The Rules of Dating My Best Friend's Sister(27)

“Could be a clogged fuel filter. Have you gotten gas anywhere you didn’t know lately?”

I cringed. “I actually got gas at some really sketchy place yesterday. I think it was called Joey D’s or something like that. The sign on the road was a piece of plywood with the name painted crooked. But I was running on fumes, and it was the only place around.”

“Welp, it might very well be a clogged fuel filter from bad gas then. Send me your location, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“I can’t ask you to do that. I’ll just call a tow truck. I guess I hoped maybe you would know a trick for getting it to run right again.”

“First of all, you didn’t ask. I offered. And second of all, you shouldn’t waste money on a tow truck that’s going to take you to some mechanic we don’t know, at least not without me taking a look and seeing if I can get it fixed. A fuel filter is usually only about twenty bucks. A tow alone will be a hundred-and-fifty bucks or more.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind? I’m probably over an hour away still.”

“Not at all, sweetheart. That’s what I’m here for. That’s what me and all the guys are here for when it comes to you.”

For such a wise-ass jokester, Holden really could make my insides turn to mush.

“Thanks, Holden.”

“Send me your location. And if you’re waiting in the car, keep your doors locked. Roadside gas stations aren’t the safest places.”

After I hung up, I shot a pin of my location to Holden’s cell and decided to go back into the mini mart to treat myself to some junk food. I liked to have something sweet at the end of a stressful day, and this weekend had been full of those. But my fiancé was an ultra-healthy eater, so I always felt bad eating the stuff I liked in front of him.

It was going to take Holden a while to arrive, so I went on a little shopping spree, perusing the aisles and grabbing things with lots of gluten, extra nuts, extra dairy, and loaded with sugar. When I went up to the counter, the cashier wrinkled her nose. “You want all this?”

I narrowed my eyes. “I have six children.”

She looked like she didn’t believe me, but she rang me up without any other comments, at least. “That’ll be twenty-two forty-nine.”

I glanced down at the pile of candy. Maybe I had gone a little overboard. But what the hell? I swiped my credit card and rushed to the car to feast on my goodies.

Holden pulled up exactly one hour later. He parked next to me in the band’s van and, once I unlocked it, opened my passenger door. Unfortunately, I hadn’t cleaned up my sugar party, and his eyes snagged on the four—yes, four…don’t be so judgy—wrappers.

He picked up the Reese’s package. “Are these all from today?”

I grabbed the empty KitKat, SweeTARTS, and Utz Cheese Balls packaging. “I’ve been dying for some candy, but Warren is gluten free, nut free, dairy free, and sugar free, so I didn’t have much of anything this weekend because he was around.”

Holden’s brows rose. “Gluten, nut, dairy, and sugar free? Sounds like he’s fun free too. What the hell does the guy eat? Water?”

“Pretty much…”

He lifted his chin with a chuckle. “Pop the hood. I’ll tell you when to start it.”

“Okay.”

A few minutes later, he poked his head around the raised hood. “Okay, start it now.”

I turned the key, but nothing happened. The engine didn’t even attempt to turn over.

Holden made a key-turning motion with his hand. “Turn the key!”

I opened the door. “I am! It’s not starting!”

“Shit.”

He shut the hood and smacked dirt from his hands. “I still think it’s the fuel filter.” He pulled out his phone and looked at the time. “Auto parts stores close by five on a Sunday, so we only have about twenty-five minutes. I think we should go grab a filter before it’s too late. We can always return it if it turns out to be something else.”

“Do you know how to change it if we’re able to get one?”

Holden nodded. “I gotta get under the car to reach the fuel line, but I’ve done it before.”

“Okay, let’s do it.”

After I locked up my car and got into the van, I Googled the closest parts store. “There are two,” I said. “One is north of here about ten minutes and one is south about the same distance.”

“Pick one and read me the directions.”

Unfortunately, the one I picked didn’t have the part in stock. So we rushed back to try to get to the other store before it closed, but when we pulled up, the parking lot was empty and all the lights were already off.

“Shoot. What do we do now?”

Holden shook his head. “It’s a Sunday, so we’re probably not going to find anywhere open now. I guess we can call a tow truck, go home, and come back tomorrow after the shop has it fixed. But if we’re going to make the trip back anyway, why not just stop on our way and grab a fuel filter so I can fix it and not waste the money on a tow and a mechanic?”

“I definitely have to be at work tomorrow afternoon. I have an appointment to meet the manager of one of the senior-care facilities where people who are part of my study live. But I can come early tomorrow. Do you have anything in the morning?”