My Hired Boyfriend (Completed)

18. Buckle Me In

            We spent the time walking there arguing about random things like we always did but he never dropped me.

            The moment the gasoline and smell of sweat meets my nose, I am instantly hit with nostalgia and home.

            Lowering me, Coda goes off to talk to the man.

            “Thanks again for doing this,” Coda tells the repairman.

            My gaze flickers to his nametag reading Jimmy before watching him rub off all the grime and grease off his fingers to shake Coda’s hand.

            “No problem. Maureen and John are good friends of mine,” Jimmy tells Coda, his voice gruff and scratched.

            As Coda and Jimmy talk about automobile stuff that I didn’t understand, I look around the small repair shop.

            We were the only ones here except for the red Volkswagen near the side entrance.

            Not even realizing that I was staring, I meet the gaze of a man crouched by his red car-checking his tires. He narrows his eyes, the little smirk on his face sending a shiver through my spine for some reason. He look like he was in his mid twenties, his hair shaved and tattoos lining the side of his face to trail down his body. He was burly and buff-not in the subtle Coda kind of way but the I’m-going-to-kill-you kind of way. He looked like he was watching us.

            “Hey,” Coda says, bringing me out of my thoughts and causing me to look away from the strange man. “What’s wrong?”

            When I look back, the man’s back is to us, already getting back into his car.

            I frown, unable to shake the uncomfortable feeling settling in my stomach. “Nothing.”

            Coda watches me for a moment before turning to look at where I’m looking but by then, the car is pulling away with a loud screech and a show of flying dust.

            ~*~

            “Alright, pit stop for the small bladder princess,” Coda jokes, sliding out of the drivers seat.

            He shuts the door just as I start to protest.

            Good grief, he was never going to let me live it down.

            Coda is laughing as he opens my door for me and I refrain from stomping on his foot.

            Throwing him a peeved glare, I brush past him into the shop called Gas Pro.

            I spend ten minutes going to the restroom and exploring the store for goodies to take on the road trip.

            It was almost hard to believe that after nearly two weeks of on and traveling, we were finally going to get to Fortuna isle.

            There really was no going back. the only direction to go was forward-right into the abyss.

            Maybe Coda will be the one to run away and back out of the deal after he meets my family, I muse, plopping some candy bars and a Pepsi for Coda onto the counter.

            After paying, I exit the shop.

            Just as I round the corner, the faint glare of red from the corner of my eye makes me freeze.