Page 6 of Throttle Therapy

“Also, so you know, she had some car trouble.I gave her a card to the shop and told her to tell them I sent her.I’ll go talk to Papa Smurf, but I told her we could work out a payment plan for whatever work needs to be done to get her old beater running smooth and reliable again.”

“You want him to do the work and wait for payment?”Hex didn’t sound happy.

“No.I want him to tell her that’s what we’re going to do.I’ll cover the repairs.”

Hex scowled.Elizabeth watched him with renewed interest.Roadkill ignored both.He turned and scanned the room, making sure nothing needed his attention, then looked back to the club president and his old lady.

Hex blinked, then nodded.“All right.I’ll find something to keep Phantom busy.You’ve got a week.I’m not going to play this game forever, but I see your point.Phantom takes getting used to.”

“What Phantom needs,” Elizabeth spoke up, “is to find a woman who won’t give him the time of day.He needs to find someone he can’t stop thinking about, that he can’t talk into whatever he has in mind.A woman who won’t give him the time of day.”

“Damn, Elle, you’re mean.”

“Nah.I think if he finds the right one, the one who will make him work to be who he could be, then he’ll mellow some.”

“Like you mellowed me, sugar?”

“I’m not sure mellowed is the right word for what I do to you.”

The smile she gave him suggested, at least to Roadkill, that they might not be in the clubhouse all that much longer.Hex trusted the Warriors, Roadkill knew, but that didn’t mean he wanted them all knowing what he was doing with the woman who carried his kid.That she also happened to be the woman he loved, that only made him more protective of her, not less.

“Give me a minute here, sugar, then we’ll go.”

“Take your time.I have all night.”The smile Elizabeth shot Hex was so full of mischief that Roadkill knew he needed to keep this short or his president’s temper would get short as the little woman in his arms teased and tormented him until she got what she was after.

“I’m good.You two can do your thing.I’m going to go talk to Papa Smurf, then see if Cyclone has anything for me.Thanks for your time.And thank you, Elizabeth for putting up with me interrupting your dinner.”

“You didn’t interrupt anything,” she said with a smile.“If anything, you made it more interesting.”

“Have a good night, both of you.”Roadkill didn’t’ wait for a response but headed out to the shop where Papa Smurf could usually be found tinkering with one engine or another.

Chapter Four

“Howwasyourday?”Jenna asked as Lacey slid into the passenger’s seat, dropping her backpack on the floorboard and slamming the door.

Lacey shot a look at Jenna that asked without words how stupid she was.Jenna pulled out of the pick up line, and joined the group headed for the street.

“Do I need to remind you it’s 8thgrade?It sucked.Everyday sucks.”Lacey folded her arms across her chest.“I don’t see why I can’t stay home and do schoolwork online.It would make things a lot easier for you.You wouldn’t have to worry about getting here on time or getting up so early.”

Jenna took a deep breath and let it out slowly, counting as she did.She was tired of having this argument every day, or nearly.Jenna knew how miserable middle school could be, especially if you weren’t in one of the ‘in’ crowds, and neither she nor Lacey was.They had too much going on in their lives to fit the perfect perception that went with being popular.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to save her sister from the trauma that came with middle school for most kids, but if she let Lacey stay home, then when would Jenna work?And who would keep an eye on Lacey while she did?

Granted her sister was fourteen and no longer needed eyes on at all times, but Jenna remembered what she’d done at the same age, any time Mama was busy, and Jenna thought she could get away with it.And she did most of the time.Mama only caught her sneaking out a couple of times, and she’d gone out nearly every weekend for all of seventh and eighth grades.

But Mama had been distracted with taking care of Lacey, and Jenna had taken advantage of that.Looking back at the stupid shit she’d done, Jenna was determined to keep her sister from the worst of it.

She also knew she couldn’t be too strict, or it would only push the teenager to act out and hide what she was up to from Jenna.She wanted to be the one her sister came to when she was in trouble, not the one she hid it from.It was a delicate balancing act, and Jenna struggled more often than not.

Still, she was determined to give her sister the best start in life she could and letting her take the easy route wasn’t the way to do that.

“What exactly made it suck?”Jenna asked, ignoring the plea to switch to home based learning as she pulled on the street and turned toward the single wide manufactured home they shared.

“Autumn was bitchy and taking it out on me.”

Jenna fought the urge to call her sister on her language.It was a small thing that didn’t matter, especially when it was just the two of them, and Lacey was old enough, and smart enough to know when it was acceptable and when it wasn’t.Here and now, Jenna could let it go.

“If she’s bullying you, I can go to the principal and lodge a complaint.For a school that claims zero tolerance for that kind of thing, it sure happens a lot.”