on the other side before she responds in a soft voice.
“I’ll share, just not right now, please? I’m still processing.”
“Sure thing, Sunshine,” I consent easily. “Thought about what you guys want to eat? I’m heading out to get a load in at the Laundromat so I’ll be downtown anyway. I’ll pick something up.”
“Paige is actually cooking dinner.”
Shit. The food had been a good excuse to see
