J

 

I only worked until noon today, deciding to take some time for myself and get a workout in before dinner. Forty-five minutes into my ninety-minute session on the elliptical, my phone rings. I usually let it go to voicemail, but this is the second time Pop has tried to call me in the last twenty minutes. I slow my speed to a walk and answer.

 

“Hello?” I say, out of breath.

 

“J-bird, I need a favor.”

 

“Sure, Pop.” I wipe my head with the towel I have hanging on the bars of the machine and bring the elliptical to a stop.

 

“This piece of shit truck needs a new engine. I can have it delivered, but it could take up to two weeks. If I go pick it up, I can have it in a couple days. The faster I get this done, the better.”

 

“You need me to watch the shop or something?”

 

“No. I need to be here to figure some things out. I need you to go pick this thing up for me.”

 

I love my father, but this is pushing it. He usually sends one of the younger mechanics for jobs like this. Why in the hell can’t one of them do it?

 

“Why can’t Mikey go?”

 

“He has a training course tomorrow, and I can’t afford to send Mark because he’s working on a city truck that has a deadline.”

 

I sigh in frustration, but all that seems to do is piss Pop off.

 

“Listen, J, you are going to pick up this engine for me. I don’t need to explain anything to you. Cole will be at the shop at five thirty tonight so you two can get an early start. Be ready.”

 

Before I have a chance to ask why the hell he is sending Cole with me, he hangs up. Perfect. I don’t even know where we are going. I try and regain my rhythm and momentum on the elliptical, but that isn’t happening. I hop off and head to the locker room.

 

*

 

As I walk into my apartment, I’m more pissed. It’s Friday afternoon. What if I had plans? Then that thought almost makes me laugh. I never have plans unless Jules drags me out. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy being social, but I don’t want to meet a guy at a bar. I learned my lesson with Justin. I thought I won the jackpot with that jackass. Boy, was I wrong. Sure, things started off great. He would take me out, brag about me to anyone who would listen, was proud to be with me. I loved the attention he gave me. Then things changed. He hated taking me anywhere, never took me around his friends. If I begged enough and we went out, we always ended up in a town or two away.

 

It took a long time for me to learn what kind of man he truly was. When I moved in with him, the “honeymoon” period was over and I saw his true colors.

 

I loved him, even with how controlling he was. It was just little things at first. Doll, I love your hair down better. So I’d wear my hair down. Don’t wear that to the gym. I don’t like how the guys look at you. So I wore baggie clothes. The first time I didn’t do what he wanted, he hit me. I could say it was unexpected, but that would be a lie. I saw all the signs. I knew that switch could easily be thrown. I flipped it and took the slap he delivered.

 

I always thought I was a strong woman. No man would smack me around and get away with it, blah, blah, blah. I was ashamed. Ashamed I let it happen, ashamed I wasn’t stronger, ashamed I was dumb enough to think I could change him.

 

About a year into our relationship, I walked into our living room and saw him with a blonde. At that moment, I knew I was in this “relationship”, if you could even call it that, alone. When he demanded I join them, my brain kicked in. I dealt with all the slaps, pushes, bruises, but seeing him getting his dick sucked by someone else finally gave me the guts I needed to get away from this man. I pushed my family and friends away for some cheating, controlling, abusive bastard.

 

After I kicked out Justin, I found out he had been seeing other people throughout our relationship. He was expecting his second child, which surprised the hell out of me…seeing as I didn’t even know about the first one. He left the apartment willingly since I paid all the bills and bought all the food.

 

I felt like such a failure. Everyone else saw what a dick he was, but I didn’t, even though the evidence was right in my face. Jules hated him, making no attempt to hide it. For months, she told me he was up to something. I refused to believe her. Pop hated him with a passion and thought he wasn’t good enough for me. Pop confronted me in the beginning, then said he’d never say another word about it. I could tell how happy he was when I told him I kicked Justin out, though. Even the boys in the shop wanted to kick his ass. They still don’t know the whole story. I always had an excuse for the visible marks. Jules is the only one I told everything to because I knew she’d never tell. I was embarrassed. I was hurt. I fell for the game. In my quest to be loved, I was made a fool of.

 

As I step out of the shower, I hear my cell phone ringing. I pray it’s Pop calling to say he changed his mind and that someone else is going. I take a deep breath. “Hello?”

 

“Hi. It’s Cole. Darren called and told me to pick you up at your house instead of the shop.”

 

“Oh. That’s fine, but why the change?”

 

“He said he doesn’t want your Jeep and my truck cluttering up the lot for a couple days.”

“A couple days?” I yell into the phone. “Where the fuck is this engine?”

 

He pauses. “Atlanta… I thought he told you all this. He said he’d call to let you know what’s going on.”

 

I sit on the corner of my bed and rub my head. “No. He wasn’t exactly clear on the details. I wasn’t really thrilled, which pissed him off. It must have slipped his mind.”

 

“Are you okay with that?”

 

“I’m going to have to be, aren’t I? I should be ready in about an hour. I just got out of the shower, so I still need to get dressed and pack.”

 

“I’ll see you soon.”

 

I toss the phone onto the comforter and shake my head. Days? Are you fucking kidding me? Cole is every fantasy I have ever had all rolled into one package, and now I have to sit in a truck with him for days. Days of being close enough to smell his cologne, which seems to turn me on instantly. This is going to suck.

 

I dress quickly and start throwing things into my bag. As I put the last pair of jeans in, I hear the shop truck pull into the parking lot. I quickly zip up the bag and run through the apartment, making sure I didn’t leave anything plugged in or turned on. I hear a knock as I walk out of the bedroom.

 

Taking a deep breath, I make my way to the door, opening it. “Just give me a minute to finish up,” I say, his cologne smacking me in the vagina. He’s wearing faded jeans, boots, and an old t-shirt stretched tightly over his chest. I try to ignore how good he looks and head for the kitchen to unplug the coffee pot.

 

“Is this all you have?” he asks, picking up my bag.

 

“Yeah. It’s not like I need a ton of clothes. We will be in the truck most of the time.”

 

He chuckles. “I guess I’m just used to traveling with my sister. She can’t go anywhere without at least four bags, shoes, makeup, and whatever the hell else she has to take with her.”

 

I grab my travel coffee mug and walk out the door, waiting for him so I can lock up. “I guess I’m not that kind of girl.”

 

As he walks past me, he says, “No, I guess you aren’t.”

 

This is going to be the longest trip of my life.

 

Cole throws my bag into the back seat of the extended cab Chevy truck that has the Z’s Service logo on the tailgate. When we are finally settled in the front, he tells me his plan before we pull out of the parking lot.

 

“I figure we’ll drive as far as we can tonight, then get a room. If I would have known this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have gotten up at four thirty. Seeing that Darren didn’t give either one of us a heads-up, I don’t think we will make it far before we’re exhausted.”

 

“I don’t know why we couldn’t have left tomorrow morning. But you know Darren Zona. Whatever he wants, he gets.”

 

Pulling out of the parking lot, Cole smiles. “I’m learning that.”

 

I have no idea what to talk to this man about. I have a feeling this trip is going to be awkward. I don’t really know that much about Cole. I know he isn’t married, no kids. I now know he has a sister.

 

Leaning forward, I turn on the radio. I need something to fill the silence. “Do you care what channel?”

 

“No. Put on whatever you want.”

 

Finding a rock station, I kick off my boots and get comfortable. Watching the trees fly by as we hit the highway, my cell goes off with a text.

 

Bitch, where are you?

 

Shit. Jules. I totally forgot to tell her I needed to go out of town. Worrying about being this close to Cole and pissed off at Pop, it totally slipped my mind.

 

On my way out of town. Engine pickup.

 

Where to?

 

Georgia

 

Alone?

 

No. Cole is with me.

 

WHAT? Alone time with the hottie? Nice!

 

Bitch…

 

Do everything I would if I were alone with that nice piece of ass.

 

Stop. Just no.

 

I want the deets when you get back.

 

There will be no deets. NOTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN!

 

“Everything okay over there? Your fingers are flying over that phone.”

 

I look over at him, studying his profile as he drives. How relaxed he looks with one hand on the wheel, the other resting on the armrest between us, his fingers tapping to the beat of the song. When he looks at me, I realize I am staring.

 

“Um… Yeah, things are fine. I forgot to give Jules a heads-up I was leaving.”

 

“You guys are pretty tight, yeah?”

 

I smile, thinking of her crazy ass. “Yeah. Have been since kindergarten. We are so opposite, but I guess it’s true what they say. Opposites attract. I don’t know what I would do without her.”

 

“I know how that is. We don’t go as far back as kindergarten, but Asher and I have been friends since high school. We played football together.”

 

I nod, smirking. “I figured you for a football player.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“Nothing. You just look like the jock type. You have that look about you.”

 

He shakes his head, smiling. “I don’t have a look.”

 

“You do. I bet you’re a gym rat, too. You know, one of those meatheads who only does the free weights, grunting the entire time you lift.”

 

He laughs. “A meathead? What the fuck? Yes, I go to the gym daily, but I am no meathead. I only lift maybe two or three times a week. I do more cardio than anything.”

 

“Really? Huh… I never pictured you as the cardio type. You don’t have a runner’s build. Your body looks more like a meathead’s,” I say, glancing over his body.

 

“So you’ve been checking me out, looking at my build? Interesting…”

 

Shit. I didn’t mean to say that. I look out the window. “No, I wasn’t checking you out. I was just saying.”

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

“Fuck you, Cole.”

 

He bursts out laughing. Shit, why did I even say anything? I turn toward the window more and watch the scenery fly by.