Chapter 5
Stuffing the crumpled bio paper into my pocket, I grit my teeth, scanning the empty parking lot to weigh my options.
Option 1: go home and face the raving pack of wolves (aka my family)
Option 2: Find Coda and risk a head decapitation
Option 2 seemed like the better option....
Of course option two was the better option the only question was how I would be able to find him.
That little boy scout was out of the question.
My shoulders slump in defeat as I trudge through the parking lot, the heat pounding down on my back.
Walking aimlessly in the direction away from my house, I didn't even fully realize where my feet were taking me until I stubbed my toe on the curb.
"Ow," I hiss, hopping on one foot.
Stopping, I realized that I had an audience.
Facing a dozen car workmen, they all stare at me blankly.
"Hey," I mumble, half waving.
I knew most of them but there were a few faces I didn't recognize.
In big letters, Reed's Car shop is displayed for all the world to see. Somehow, I had walked myself over to my dad's work.
Stepping into the garage, spaces and spaces of slots with cars in them line the area. Men from all ages crowd around a specific car. Some were lying on their back, fixing the bottom of the car while others were perched inside the truck, fixing something inside.
Regardless, the smell of oil and gasoline fills my nostrils and I breathe it in.
I've been smelling this stuff all my life.
Unlike Jeremy and Gwen, my father's been bringing me to work since the moment I took my first step.
"Haz! Long time no see!" Will, my dad's closest friend bellows.
He slicks his hands down the front of his jeans, the grease sliding right off. Sweat drips down his face and his belly sticks out a bit.
"Hey Uncle Will," I say, approaching him.
Grinning, I move in for a hug but Will backs up.
"Whoa there kido, you wouldn't want old man sweat on you," He chuckles.
I pout, placing my hands on my hips. "It's okay, I think I can make an exception for the world's best godfather."
He laughs a deep and rumbling laugh, grabbing me round the back of the neck to capture me in a knuckle sandwich.
"Uncle Will!" I yell, squinting my eyes as my hair turns into a static mess.
He ony laughs.
"William!" A new voice yells across the garage. I see a few people look up from their work, a smirk on their face as they watch us.
"Stop right there," The new voice says, approaching us.
"Oh oh," will chuckles. "Papa bear is here."
I grimace. What was I, two?
"Are you giving my daughter a knuckle sandwich?" my father asks. I can only see the top of his shoes.
I groan. "Yes, he is daddy!"
Uncle Will bellows a Santa clause laugh, the vibrations of his laugh making the marbles in my head bounce.
"Daddy," he mimics me.
I pout, "hey!"
"You don't do a knuckle sandwich on my youngest daughter," I hear my father say.
"-Thank you!" I interrupt him.
"You give her a wet Willie!" my dad finishes.
I blanche.
Not the wet Willie.
I scream, writhing out of uncle Will's arms.
I can hear the laughter of everyone as they half watch us.
Getting out of his grasp, I back away, my hair sticking to my face.
My hair was a static ball of hotness.
"I am nearly eighteen!" I yell, crossing my arms. "Eighteen year olds do not get a pinky stuck in their ear!"
My father and Uncle Will just laugh, fist pumping. They were fifty years old, not seventeen.
Leaning against a car, I watch them giggle like two schoolgirls.
"I come here to see you guys and this is how you treat me," I whine dramatically, slapping a hand over my heart.
Spinning on my heels, I feel myself get yanked into a bear hug.
The familiar scent of peppermint and Downey detergent fill my nose and I hug my dad back, Engulphed in his arms.
Something tugs at my heart and I close my eyes, everything in the back of my mind coming to life.
I bury my face in his chest, breathing in his familiar scent.
My dad pats my head reassuringly and I swear, we have telepathic abilities.
Somehow, my dad always knew when something was wrong.
Tears prickle my eyes and I went from feeling all shiggles (sh*ts and giggles) to feeling like I was doomed.
"What's wrong kiddo," my dad asks quietly, patting my hair.
"Nothing," I sigh.
Yes. Nothing's wrong- just you know, I happened to say that I have a boyfriend to the ENTIRE family.
Maybe I should get onto the Internet and find a boyfriend.
Before i can continue that though, a loud crash rings out through the garage.
Looking over my dad's shoulder, I see a muscular figure off in the distance, leaning over the hood of the car.
Now, for starters, he didn't catch my eye because he was attractive and I was checking his butt out.
Well maybe it was a slight factor...
"Watch where you're going man?" A boy in Levi's a white wife beater snaps at the boy who caught my eye.
Boy-who-caught-my-eye- still has his back to me so I can't confirm my suspicion that he is-
"Go die," he snaps back at the guy.
I stop breathing, my eyes widening bigger that cousin Joe when he walked out naked for our family reunion dinner.
That voice.
Levi and wife beater shirt boy gets up in Coda's face, the tension thickening fast.
"After you, A**hole," levy boy snarls.
I am briefly aware of my dad pushing me to the side, next to Uncle Will.
As he walks forward calmly, I almost want to grab my dad's hand and bring him back. The boys looked serious. Now that I was to the side, I could see Coda's face.
With his eyes the color of burning coal and his jaw clenched, Coda stands up straighter, challenging Levi pants boy.
Lying discarded on the floor, tools litter the floor from where Coda knocked over the box.
"Dad," I hiss lowly, stepping forward.
Uncle Will's hand shoots out to grab me by the elbow as I watch my dad walk towards the impending doom of testosterone.
I can momentarily see Coda's say some words lowly to Levi pants boy.
Whatever Coda said though didn't seem to bode well with jeans and a wife beater dude.
Faster than it takes for me blink, the boy swings a fist at Coda.
Slamming right into Coda's jaw, Coda doesn't even stumble back as he takes the boy's momentum to swiftly grab his arm and twist.
One blink.
Coda has the boy's arm twisted painfully, the boys face slammed right smack dab on the hood of the car.
I can feel everyone's restlessness.
It happened so fast, we couldn't even stop it.
Coda shoves the boys face to rub against the car some more, his face menacing.
When my dad reaches Coda, Coda's gaze flickers to my dad.
"Drop it, son," my dad says lowly to Coda, leveling his gaze.
I was so sure that Coda would just laugh at my dad's face and say something insulting but to my utmost surprise, Coda's shoulders slump in defeat.
With his face still hard, Coda shoves the boy away from him, the sickening sound of flesh and metal meeting my ears as Coda strides away, angrily running a hand through his hair.
Watching my dad help the boy as a small crowd forms, I turn to uncle Will, shell-shocked at what I had seen.
Instead of looking worried or angry though, Uncle Will laughs.
He laughs so much, he begins to cry.
"Are you having a heart attack?" I ask nervously, rolling on the balls of my feet
Uncle Will snorts and half chokes, laying a heavy hand on my shoulder.
"Man, I've been waiting for George's day since day one," he chuckles.
Confused, I stay silent.
"George is that unlucky fella that has his nasty face all up on the hood of someone's poor car," uncle Will adds on a side note, as if he was expecting me to understand it all.
"What are you talking about?" I blurt out. "Should I be worried? I heard that people sprout out weirdness whenever a stroke is coming and right now Uncle Will, you're sprouting out a whole lotta weirdness because I don't-"
"Are you having a stroke?" Uncle Will interrupts me, narrowing his eyes.
I throw my hands in the air. "I was asking if you were having a stroke!"
"Well you were sprouting more nonsense than me!" uncle will protests, defensive.
"Ugh!" I groan. There was no winning with this guy.
"Ugh!" He mimics me. I hear a couple snickers from nosy men watching us and I cross my arms.
"These are weekly occurrences. Nearly ¾ of the men in here have gotten their arses kicked by CW," uncle Will tells me.
My mouth drops. CW? Weekly occurrences?
"This happens weekly?" I whisper meekly.
"Yup," Uncle Will says, wiping his sweaty brow with a towel.
Searching the room for my dad, I feel a bit of panic settle into my bones.
What if my dad said something Coda didn't like? Would Coda hit my dad?
My dad was known for being a blunt hardheaded person.
He was the boss of this company; he had to be in charge and level headed.
"Talk to you later, Uncle Will!" I squeak, shuffling past him to then break into a sprint down the garage.
I fly around the thousands of cars and men milling around, the sound of mechanical drilling and the hum of engines like a familiar lullaby to my ears and I head straight for the office.
Slamming right into the office, my dad isn't where he usually is.
Breathing heavily, I shimmy through the small space in-between his desk and book case where the another door lead to a small "basement" area.
Hearing some crashing, I shimmy the door knob, slamming my weight against it.
There are some things that are so inconceivable for me to think that the moment I happen to get myself into these so-called situations, my mind rolls into wonderland.
Nearly choking on my own saliva, I stand in the doorway, staring at Coda in surprise.
Holding a box in his arms, mid throw, he freezes his eyes burning into mine.
He was alone. We were alone.
Boxes and boxes of discarded rubbish lay on the floor from his little tantrum and my mouth drops.
When nether of us move, Coda seems to snap back into reality first because in the next moment, the box that was in his hands is flying across the room.
Slamming against the room, the box hits the floor, busting open, more unidentifiable objects on the ground.
He breathes heavily, his chest heaving, his muscles flexing as he stares at me unnervingly.
"You're the precious younger daughter of Steve Reed?" Coda snarls in disbelief.
When I don't say anything, Coda's brows furrow as he shoves a hand into his hair, a string of profanities flying out of his mouth.
"Where's my dad? If you hurt him-" I begin, my chest constricting.
"You think I hurt your dad?" Coda yells.
I jump, my fingers tightening on the door behind me.
Motioning to the mess indicating his incurable temper, I raise my eyebrows.
Coda snaps his jaw together, taking a menacing step towards me.
"Don't judge me," he laughs humorlessly.
"Im not-" I begin to protest.
"I have a temper. So what? Just because I get angry at a few pussys who talk smack about me, doesn't mean that I would stoops as low as hurting Steve-" Coda snaps at me.
How well do you know my dad?" I interrupt in surprise.
Coda stops, his eyes falling to the floor.
"He helped me out a lot when I was in....a bad place," Coda says quietly, his eyes meeting mine.
Stepping into the room, I watch him closely.
"So, let me guess? You're parents didn't give you money for a new car and my dad helped you out?' I ask, stating it.
I didn't even know what I was rambling. A very important part of me was telling me to shut up before I dug myself a grave but there some part of me that wanted to egg him on.
I wanted to see him irritated.
Was that a bad thing?
For the benefit of my conscious, I'm going to say no. He jumped my car.
Coda stares heatedly at me, defensive, his stance tense.
"You don't even know-" He begins.
I interrupt. "How would you like to make some more money?"
I was possessed.
Having an out of body experience, I watch as I ramble on, my words slewing into a mush of gibberish that I'm sure I will regret later.
Shut up I scream at myself.
Coda grinds his teeth, looking like it was taking everything in him not to rip me apart.
He exhales slowly, his eyes shutting.
"If you can do me a favor, I will give you-"
Swifter than anything humanly possible, I feel myself hit the wall, a wave of Hazel oak brown and emerald green lighting everything in a haze around me.
With his breath hot on my neck, his lips close to mine, Coda glares coldly down at me, his hands on the wall behind me, caging me in.
Wasn't I just in this situation like a day ago?
His heavy breathing pounds into my head, his body heat making my face flush.
I press myself further against the wall, away from him.
"Give me what? Money?" Coda asks, scarily calm. "Am I a dog to you, miss Hazel Reed?"
He says my name condescendingly, igniting a spark of furry within me.
"Yes," I snap defiantly, raising my chin. "You are a bully. You hurt people, you take advantage of them, and you threaten them- "I begin, worked up
"When have I ever done that to you?" Coda snaps.
"You boss me around like I am an object of your possession!" I yell back.
"Techniquely, you still have to give me back my jacket and because you haven't, I own you," Coda says simply, his dark eyes pinning me in place.
"You said my dad helped you out. You owe him, right?" I breathe, changing the subject.
The edges of his lips frown.
"I do."
"So help me," I say quietly.
Coda's eyes widen slightly, his handsome face distorting into disgust.
"Why, in the name of this awful world, would I help you?" Coda spats.
I glare. "Because you owe my dad. So techniquely, you owe me!"
"Bull shi-" He growls.
"5,000," I exhale. "I will give you 5,000."
He stops, his words dying in his mouth.
Taking his silence to my advantage, I plunge right into my plea case.
"I need a fake boyfriend," I rush out. "Long story short, my older sister is getting married and I told everyone I had a date but i-"
"You don't have one," Coda finishes for me, grimly.
I feel my cheeks heat up.
"No, I don't. Any who, it's a trip to a beautiful coastal city and you're going to get paid so..." I trail off.
Coda doesn't say anything for awhile as he stares at a spot on the wall behind me.
I hold my breath.
Minutes. Hours. Months pass. Or at least that's what it felt like.
Suddenly, Coda's gaze snaps back to mine.
"Just for the summer?" he clarifies.
"just the summer."
Conflicting emotions run through his face and I can see him battling.
5,000 was a lot of money.
Where I was going to get that money....well I guess I was still hazy on that part.
Oh well, what he doesn't know wont kill him.
Blinking, I snap back into reality when I feel him shift closer, his eyes staring mischievously back at me.
"Are you sure about this?" he asks lowly.
My heart starts to panic and I have to remind myself to breathe.
Nodding, I press myself farther into the wall as Coda leans down closer, his lips hovering by my ear. I can smell the musky scent of something spicily sweet on his skin and I stiffen.
"Deal. But, we can't back out of it. You can't back out of it," Coda says, his breath fanning my ear as amusement is laced into his tone.
"No matter what, you're stuck with me, Miss Hazel Reed. Deal?"
~*~
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