Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 117443 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117443 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
“You’re not doing right by her,” Easy announced, tossing the keys on the nearest workbench.
Chris frowned. “How’s that?”
“She’s a menace behind the wheel!” Easy snapped, gesturing back to the truck. “She can’t even get it out of the driveway!”
“You let her drive?” Chris asked, glancing at Hayley.
“Hell no! Listen to me, she can not drive. She popped the clutch; she nearly took out your damn mailbox! She left the parking brake on for fuck’s sake!”
The left corner of Chris’s mouth twitched. “By any chance was the mailman around?”
Easy stopped, bewildered for a second, but then got back on track. “No. Thank God she didn’t kill anyone!”
“Damn,” Chris muttered to himself.
“Why the hell haven’t you taught her to drive? She’s a non-functional female, Shooter!”
“Well, for one thing, she doesn’t have a license,” he told Easy.
Easy flinched, then regained himself. “Well, of course she doesn’t! No one in their right mind would let her behind the wheel!”
“Maybe she just can’t drive a stick,” Hawk pointed out.
“Well, you have a stick!” Easy argued to Chris. “So teach her that shit! Damn woman, walking around, not knowing how to drive her boyfriend’s truck. If you run over your foot with your lawn mower, you’re just gonna bleed out at the end of your driveway because she won’t be able to get you to the hospital!”
“Hey!” said Slick, brightly, entering the garage with Tex in tow, arms laden with lunch. “I made pulled pork sandwiches! I’ll put them in the break room. I made enough for everyone. You too, Emilio,” she called out. “Eat some, okay?”
Emilio grinned and nodded.
When Tex and Hayley returned she stopped next to the workbench and eyed Easy working on the carburetor of a 1972 Stingray. “Well, I have to get back,” she announced. Easy stood up. “No, you should just stay,” she added quickly. “I mean you’re already here and you’re-” she gestured to the engine. “You stay. I can come get you later. Or you can get a ride back with someone. Whatever.” She picked up the keys off the workbench.
Easy snorted. “You won’t even make it to the street.”
Hayley ignored him. “Good luck with your….whatever,” she said gesturing again to the Chevy. She headed to the truck and everyone watched as she pulled open the driver’s side door and climbed up into the cab. She took a minute to adjust the seat.
“If she hits your bike,” Easy said to Chris, “I will die a happy man.”
Hayley cranked the engine, put the truck in gear and rolled through the parking area. She paused at the entrance to the street to check for traffic. Caleb cruised by on his bike, turning into Burnout. Hayley gave him a honk and wave before pulling out smoothly and turning toward home.
“Son of a bitch!” Easy shouted.
Tex laughed. “I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘Hornswaggled’.”
“Did you know she could drive?” Easy demanded of Chris.
Chris laughed and shook his head. “No, but there’s a reason I call her ‘Slick.’ At first I thought she was a con artist. Then I thought I’d misjudged her and I felt bad about it. But pretty soon I realized I wasn’t that far from the mark the first time. Though, she appears to only use her powers for good, so I usually let it go.”
Caleb put the kickstand down on his Harley and swung his leg over onto the gravel. “That Slick?” he asked, walking into the garage to get his hands dirty on a Saturday afternoon.
“Yep,” Chris confirmed.
“She got a license?” Caleb asked.
“Nope.”
“What smells so good?” Rapid City’s finest asked the group.
“Pulled pork sandwiches,” Emilio called out.
“Awesome,” Caleb declared, and shuffled off to the break room.
Emilio followed him. “So you gonna let her drive? With no license? How come you don’t let me drive?”
“Because you are a dumbass,” Caleb declared, biting into a sandwich. “And you don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”
*************************
That night Chris picked up Hayley from Maria’s and drove them home. Hayley was exhausted, unfortunately, so fooling around was out. She hopped in the tub and then slid into bed with her hair still damp.
“I didn’t think about stranding Easy at work,” he told her.
She smiled and settled into the pillow. “Sometimes you have to play a little dirty.”
“He stayed all day.”
“That’s good,” she murmured.
All in all the day would have been better if it had ended on a nookie note, Chris though, but he had to admit lunch had been awesome, his whole team had been together, and he had the prettiest girl in Rapid City in his bed, so it could have been far worse. He smiled to himself, gave the kitten, who had now taken to sleeping on his pillow, a scratch and slept with ease. At least for a few hours.
Chris came to waking slowly as comfortable weight slid over him. It took him a moment to realize that it was Hayley moving to cover him. Her right knee came down to the side of his hip as she straddled him. Her upper torso, covered by her shirt, pressed against him as she leaned down over him. Her lips touched his in a feather light, unsure kiss. Her breath was ragged and he could tell she was nervous. He slowly brought his hands up from his sides and she hesitated, pulling away just a few inches and looking down at him. Instead of touching her, he brought his hands all the way up and slid them both underneath his pillow, cradling his own head.