Oakley
Four
Honestly, fuck my life.
I followed the directions the man gave me to the best of my ability. Truly, I did. Only I didn’t take into consideration that my phone was low on battery or that I had been so anxious about making my appointment that I hadn’t paid any attention whatsoever to my gas.
How long had I been running on fumes?
Oops.
Now, thanks to my own idiotic self, I’m stranded on the side of a back road, in the middle of the mountains, with a dead phone, dead car, and absolutely no idea what to do.
I suppose I could get out and start walking, but there’s one thing that keeps me firmly in my seat, clutching my pocket knife for dear life. And that would be the wolves, bears, and mountain lions that lurk within these ancient woods.
Okay, so I know I’m being a bit irrational.
It’s not like my chances of coming across one of those animals are all that high—though do I really have any way of actually knowing that?
—but anxiety and fear have kept me rooted in place for close to two hours now, praying that someone else comes along and offers their help.
The idea of accepting help from a complete stranger makes my skin crawl, but what are my options? What’s that saying? Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth? God, now I sound like my father. I guess I’ll have to sleep in my car overnight and try to hike my way into town tomorrow in the daylight.
Basically, I’m shit out of luck, and at this point, I’m not all that convinced that I actually had any to begin with. Frustrated tears well in my eyes, threatening to spill over.
The air outside the car is considerably cooler now that the sun has sunk behind the horizon, taking with it the last remnants of the summer heat.
The breeze raises goosebumps along the bare flesh of my arms and legs, so I roll up my window and tug the sweatshirt over my head, yanking on the sleeves so they cover my hands.
Leaning the seat back, I tuck my legs beneath me and settle in, listening to the wind blowing through the trees.
It’s eerily quiet out here, and I’m not used to such natural silence.
In the suburban town I’m from, there’s always the sounds of cars driving by or planes flying overhead to fall asleep to, and I had grown accustomed to it.
How am I supposed to get used to such utter silence as this?
My eyes drift closed, and I’m alone with my thoughts.
I mull over my options again, deciding that I don’t like them any better now than I did the first time I ran through them.
At least my phone is dead, allowing me a brief reprieve from the constant bombardment of calls and texts from the one person I never want to see or hear from again.
Panic grips me as my mind wanders to him, my body overtaking all rational thought and plunging me straight into fight-or-flight mode.
My breath quickens, escaping my body in short pants, and my palms begin to sweat.
The tears that were only a threat a moment ago finally spill over and dribble down my cheeks in little rivers.
Here in the dark, I allow myself this small moment of weakness. I can pull myself together in a minute.
The sound of a truck engine jars my eyes open, and I whip around, squinting as I’m met with bright yellow headlights shining through the back windshield of my car.
Sniffling, I take a deep breath, hastily wiping the tears from my cheeks with the sleeves of my hoodie.
Panic grips my stomach in a tight fist, but I breathe through it until it loosens a bit.
This is good—gift horse, mouth, and all that.
The metallic slam of a truck door startles me, and I immediately roll my eyes. When did I become so easy to scare? I hate how weak it makes me feel.
I wasn’t always like this. In fact, I used to be calm and carefree, always ready for the next adventure and willing to jump at any opportunity to chase it.
But I had done that once before, and it landed me here, in the middle of bumblefuck nowhere, broken down on the side of the road with a dead phone and nothing but my swirling thoughts and racing heart to keep me company.
A figure approaches the window, shining a flashlight in my face. On instinct, I slam my eyes shut and lift my hand to shield my face, bright dots twirling around the inside of my eyelids.
“Shit, sorry.” The deep timbre of the man’s voice is familiar, but in my exhaustion, I can’t trust that I’m not making up the familiarity. He lowers the light, and I open my eyes, blinking to clear my vision. When I look up, I find myself peering up into a set of recognizable green eyes.
“It’s you,” I say, my words coming out with a note of surprise. It’s not like it hadn’t crossed my mind that maybe the attractive man who gave me directions would wander along this road and find me, but I didn’t think that it would actually happen.
A smile tugs at one corner of his mouth. “It’s you.”
“What are you doing here?” Stupid.
“I could ask you the same thing. Doesn’t seem like this is where you were looking to end up when I gave you those directions.” Amusement drips from his lips, and I roll my eyes.
“Ran out of gas. And your directions were shit.” Much better.
“I can see that.” He shoots me an apologetic smile. “Come on. I’ll give you a ride into town.”
Without waiting for my answer, he tugs open the door—why hadn’t I thought to lock it?—and I hurriedly slip my sandals on and clamber out, taking a moment to stretch my arms above my head and wiggle some feeling back into my legs.
“Let me just grab my bag.” The passenger side of the car is too close to the guardrail and even closer to the drop off the ledge for comfort, so instead, I lean across the center console and retrieve my backpack with the necessities from the front seat.
A throat clears behind me, and only then do I realize I just gave this stranger a clear view of my ass in the shortest, tightest pair of shorts I own. Great.
I curse myself for choosing this pair to throw on this morning, but the weather had promised a hot summer day, and it wasn’t like I had a whole lot of time to plan out my outfit. It was a miracle I managed to get most of my things thrown into the back of my car before I took off.
“Need me to grab anything?”
I shake my head at his offer.
“I’m good. I’ll have to catch a ride back here tomorrow to grab the rest of my things, though.
Hopefully, no mountain lions decide to make a home in the backseat overnight.
” I cringe, deciding that I am much too tired to even try to be funny right now.
The fact that I am at ease enough with this stranger to even attempt a joke confuses me, but his low laugh confirms my initial instinct.
“I’m not sure the bobcats have ever ventured down this close to town before, but there’s a first time for everything.”
I follow him to the truck and thank him quietly as he holds the passenger door open for me.
I freeze when I examine the considerable distance I’m going to have to scramble to get into the massive hunk of metal.
Don’t forget the booty shorts.
I flip a mental middle finger at the voice inside my head and look hesitantly from the open door, then back to the man standing behind me.
God, he’s tall. And broad. In the dark, I can only make out the shape of him cast in shadows from the dim interior light, but he has to be well over six feet tall. Compared to my modest five-foot-three frame, he’s practically Sasquatch.
“How, um—” I start, completely aware of how stupid my question is about to sound.
That low chuckle sounds again, and with him standing so close to me, I swear it reverberates through my body. Not sure I have the time or energy right now to dissect the shudder it sends through me.
Nope.
Not even going to go there.
“There’s a step right in front of you just below the door.” He points down. “And then you just grab the oh shit handle and swing yourself up and in.”
“Swing myself?” I ask, not understanding how the hell I’m supposed to swing myself into a vehicle. I turn as my bag is lifted from my shoulders, but at the look in his eyes, I relent and allow him to take it from me.
With a deep breath, I place my foot on the step in front of me and lean forward into the cab, reaching up for the handle above the door.
When my hand clutches nothing but air, one of his wraps around mine and guides it further up until my fingers meet the smooth plastic of the handle.
The stretch causes my sweatshirt to ride up, exposing a sliver of bare skin.
I don’t know if it’s the cool air or his proximity to blame for the eruption of goosebumps along my flesh.
Grasping the handle, I step up with my foot and pull up with my arm, and I do, in fact, swing myself into the truck seat.
I land with a soft exhale and grin despite myself.
Immediately, I feel foolish for the little spark of confidence from such a small act, but when I’m met with the man’s smile, a twin to my own, I relax my shoulders and enjoy the feeling.
It’s been so long since I’d allowed myself to feel even the smallest measure of joy at the little things.
Placing my bag at my feet and making sure all arms and legs are inside the vehicle, he closes the door with a gentle thunk.
The cab of the truck is oddly comforting. It smells like old leather and cleaner, like it’s been well-loved and cared for. It reminds me of my grandfather’s old truck. Any lingering anxiety dissipates, and I settle further back into the comfortable seat.
As the man climbs in and closes the door behind him, the scent of pine, sweat, and something else washes over me again. The radio hums a low country song, and I let the music relax me as he puts the truck into drive and starts off down the road.
“So, you got a name?” he asks after a moment of silence.
“Oakley.”
“Nice to meet you, Oakley. That’s a pretty name.”
“Thanks. My mom gave it to me.” I wince and roll my eyes at myself in the dark, but his answering chuckle eases my self-consciousness. “You got a name?”
“Levi Bennett.”
Comfortable quiet falls over us again as we reacquaint ourselves with what little we know of each other in the light of the names our families gave us.
Names are such an intimate piece of ourselves. It’s the first real token of identity we have in this world. Levi suits him, and it seems impossible now for me to have ever imagined his name being anything but. He glances sideways at me as if knowing where my thoughts have gone.
“So, where to?” he asks.
I sigh. “Well, I missed my appointment with the building manager of the apartment I was supposed to be touring today, so…” I trail off, and the realization that I have nowhere to go hits me like a punch to the stomach.
The few hours I spent sitting in my car mostly consisted of me freaking out about my situation and then calming myself down, only to freak out again.
Basically, I have no plan.
“I feel partially responsible for that,” Levi murmurs, and I chance a glance in his direction.
His posture is relaxed as he leans back in his seat, his right hand gripping the steering wheel while his left arm rests along the frame of the open window.
The breeze blows his dark brown waves back from his face, giving him a tousled, carefree look.
He is the epitome of masculine charm. And it terrifies me.
No, that’s not right.
It only terrifies me how utterly attractive I find him.
I avert my eyes when he catches me looking, but I can still feel his steady gaze on the side of my face. My face heats, and I’m thankful for the darkness that covers up the blush spreading across my cheeks and down my neck at having been caught.
“I suppose you are. It was your horrendous directions that got me lost in the first place.”
“If we really want to place blame here, I suppose we can blame your GPS for not alerting you of the road closure.” I can hear the hint of a smile in his words.
“I think we should probably blame whoever decided to close the road for repairs.”
“Ah,” I shoot him a questioning look, only to see him beaming as he stares straight ahead. “I was the one who put the proposal in for that particular project,” he clarifies, and I laugh.
“So it is your fault!”
“Guilty.”
A comfortable silence fills the truck around us once more, and I lean my head back, allowing the rocking of the truck to soothe my tired mind and body.
After everything I’ve been through, it doesn’t make sense to feel this safe in this truck with Levi, but I don’t question it and instead, take it one moment at a time.