#Rev (GearShark #2)(36)

“Your favorite is the Camaro, though, huh?” I swung around to look at him.

He nodded. “It’s tough.”

I don’t know why, but to me, that seemed like an odd response. Did he need a tough car because he didn’t feel so tough himself?

God. I was turning into Oprah.

I needed some fries. A beer. And my person.

Not necessarily in that order.

I pulled my hands out of the pockets of my leather jacket and pivoted toward the entrance. My eyes caught a display nearby, and they about fell out of my head.

“Is that a vintage Benford sparkplug?”

“Yep.”

That sparkplug had its own gravitational pull. I couldn’t resist going over and letting my hands hover over the space above it. “I’ve never seen one of these in person,” I said, awed.

Serious car junkies sometimes collected rare or vintage car parts. Sparkplugs could be very sought after, including this one. It was plated with twenty-four-carat gold.

“You can touch it,” Arrow said from close by.

I hadn’t even noticed him approach. I was too blinded by the vintage beauty.

“Where the hell did you find this?” I asked, picking it up and cradling it gently. I smoothed my thumb over the sides.

“Not sure. It’s my brother’s.”

I grimaced. I’d forgotten about Lorhaven.

Reluctantly, I put it down and resisted the urge to pull out my phone and take a selfie with it.

Please. It would be better than those horrid bathroom selfies people post all over social media. Like, dude, no one wants to see your toilet.

“I’m sure your brother would blow a gasket if he knew you brought me here.”

“He’s not that bad.”

I leveled my eyes on his. “I still have the dents in my fender from when he tried to run me off the road.”

Arrow grinned.

“Anyway…” I began and stepped back from the sparkplug. “You’re doing better with the driving. Just remember what I said.”

“You’re leaving?” he asked.

“I got places to be.” T’s classes were letting out soon.

“I can help you with those dents if you want.” He offered.

I glanced up, and he looked away shyly. Poor kid probably didn’t have any friends. His brother likely scared them all away.

“Maybe another time,” I said.

I was almost to the door when he spoke again. “So what’s up with you and your manager?”

I stopped and turned. “What do you mean?”

“Haven’t seen him around much lately.”

“He’s been busy.”

“So he’s still around?”

I hesitated. “Yeah…”

“What about that pro driver? The girl?”

“Joey went back home.”

He was full of questions suddenly.

“Cool.” He shifted. Awkwardness was like his new best friend.

“I’ll catch you later,” I said, lifting a hand and waving.

“See ya,” Arrow called back.

That was weird, right?

In the car, the first thing I did was check my cell. There was text from T.

Class over. Stopping by the frat b4 I find you.

Want me to meet you there? I texted back.

No. I’ll come to you.

I knew he’d say that. Everything okay?

No.

My fingers spasmed around the black case on my phone. What the hell does that mean?

I turned the key and fired up the engine while I waited, impatient for a reply.

I miss you.

It was a good thing I was alone, because the goofy grin on my face when I read that would have been embarrassing.

Me, too.

I’ll hurry.

I dropped the phone in my lap and sped home. I even ran a couple lights just for fun.

Just as I turned onto my street, the sky opened up and rain literally dumped from the clouds. “Seriously?” I yelled upward.

A crack of lightning and the rumble of thunder replied.

“Assholes,” I muttered.

No one was home when I pulled in the driveway. Romeo and B left to do some NFL stuff this morning and wouldn’t be back until the day after tomorrow. Rim was probably at the shelter, and Ivy could’ve been anywhere. Probably at the boutique or shopping for her fashion channel.

Since Romeo wasn’t home, I took advantage and opened up the garage and drove in. He always parked here, but since him and his Hellcat would be gone tonight, I could do the work on my car inside, rain be damned.

The sound of the heavy drops splattering against the driveway (the door was still open) was kind of nice. After shedding my jacket, I got to work unloading the car parts and pulling out tools.

As I worked, my mind drifted to the place it always seemed to go lately.

Trent.





Trent

The sky seemed to open up out of nowhere. One second, everything was calm (but gray), and the next, heavy sheets of rain pounded my windshield.

I didn’t mind the rain so much, though. It had a sort of cleansing effect on things. Washing away the worst to give way to a clean slate.

Today had been long. People stared, people asked me about my bruises, and rumors flew. I didn’t do anything to dissuade any of the talk. Why should I?