Unsteady (The Torqued Trilogy Book 1) (21 page)

“Okay.” I don’t even know where to get one, so I ask, “Is there like a Target around here?”

“Yeah, I’ll show you after work and then give you a ride back to Tyler’s.” Raven’s voice is hushed and then she stuffs a French fry in her mouth, quickly.

“Sounds good.”

Daniel approaches just as Raven heads back into the office. She doesn’t spend a lot of time in the shop, for obvious reasons.

“Do you eat meat?” Daniel asks, taking an overly large bite of his own burger. Pieces of it fall onto the floor, next to the pile of shop rags he tossed on the ground earlier today. I know one thing, this kid is a slob.

“Yeah, I like meat,” I tell him, wondering where he’s going with this, especially since I’m still gnawing on my own burger. “Why?”

By the look on his face, I’m assuming he’s wanting to know if I will eat his meat. Which is a flat out fucking no.

“Just wondering.” He looks down at the glob of ketchup now on his shirt and then back at me. “Do you like racing?”

“Sure….”

“I race,” he says as if I’m supposed to be impressed.

“Good for you.” Lifting my milkshake to my lips, I take a slow drink as Daniel’s eyes focus on my lips.

Red walks by, his own milkshake in hand. Fuck, look at the way his lips wrap around that straw! Kiss me, damn it!

Ugh, what the hell is wrong with me?

Red tosses a repair order in Daniel’s direction, and it lands on the floor. “There’s a waiter here. Get your ass to work.”

He scratches the side of his sandy blond hair. “But it’s lunch time.”

Red shrugs as he sets his milkshake on his toolbox and glances at me. “I don’t give a fuck.”

Reluctantly, Daniel rolls his eyes and walks away.

Just as I’m finishing my burger and milkshake, Red walks up to me and hands me another repair order. “Can you handle a clutch replacement?”

I nod, tossing my trash in the garbage next to me but I keep my milkshake. Maybe I can tease him a little. Automatically his eyes go to my mouth, and I suck in my last drink of my chocolate shake. “I can handle it.”

Yes, I’m referring to you.

He gives me a once over, an emotion I can’t decipher passing over his face and then he shrugs. “It’s the Toyota outside.”

And then he turns abruptly and walks away, and disappears inside the parts room. A minute later, he returns with a handful of parts.

I can see he has a big job he’s working on, another engine replacement, but I also can’t help myself from watching him work. I’m completely in awe of his abilities.

His focus is on the engine as he practically lifts the entire thing before turning it on the hoist for a better angle, his arms and every muscle in his chest flexing with exertion.

I can’t see his face very well; his head is bent forward, his attention on his hands as they work inside the engine and I’m pretty much staring. Obviously staring.

I move my gaze to across the shop. Daniel’s working under the hood of that car checking the oil by pulling out the dipstick. I smile when I notice what’s really going on.

Rawley—who sneaks around the side of the car—honks its horn and Daniel jumps back, smacking his head on the underside of the hood.

Sliding out of the car, Rawley lets out a burst of laughter that rings through the shop. “I do this at least once a week… and it’s funny every single time.”

With a wrench in his hand, Daniel bolts around the other side of the car to hit Rawley for doing that when he slips on oil Colt sprayed on the floor.

Even I laugh at that one. Serves the kid right.

Red shakes his head, looks over at them and sees the mess on the floor. “Get back to work. We have ten fucking cars waiting on us! This place is a goddamn business and you three need to stop acting like a bunch of fucking dickheads.”

Other than taking a ride in the Plymouth the other day, I’d think this guy has no fun in his life.

“Lighten up!” Rawley yells back at him, making his way to collect a pig mat to clean up the oil. “You used to be fun in here, and now you’re just a fucking dick.”

Red laughs and stands up straight. Dropping the tool in his hand, he shoves him back. “That’s funny. You’re trying to tell me how to behave now, and you can’t even get your shit together long enough to make it here on time in the morning.”

And just like that, they’re in each other’s faces again. I’m beginning to see there’s quite the feud between these two that dates back a ways. Before any swings are taken, Mia must sense it and comes out of the office again.

“Stop it, you two!” She places her hands on their chests, separating them. “Walk away and cool down!”

They do. Rawley walks outside, and Red goes into the parts room leaving me standing there staring at Mia walking toward me.

“I’m surprised they haven’t killed each other yet this week.”

Yeah, me too.

As all this is happening, Colt continues to spray Daniel’s ass with the soap and water mixture we use to find holes in tires until he finally turns around and realizes he’s soaked.

Daniel brushes off his pants. “You fucking asshole, knock it off.”

Colt raises his palms, dropping the water bottle to the floor. “Ain’t nobody doin’ nothin’.”

I’m not sure if I’m crazy, or just looking for some more verbal abuse, but I go into the parts room. Crazy, huh?

“It doesn’t hurt to have a little fun every once in a while,” I say to him, pretending to look for parts I don’t need, and then think maybe that wasn’t the smartest of ideas. I should have stayed out of here. I think back to the ride in the car and the way he kinda sorta smiled at me. That’s my only reasoning for stepping foot in here.

Red looks up, anger flashing in his eyes. Yep. Horrible idea. “And that means?”

“It means relax. Don’t take everything so seriously.” I want to scowl at him, but I don’t because he’s already in a bad mood and I don’t want to be the errands bitch again. I also don’t because he raises his hand to reach for a box on the shelf and his T-shirt rides up. With one glance at his stomach, all thoughts leave my head. I can’t see much, but what I can see is just like I pictured it would be. Tan and hard.

I bet there is more of his body that is tan and hard.

Dammit, Lenny. Grow the fuck up!

What is this man doing to me?

Red turns to face me, his hands raised in the air. “Relax, huh? Well, Lenny, you see I can’t relax. You want to know why? Because less than two months ago my father died leaving me to run his business. A business he busted his ass to build. A business that people rely on day in and day out. On top of that, I have a five-year-old daughter who I am raising alone. Every day I have to leave her in daycare knowing all she wants is to be with me. And it fucking kills me to leave her, but I have to do it.” He raises an eyebrow, and my breathing falters, coming out in a quick breath at his proximity. He’s close enough his eyes shift from mine, to my lips, and then back up again. What I wouldn’t give to grab him by the shirt right now, slam him against the wall and kiss the shit out of him. “Why do I have to do it, Lenny? Well, I have to do it so that you can have a paycheck and so that the people of this town know that even though my dad is gone, his legacy is still alive.” I stare, dumbfounded at him and a little pissed at myself for making the situation worse. But he continues, steps back and reaches for a bottle of brake cleaner on the top shelf. “I’ve got five guys in the shop. One’s an idiot. One can’t drag his ass in here before noon on most days, and one is drunk from the moment he clocks into the moment he leaves. That leaves me with one mechanic who knows what he’s doing and
you
.” Red raises his arms in the air spread out wide. “So you tell me, Lenny. When do I have time to relax?”

I’ll help you relax all right.

“Wait.” I swallow over my nerves. “What do you mean me?”

“Fuck if I know….” And then he walks away leaving me to think about that.

I should have stayed outside.

With a deep sigh, I step out of the parts room and into the shop. The next hour is completely silent in the shop, and you can detect hostility in the air.

At the end of the day, Red’s standing at his toolbox staring at some paperwork. I don’t want to bother him because I can tell he’s had a long week, but I say, “Thanks for giving me a chance.”

He doesn’t look at me. “Yeah… uh, see you Monday.”

Just as I’m heading to Raven’s car, Colt is outside smoking a cigarette and says, “It’s a pretty cool place to work, huh?”

I laugh, walking backwards in the parking lot to look at him. “Entertaining to say the least.”

He snorts, tossing his cigarette on the ground and putting it out with his boot. “Honey, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

I don’t doubt for one second there’s some truth to that.

IT’S BEEN A while since I left Ben and though I haven’t thought about him once, the next morning, I do. Some people are just mean. They don’t have good in them.

Then there are the people who become jaded over time because of the things done to them.

I’ve been over this, but Ben is just mean. There’s no reason for it; he’s just that way. His parents are nice people, and he didn’t suffer through some awful experience that would leave him jaded and angry. But something isn’t right with Ben. There’s a meanness buried deep within him. And though I saw it from the beginning, I didn’t realize how bad it was. I let it go for the sake that I was away from Wes. Why I thought one bad situation was better than the last, I might never know. Sometimes it’s like I’m just living my life through a series of mistakes and hoping not to make the same one twice.

The thing with Ben is he had a way of making you think you meant the world to him, as do all con artists. They’ll toss bullshit at you all day long to get you to believe them.

I need a drink. A really strong drink. And you know, I wouldn’t mind if I passed out with the bottle in hand.

I haven’t let myself take the time to obsess over everything that went down. I know the reason for it is Red. That man has the ability to make me forget anything else exists at any given moment. The problem is he also has the ability to piss me off more than any other person I’ve ever met. Strangely enough, both of these traits only make me want him more.

“Morning,” Tyler says, coming out of his room with no shirt and just a pair of basketball shorts on.

I sit up, placing my pillow over my lap and smile at him. “Morning.”

Moving around the kitchen, he reaches in the cupboard and draws a bag of coffee out to start a pot.

“You ready for the river?”

I yawn. “Yeah, as long as I can have a cup of that first.”

Tyler laughs and digs out two cups. “Sure. I think Raven’s on her way over. I’d go get ready if I were you.”

I hop up and head for the shower. I need to shave my legs and other bits because God knows I haven’t all week and the bathing suit I picked out yesterday is a little revealing.

THERE’S ONE THING I’m aware of when we arrive at the river. This is where the party is at on Saturdays. I drove us considering Tyler and Raven both wanted to ride in my Bronco with the top off. As soon as we’re at the lake, Tyler leaves right away, never lingering by us for very long. I can tell they’re desperately trying to keep whatever this is between them a secret.