Chapter 3 #2
“Where else am I supposed to go? I have no one. The only thing I had to get out of here and start a new life with is now busted on the side of the road. So, yeah. I’m sticking with you until we’re out of this mess and I can get back to starting my new life.”
He rolled his eyes. “But we can’t stay in the motel next door?”
“No, that is way too close for comfort. I’ll never get any sleep. I’ll be worried about waking up to the police banging on the door.”
I could tell that I was getting on his nerves, as he massaged his temples. “Fine. We’ll eat, take a hike, and find a place to crash a few counties away. Deal?”
“Deal,” I agreed, and that’s exactly what we did.
We both ate and cleared our plates before I dropped cash on the table to cover the meal.
Then we walked out of the diner together.
The rain had finally come to an end, but it didn’t help with the temperature at all.
It was dark, cold, and windy. Even though it was only fifty degrees, being wet and in the wind made it feel like it was below freezing.
A few times on our hike, I heard Oliver start to grumble under his breath about how we were walking in the middle of nowhere instead of warm and fast asleep in the motel that was right next to the diner, but every time I looked at him, he shut up and kept moving.
It felt like we walked for hours. My feet hurt, especially since I’d worked a full shift at the bar before all this happened.
My body was cold and numb, my nose was running, and my throat hurt from the cold air, but eventually we came upon what looked like an old farm truck parked across the street from a small-town tavern.
The parking lot was full, and you could see movement behind the frosted glass, lit by neon.
“That’s it,” Oliver said.
“What’s it?”
“This truck. We’re taking it.” He started moving closer to it.
“What do you mean, taking it?”
“We’re stealing it. Keep a lookout.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his knife.
“We can’t steal someone’s truck,” I whisper-yelled, my heart pounding.
He looked at me like he didn’t care what I had to say. “Why? You stole the last car you wrecked. Why can’t we steal this one?”
“That was different. That was my cheating boyfriend who had it coming. This truck probably belongs to some old guy who doesn’t deserve to have it stolen.”
His brows lifted. “If you ask me, we’re doing him a favor. We’re probably saving someone’s life by keeping this prick from drinking and driving.”
I couldn’t argue with him there, but I was going to try. I just needed a minute to think of something.
“Look, you can stand here and freeze all you want, but I’m stealing this truck, and I’m getting the fuck out of here because I’m tired and cold as shit.
Are you coming with me, or is this where I leave you?
” He gave me a moment to think it over, but he knew my answer without me even having to say it.
He opened the door and nodded with his head for me to climb inside, so I did.
I climbed in through the driver’s door and slid across the bench seat to the passenger side.
He slid in behind me and closed the door quietly.
Using the knife he had in his hand, he pried off a piece of plastic that covered the steering column.
He cut through some wires, stripped them, and started tapping them together.
The truck rolled over as he pumped the gas, and within a couple of minutes of stumbling upon it, we were driving it down the road.
I crossed my arms over my chest as the wind whipped through the cab of the truck from the open back window.
“Close that window, will you? I’m freezing my ass off,” he said as we were barreling down the country road.
I twisted to close the window, but the middle section was completely gone. “I-I can’t. I think it’s broken.”
He growled. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
He had one hand on the wheel as he twisted his upper body to see for himself.
That’s when a goat stuck its head through the open window and made a god-awful noise that scared the shit out of both of us.
I screamed, Oliver screamed, and then cursed before he jerked the wheel. The truck bounced around, throwing me to the floor since I hadn’t buckled my seatbelt, and the truck came to a sudden stop.
“What the hell was that?” I asked as I crawled out of the floorboard, feeling more bruised than before.
“Who keeps a fucking goat in the bed of their truck?” he asked, hitting the steering wheel.
I moved back to the seat and looked out of the windshield, finding grass in front of us with the road to our left. “You have an awful driving record. And you said you steal cars for a living?”
“Don’t start with me. This is all your fault. If you had just forgiven your cheating ass boyfriend as you’ve probably done a hundred times before, I never would have been run off the road earlier today, and I’d be sleeping in a warm hotel room using my million dollars as a pillow right now.”
“Screw you! I never forgave him for cheating on me. This was the first time I caught him,” I argued back.
“Yeah, I bet it was.” He rolled his eyes, grumbling.
“This is stupid,” I said. “Just get us out of this ditch and back on the road so we can get a room for the night. I don’t want to spend any more time with you than I have to.”
“Ditto!” he threw back, shifting into drive. He stepped on the gas, and the motor revved, but the tires spun. We were stuck in the muddy field.
“Great. Just fucking great.” He let his head fall forward. “Women and fucking goats. Who knew what a shit combo they were.”