AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I refuse to be your summer story you tell your big city friends about.” Short, sweet, and to the point.
“Is that what you think?” Victor watches my reaction closer. His focus is solely on me.
“You ditched those girls. Twice! Tell me, did you sleep with either of them? Or both of them?” I ask, watching his eyes that give away the answer before he can say anything else.
“It was my first weekend here. Jetlag and exhaustion don’t match well with alcohol. I was drunk, and she was there,” he defends himself.
I roll my eyes and look toward the ocean. Pride has a nasty way of getting between reality and fantasy.
“It’s not like that with you.” Victor continues to defend himself.
“Damn right it’s not. I’m not a ‘get in my pants’ type of girl, plus, why does what I think matter to you?” I counter him.
“Did you not hear me? I said that I like you!” He reiterates his previous statement.
“And no matter how much I like you, you aren’t staying!”
“Woah, calm down, Collins,” Massey interjects, pulling her from the conversation with Lawson. Her eyebrows tip down in apprehension. She can see that I am trying to keep this all together. I don’t enjoy feeling pressured or called out like this. Maybe if we were in a more private place, but not in the middle of a restaurant.
“No!” This is going bad. “He isn’t staying. F.Y.I. Before you can even entertain the thought.” Victor shifts in my peripheral, catching my eye. I stare at him and attempt to force myself from falling under the spell of his hazel eyes here. Damn him. I want to eat those luscious lips. His fists constrict, causing the veins of his forearm to surface. My eyes travel up to the rest of his body and I look over his pressed, un-holy t-shirt and jeans. His jeans look like they’re right off the rack. I look him over and there isn’t a single wrinkle in his new outfit. And the notion overwhelms me. I can’t bring myself to cross a line with the man from the mainland—from the big city of New York.
“I’ll never leave my brothers or the shop. City life isn’t for me and I won’t do what society expects of me. I won’t fall for someone who can’t understand any of this! Fuck free beer, this isn’t worth it.” I slam my chair back and storm out of the restaurant.
My truck comes into view as I rush, still full of fire. Mumbling my displeasure for this evening. Duped by my brother and best friend. I stop at the door and take a deep breath.
A large hand grasps my wrist and spins me into a muscular chest. My breath catches and the fury in his hazel eyes doesn’t help the matter. He’s gorgeous. Victor takes a step forward, pushing me against my truck. His body pressed against mine and he leans his handsome, chiseled, tan but slightly sunburned face into mine.
“Listen closely. I have never told someone I like them. Never asked for someone to set up a double date or blind date just to get a woman to sit with me because I knew you’d say no if I asked you out.” His hot breath teases my skin. “I like you, Collins. And it scares the ever-living crap out of me. I don’t know how to handle these feelings. I was brought out here to work and after I’m supposed to leave, but you keep pulling me back. You make it almost impossible to consider leaving. I don’t understand life at this moment, but damn it, you’re like a drug. I can’t get enough of it.” His shoulders relax and his grip on my wrist lightens up. My eyes never leaving his when I feel his hands grip my hips. I gulp hard with words failing me. “I can’t tell what you are thinking, and it’s driving me nuts. The only time I’ve seen you get excited about anything was looking at that metal beast that holds your heart. And I want to know what it feels like when you look at me like that… like this. God, I want it. I want you so bad. The way you see people and see life. I want to be a part of that too.”
That speech. Him leaning closer, his lips to brush against mine, ever so slightly touching. My hands cover his jaw and I rise on my toes, pressing my lips firmly against his. I won’t fight against everything that is telling me to stop. This is a bad idea. Instead, I open my arms up to embrace this moment in life. And for once, I won’t stop it.
Chapter 10
Collins
Asimple peck of the lips sends a jolt throughout my body. Victor presses me against my truck as his handsome hazel eyes survey mine. This isn’t just a look of desire; this is a look of resolution, diminishing away any insecurities of the world. His eyes follow his fingers as they press against my lips. He opens and then closes his mouth, unable to talk.
Victor is a confident man, seeing him fumble and become speechless throws me off. At this moment, he is timid. Is this because of me?
I’ve seen him be able to say whatever he feels with the most self-assurance. Lately, things have changed. He’s been watching what he says and how he speaks to us. Thankfully, he hasn’t mentioned buying out the garage. I’ve also noticed the looks he gives me went from annoyance and confusion to appreciation. All are comical in scale like he’s trying hard to understand our way of life.
At this moment, all I see is the longing look. His eyes sparkle in the outdoor light flickering from the restaurant. I can only imagine that mine holds the same for him. A craving for more than just a look.
With a sudden confidence that I’ve never harnessed before, I decide to throw caution to the wind. Be free from my own restraints of feeling inferior.
“Follow me.” I shove him away from me. I hold a giggle as he stumbles backward on the gravel. Quickly turning away to climb into my truck, I glance out my door to see Victor’s bewildered face. It’s a little comical. “Seriously, follow me,” I say as I slam the door closed.
He nods and rushes to his rental car. A smirk plays on my lips. An Audi A-5 2.0T coupe stands out among the medley of Hondas and Fords. The parking lot is full of mostly rusted pickup trucks with missing parts. All of this sits on either side of his pristine car. I force myself to gulp back my hesitance at the contradictory aesthetic.
Victor shoots me a look over his shoulder, and any reservation that creeps up vanishes. I want this - I want him. My body moves on autopilot, putting the truck in gear and taking off toward my home.
Front porch lights from random homes pass and the hum of a ukulele on the radio keeps me from pulling this truck over and telling Victor to go home.
I’m lost in thought of where my life has come to. I don’t know what it is about Victor that has brought out this side of me. That’s a lie. I know what it is. It’s the way he looks at me, dumbstruck. It intrigues me how out of touch he is with my reality.
Or maybe it’s the way he talks to me. Struggling to understand the general concept of I’m okay with how things are in my life. Refusing to fall into some sort of rat race in the world. I’m happy with the bare minimum of this life.
Maybe it’s the unconditional love of a family and friends that became family. The bond the three of us share is indescribable. No words were ever needed as we navigated through hard times. Blips of wonderful memories come around once in a while when we are working in the garage. We gained a loyal following of locals that have been with us since I was a child. We live for each other because we had nothing else.
