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“Hey. Someone's gotta look out for you, might as well be me,” he replied, winking at her.
Huh. She watched him through narrowed eyes. He continued watching her, smiling like he couldn’t be happier with himself. He had a very broad smile, more like a grin, and it made his incredible hazel eyes crinkle at the corners – his smile was so amazing, it almost made her want to smile back.Almost. She sat up straighter, still watching him.
“Look. I’m sure you’re a lovely guy. A really stand up dude. But I'm not interested in anything except getting out of here as quickly as possible, and I don’t really feel like making friends along the way, okay? So please, leave me alone,” she urged, letting out an aggravated sigh at the end. He shook his head.
“No can do. Sorry. What else are we gonna do while waiting in a police station, besides make friends? I mean, our options are limited. C’mon. I’m sorry I misjudged you, clearly you’re not fresh meat here,” he said.
“Look,fresh meat, I’ve got nothing against you or anything, I just don’t wanna be here. I don’t like being cooped up,” she explained.
“Why are you here?”
“Why areyouhere?”
He shook his head again. “Unpaid parking tickets. Totally uncool. I almost said knife fight, but you now strike me as the kind of chick who's been in a knife fight and would call bullshit.”
“You’re right,” she laughed, “I would have definitely called bullshit.” He leaned over his arm rest again.
“I shared, so what horrible thing did you do to end up here on a Sunday morning? Gang violence? Hate crimes?” he asked. She shrugged, looking forward. The hooker was now standing up, collecting some paperwork.
“Hitchhiking.”
He raised his eyebrows, slowly nodding.
“See, wouldn’t have pegged you for the type. You’re not from around here, are you?” he guessed. She laughed, reaching down under her seat to grab her backpack. The hooker walked out of the police station.
“You can tell? I'd only been on the road about forty minutes before I was pinched. They’re not as strict in South Carolina.”
“South Carolina - is that where you’re from? That’s a long ways away,” he said. She glanced back at him before standing up.
“Nice chatting with you, Fresh Meat. Have fun with your parking tickets,” she said, hoisting on her backpack. The guy was about to say something when the police woman stood up.
“Paige Davis? I’m ready for you now.”
*
PAIGE HIKED HER BACKPACKup as she walked away from the police station. She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. Holy hell, Alabama was hot. When she'd set off in the morning, it had been nine o’clock and the sun had just been getting high. The air had been pleasant. Now it was burning hot and all she could think about was getting something to drink.
The whole ordeal had taken way too long. After the state trooper had picked her up, she'd been driven for over an hour to an office. But they weren’t “equipped to deal with prisoners”, so a police car had been called for, which took forever, and then she'd been transplanted to the police station she was standing in front of, another drive that took over an hour.
It was now almost three. Her stomach growled. She had hoped to be almost out of the state by now - instead she would have to stop for lunch, and the way the heat felt right now, she doubted whether getting back on the road immediately was such a good idea. That meant waiting till later. Paige tried not to hitchhike after dark.
“Ooohhh, it feels good to be alive!” called a voice from behind her. She glanced towards it and saw the guy from the police station was skipping down the steps, pulling on a jacket. She wondered how he could stand to wear it. She turned her head back around and chewed on her lip, trying to decide what to do.
“Hey. Thinking of trying to hitch right out in front of the station? That would be pretty cool to watch,” he said, coming to a stop next to her. She shook her head.
“No.”
She started moving down the sidewalk, not sure what her plan was beyond getting lunch. She wasn’t too surprised to hear footsteps fall into step beside hers.
“So what are you doing now? Wanna have lunch together?” he asked. She immediately came to a stop and faced him.
“What do you want? Just because I hitchhike doesn’t mean I blow guys for quarters or something, so drop the cute act,” she snapped.
“Wow, have you got a mouth on you. First of all, you should charge way more than a quarter. Second of all, that’s not what I was asking. I’m sorry, I thought you spoke English. I was suggesting lunch.LU-UNCH. That thing people do in the middle of the day where they eat? We were in there forever and I can literally hear your stomach growling, right now.So. I am going to go into that diner at the end of the street. If you feel like bullshitting away the next hour and having a burger, feel free to join me, or anyone else in there. If not, good luck with your cheap roadhead and take care.”
With that and another broad smile, he walked off down the street, his hands in his front pockets. She frowned, staring after him. He wasn’t entirely normal, but she had also been incredibly rude. And she was hungry ...
The diner smelled like greasy heaven. Paige stood in the doorway, looking around. She could take a seat at the bar, but her eyes kept searching the space. She spotted him sitting in a booth a few seats down, against the windows. He was bent over, reaching for something under the table. She walked over and slid into the seat opposite him and he sat up abruptly, holding a fork in his hand.
