Chapter 2 – West
WEST
O kay… crammed in the cab of my tow truck with this beautiful runaway bride and her perfect, white, poofy princess dress might as well be hell on earth. And that’s without the things she’s jabbering about into her phone.
“Seriously!” She shouts, waving her hand around before dropping her head back on the headrest. “All missionary, all the time! No talking allowed. And it was usually scheduled ! But here he is, jackhammering into Autumn’s bajingo while he talks dirty to her!
He would never do that with me, no matter how much I asked for it! No matter how much I begged for it!”
Nope. No one’s balls are in immediate danger of exploding here.
I try my hardest to focus on the damn road, willing the miles to go by faster as I try to tune out the things she’s saying.
I grip the wheel hard and feel my blood run hot at her unwitting revelation.
I can’t believe she caught her fiancé cheating on her on her wedding day.
I’m amazed at what some men will do even when they have someone impossibly gorgeous on her arm.
And she is. Even if she weren’t in a ballgown which is my kryptonite - don’t ask - I’d still find her breathtaking.
And while I’ve only just met her, she seems nice and polite on top of it all.
Well, if you don’t count the crass word vomit happening beside me.
“There was even that time I offered to bend over the hood of his car!”
Help.
“I know! He’s so damn in love with that car I thought it was a sure thing!
But noooo, that’s not how you properly bed your future wife!
Hell, he was always bragging about that fucking Mustang, buying presents and waxing the shit out of it, maybe he had a complex about having sex with an actual human on it!
” She laughs, hastily and I’m glad to hear it was just a Mustang she was willing to spread her svelte legs on.
If it had been a vintage Trans Am like I have, I probably would have to make funeral arrangements for my poor dick.
She chuckles a little longer before adding, “I know, right? The major surprise was finding him with Autumn instead of catching him with his dick in that car’s tailpipe. ”
Ugh. Four more miles.
Reaching into the front pocket of my shirt, I produce a toothpick and place one end of it in my mouth to distract me.
“But it’s more than just the cheating.” She pouts into the phone.
“It was the whole life. The arrangement, all of it. My mom and Portia were knocking them back in the bridal suite and just letting it all spew about how miserable they are and were practically celebrating that I’d soon be joining them in the world of codependence, reproduction, and monotonous sex.
It made the impending reality come crashing down on me, and I was starting to spiral, and I needed to get out of there, and that’s when I found the ass clown with his pants down! ”
And there’s the town’s welcome sign. I’ve never been happier to see the trademark howling coyote.
“Almost there,” I quietly announce.
“Ooh! Gotta go,” she tells whoever’s on the other end of the line.
“I’ll touch base later, but you did not talk to me, and you do not know where I am!
‘Kay love you too,” she signs off and looks around the little shops with hanging flower baskets and the afternoon sun shining down on the cracked pavement before her gaze swings my way, and I think I see her cheeks pink up a little.
“Sorry about that. I’m one of those nervous talkers that can’t shut up when they’re stressed. ”
“Not a problem.” Other than the one in my pants.
First, she has to be in a ball gown, and then she has to talk about getting freaky on the hood of a car.
Clearly the universe sent her here as some kind of demonic siren to torture me with temptation of the worst kind.
You know, like prison wasn’t enough. “I’m sorry you’re having a shitty day,” I add, figuring professional etiquette such as clean language has gone out the window.
“Thanks,” she sighs. “It wasn’t catching my fiancé cheating on me so much as the car breaking down. And the whole where the hell to go from here thing.”
“About that,” I feel a lump form in my gut that I have to do this. “I’m sorry to dump even more on you, but I just think I should prepare you.”
“For what?” Her crystal blue eyes widen as she turns to me.
“Well, I’m sure I don’t need to point out that this car we’re towing is a rare, not to mention expensive, antique.
” She nods, and I continue. “Which means the parts are going to be hard to come by at my humble little establishment here in the middle of nowhere, Indiana. Whatever I need to fix it is going to be expensive but also difficult.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, if you wish to get it repaired and in driving condition again, you’re in for a bit of a wait. I’m not talking days, I’m talking weeks.”
“Hooo…” she blows out on a breath as she turns to face forward again. “Okay. I’ll just… have to figure something out. ”
“Well, you certainly took that better than most people would.” I smirk warmly over at her.
“Well what can I say?” She holds her hands up. “That’s one good thing about being the black sheep of the family. I’ve learned to roll with the punches.”
Like any other time I hear that expression, I feel a pang in my chest. Only this time, it seems to quickly dispel into a warm tingly feeling as I pull into the driveway. I hit the remote to raise the garage door and look over at her. “I’m the black sheep of mine, too.”
I don’t know why I just shared that with her.
As I pull in to the garage bay, I tell myself that she shared a hell of a lot more than I did, and I’ll never see her again, so it doesn’t matter.
The thought of it being friendly, relatable customer service also flashes across my brain.
I’ll entertain any possibility but the truth, which is that I felt a kinship with someone for the first time in years.
I came to Coyote Creek to lay low, after all, and while I’ve made some friends in the last couple years, their knowledge of my past is very limited.
I put the truck in park on the other side of the garage bay, cut the engine, and I look over and am immediately glad I did. It seems another weight has been lifted off her at the revelation that she’s not the only misfit in the truck and my heart revs at the lightness I see in her.
Oof. Not a good combination when you pair it with my aching dick.
I don’t have time to acknowledge that, however, as she pulls at the latch for her door and pushes it open.
It makes me quickly exit my side and hurry around to meet her.
When I picked her up earlier, I helped her up into the cab, only narrowly escaping involuntary ejaculation, but I’m damned sure still going to help her down.
“I thought someone of your status would wait for the man to come get you out of the vehicle,” I chuckle.
“Like I said, black sheep,” she softly reminds me as she busies herself with her dress, trying to pull all the layers to the side so she can step out while I play mental whack-a-mole with my dick.
“And what makes you think I’m high society?
” She gives a self-deprecating smirk as I hold my hands up to grip her waist. I feel like I’m getting a princess out of her carriage and it’s making my brain want to explode.
“I can do math,” I shrug, not trying to be too cocky.
I’m just grateful for the conversational distraction.
“Rolls Royce. I heard something about an arranged marriage on your phone call there,” I rattle off casually as I place her down.
Our proximity gives me a whiff of her scent, and fuck if she doesn’t smell of jasmine and sophistication. I’m going to die today.
My blue balls are going to produce some kind of angry toxin and poison me, there’s all there is to it.
“Thank you,” she says as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and I give her a nod.
“I’m going to get to work and see what’s going on,” I nod towards the Rolls positioned in the middle of the garage bay and then wave a hand toward the east corner of the shop. “We’ve got a waiting room back that way, so you can make whatever calls you want to while I get it up on the lift.”
Someone please punch me in the face for what I just said. Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to notice my choice of words as she gives a polite smile and gathers her dress up, heading back in that direction. Looks like I’m the only one with my head in the gutter. Shame.
Kira
“So the shade of your dad’s face has gone from eggplant to tomato, so that’s good,” Toby casually reports over the phone as I pace back and forth across the surprisingly nice waiting room. “ He’s on his fourth scotch though and that could be either good or bad.”
“It’s the calm before the storm, trust me,” I grimace before my heart jumps up in my throat at the thought of something. “He can’t see you on the phone with me, can he?”
“Hell no doll, don’t even worry about it.” I can hear what sounds like ice in an empty glass.
“Then how can you see him?”
“I’m hiding out under one of the tables with a bottle of rum and a six pack of Dr. Pepper,” he replies like this should be common knowledge. “There’s just a small slit in the tablecloth and he’s too preoccupied.”
“Okay.” I sigh in relief before I go in for the big ask. “So, I’m in this little nowhere town in Indiana and I’m not sure where to go from here.”
“Oh my God, little nowhere towns are so charming, you should totally stay there for a few days.”
“What? I mean it is cute … and quiet. But Tobe, I’m all alone in an unfamiliar place.”
“It’s not like it’s the big bad city, baby doll. You know there’s probably lots of good looking cornfed country boys wandering around. And after what Preston just pulled on you, you should totally snag one and bang him out of your system.”
“The mechanic that towed the car actually isn’t too hard to look at,” I feel my eyebrows pull up at the mention of him.
“ What?! ” He practically blows a gasket and I can totally picture him pulling his legs under himself as he cradles his rum and Pepper. “Spill girl, tell me! Does he have that sexy grease monkey thing going on? Now that’s what you could use after polished, pretty-boy Preston!”
“Well, yeah,” I settle back against the wall and feel my lungs decompress. “He’s got the hair that falls in his face and some seriously sexy scruff, and holy muscles. He’s absolutely got the hard-working bad boy thing happening.”
“Oh my God, it’s settled. You have to stay there and hit that! ”
“Toby come on! I’m not a slut like Preston.”
“That’s exactly why you should,” he reasons.
“No, the timing’s not right, my thoughts are all over the place right now.”
“Because you haven’t. Had. Decent. Sex!” He slowly spells it out for me, his words floating on a cloud of exasperation.
“You’ve been so deprived, you poor sweet thing.
Now go bang a hot, blue-collar guy and get your head right.
Then you can take the peace and quiet to sort through your feelings and plan your next move and make sure it involves bringing me back some nice jams.”
“I don’t know…” I moan, suddenly feeling everything settle over me. “I’m feeling some serious anxiety.”
“Aww babe,” he immediately shifts gears to accommodate my mood and that’s why I love him.
It makes me all the more salty at my parents for not letting me have him as my man of honor.
Nooo, my bitter, half-drunk matron of a sister was a much better choice.
“Are you okay? Let me sober up and I’ll come get you. I’ll reschedule -”
“No -” I cut off what he’s about to say because I know it’s important to him. “You’ve been crushing on Jeffery forever.”
“And I’ve been friends with you even longer,” he reasons.
“And he’s finally asked you out,” I continue on as if he hadn’t said anything. “You’re going to go to brunch with him. You’re not missing this chance. I’ll be fine for a night.”
“Honey, no, don’t be silly.”
My phone buzzes angrily against my ear, and I pull it away to look at the screen. My battery is about to crap out from the fourteen thousand calls and messages from Preston, my father, my mother, my sister, and oh look, even that cuntfart of a bridesmaid. Shit.
“Tobe, my phone is about to die. I’m going to find a place to crash for the night, and only after you’ve had a blissful brunch with crepes and mimosas will I tell you where I am, so you can come get me. ”
“Sweetie, no! And don’t you dare hang up on -,”
“Ksssssshhh!” I make a bad crackling sound and end the call.
I feel shitty enough. I mean, I cost my parents tens of thousands in wedding expenses and the money the merger between Dad’s company and Preston’s would have brought in.
Plus, I broke whosever Rolls that was. I’m sure as hell not going to add making my best friend miss out on a chance with his prince charming.
Allow me this one shred of vicarious happiness.
I don’t want to go back to Chicago knowing I disappointed him too.
Before my phone actually does die, I look at some of the messages.
Dad: You’re in a world of trouble young lady! I don’t know what stunt you’re trying to pull but this was your chance to prove yourself! You’re a disgrace!
Mom: Honestly, Kira. Where in the hellll are you? Your father is livid and you’re letting a good reception go to wasted.
Yeah, mom. You sure are.
I scroll to the Preston thread and decide to just read the most recent.
Preston: I’m fucking humiliated and I hope you’re happy.
Don’t you dare come crawling back because I have more respect for myself than to give some floozy daughter of one of my dad’s friends a second chance after pulling a shit show like this.
Good luck finding someone else to marry you.
You were the bottom of the barrel and now you’re nothing.
Whoa.
Okay, I wasn’t going to give the asshat the satisfaction of responding, but what can I say, I’m in an auto shop waiting room, and I’m bored.
Kira: I kind of thought floozies were your thing. Speaking of, I would get yourself checked out. I overheard Autumn in the spa locker room and she’s afraid she might have the herp.
Preston: There you are! I knew I’d get you to respond you little bitch.
Preston: …
Preston: …
Preston: And what’s Autumn got to do with anything? You’re the one who left our fucking wedding!
Kira: Oops my phone is going dead. I’ll let you chew on exactly why I left that sham of a wedding since your poor tiny brain can’t seem to wrap around it. Oh and tell Autumn and her gyno I said fuck off!
And then my phone mercifully goes dead.