Withholding Nothing
Page 3
I stared at her for a moment, my smirk never wavering. “Are you done? I mean I have all day, pretty lady. Keep going if that’s what excites you.”
She scowled. “Whatever. I hit a deer and ran into a ditch. The end.”
“I see. Did you see how big it was?”
“Hell if I know. It was dark,” she muttered.
I took a few steps away from her and re-examined the front of the car once more, stroking the stubble on my chin.
“Well, you’ll need a windshield, hood, a few parts to reconstruct the front, like a grill and headlights. You’re also leaking antifreeze, so you’ll have to get that fixed. I wouldn’t be surprised if you need a new radiator either. This deer did a number on your car,” I said. She looked at the car warily, nibbling on her bottom lip again. Wonder if they’re as soft as they look.
“How far in the hole am I then?” she asked, wringing her hands together.
“It’s still too early to know officially since I haven’t looked under the hood yet, but just by looking at it…probably $2,500 if I don’t find anything else.”
“Fuck!” She pinched the bridge of her nose and blew out a breath. “I’m so fucked.” She stumbled forward slightly, her hand catching against the window.
“Whoa, you all right?” I asked, securing her other arm. She snatched away from me.
“Don’t touch me,” she said, her voice a bit breathless. I held my hands up and stepped back. That was probably well deserved considering I’d been acting like an ass.
“Okay then. I’ll be sure to look away when you’re ready to face-plant into the ground and crack your head open.”
“Stop talking while you’re ahead, asshole,” she snapped. “I’m fine. I just need a minute.”
She put her face in her hands and groaned. I actually felt a little bad for her. I didn’t know her story, but something else other than stress and irritation harbored in her eyes. There was also pain and confusion, and I was sure that had nothing to do with the car. I’d seen the same thing every time I looked at myself in the mirror for the first couple of weeks after Kayla and I broke up. Thank God I finally woke the hell up.
After an awkward pause, I cleared my throat. “So…what would you like me to do about your car?” I asked.
She sighed. “Just fix it. I’ll figure something out,” she muttered. I nodded just as her two friends approached her, putting an arm around her.
“So what’s the damage?” her friend with chestnut hair asked.
“You don’t even want to know,” she answered, rubbing the back of her neck. Her friend looked at me, her eyes scanning me from head to toe before a smirk pulled at her lips.
“You new around here?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Hmm…” She bit her bottom lip for a moment before smiling. “You’re hot for a mechanic.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Um thanks?” I said with a chuckle.
“I’m Alex,” she said and gestured to the blonde. “And she’s Ava. I’m sure you’re pretty well acquainted with Ashton here.” She gave the dark-haired woman a gentle shake.
So the deer killer had a name.
“Ashton…it’s more fitting than deer killer,” I said with a wink. She rolled her eyes again.
“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock,” she replied. I grinned and shook my head. I probably shouldn’t be turned on by riling her up, but she made it entirely too easy. At the rate she was going, she’d make me want to bend her over my workbench and fuck out all that pent up frustration she had inside of her. Wishful thinking.
“Well ladies, while I’d love to stay and chat, I have work to do.” I looked at the scowling beauty in the middle. “Rocky should be in his office now. You can handle the paperwork with him.”
“Whatever,” she mumbled, moving past me to head to the lobby. A low whistle escaped from my lips as I watched her walk away. She spun around on her heels. “And don’t check us out while we’re walking away!”
I placed a hand over my eyes and turned my head from side to side. “Welp, can’t see a thing but darkness!” I exclaimed sarcastically.
“So mature,” she retorted. I removed my hand at the sound of the jingling bell, indicating they’d gone inside. Though the woman was a feisty firecracker, I was curious about her. I definitely wasn’t on the market for a relationship anytime soon, but a little no-strings-attached fling was always welcomed.
No sooner than the thought crossed my mind, my phone rang again. I was sure she’d just keep calling until I answered, but I didn’t know if I could bear to hear her voice again. I hated that I still loved her and missed her despite what she'd done. My heart made it so hard for my mind to move on. Her voice would only remind me that I’d still never be good enough for her unless I forced myself into the mold she’d made for me. The devil was a goddamn liar if she thought a relationship would ever happen between us again.
∞∞∞
“So what’s the verdict on the car, Smith?” Rocky asked as I lounged on the couch in the break room a few hours later. I shrugged and bit into my apple.
“Everything is the same as I’d told her. She’s lucky.”
“So just the things for the front end, a radiator, and coolant reservoir?”
“Yes, sir,” I stated, just as my phone rang again.
“Just answer her, kid. May as well get it over with,” Rocky said with a sympathetic grin before walking out the room. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to brace myself.
“What?” I said upon answering.
“Now I know I didn’t teach you to answer the phone like that,” my mother fussed.
I sat up with a sigh. “Sorry, ma. Thought you were Kayla.”
“Have you talked to her? She’s been calling me almost nonstop since you left! You two need to stop the foolishness and deal with your issues.”
I clenched my jaw. I wished it were as simple as everyone made it out to be. “Just talk to her,” or “try to work things out,” and “well, maybe she’s ready now.”
“It’s not foolishness, Ma. She’s the one who practically kicked me to the curb, remember?”
“Well, now it seems like she’s ready to reconsider—”
“Weren’t you the one trying to warn me about her in the first place? Now you want us back together?”
“I just want my baby boy back home. I’m worried about you, Shea.”
“Ma, I’m fine—”
“You’re sleeping in hotels and I don’t know if you’re eating and—”
“Ma,” I stated firmly. “I’m fine. I promise.”
Her sigh weighed heavy on my heart. I hated disappointing her, but she could never understand how I felt about this situation. Of course she meant well, but I had no intentions of backing down and getting back with Kayla.
“Can you at least think about talking to her?” she finally asked.
“We’ll see,” I answered, biting in my apple. “I have to get back to work. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay, son. Please be safe. I love you, honey bun,” she said. A small smile touched my lips at the sound of my nickname. She’d always called me that as a kid, claiming I was the sweetest thing she’d ever laid eyes on when I was born.
“I love you too, Ma. Talk to you soon,” I said and hung up.
“Hey,” Rocky’s son, Chris, muttered as he walked over to the coffee pot. He was tall and lanky, kind of resembling a praying mantis depending on how he stood. His shaggy brown hair hung over his green eyes and almost covered the top half of his face. You hardly ever saw his eyes unless Rocky forced him to put his hair in a ponytail or behind his ears. His lack of facial hair gave him the looks of a teen boy, which definitely matched his immature behavior 90% of the time.
“Looks like the dead has finally risen,” I teased, taking another bite of the apple. “Work started at nine this morning.”
“Not you too,” he groaned, pressing two fingers against his temple. “Dad’s already chewed me out.�
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“I bet.”
“What’s the deal with that Nissan out there?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Eh, some chick hit a deer and ran into a ditch.”
His eyes lit up at the mention of a woman. “Was it a hot chick?” he asked.
“Was she?” I said with a grin. “Her friends were, too.”
“Sounds like a potential gang bang ready to happen,” he said. I laughed and shook my head.
“I don’t think the blonde one would be down with that. Seems like a goody two-shoes.”
He scoffed and waved a dismissive hand at me. “Blondes like to have fun and my magic stick knows how to bring it out of them,” he said, pelvic thrusting and wiggling his eyebrows.
“Nah, that may be the brunette’s speed. Has a sweet face like Lana Del Rey, but I bet she’d fuck you until your nut sack’s empty,” I joked.
Chris abruptly stopped pelvic thrusting and looked at me. “Wait…”
“Too much for you to handle?” I asked with a smirk.
“You said there were three of them?”
“Yep.”
“One of them was blonde and kind of short?”
“Yep.”
“One that kinda looks like Lana?”
“Yep.”
“Please don’t tell me the other has dark hair,” he groaned.
I shrugged. “Why not? She’s fucking sexy, so what?”
“So what? That blonde I just said I’d bang is my cousin, you sick fuck!”
I snorted. “Hey, I don’t keep up with family trees,” I said and smirked. “Didn’t know you were into incest though.”
“Oh fuck off, Smith. It’s not like you gave me any names.”
“You didn’t ask, genius,” I said, standing to my feet and tossing the rest of the apple in the trash. “Are the girls single?”
“My cousin isn’t. Alex is always single, but she’s the biggest whore around, though she won’t give me the time of day. Ashton, on the other hand, had a nasty breakup a few months ago and went psycho. Whole town was talking about it for weeks. Why are all the psychos so fucking hot?” he asked, shaking his head.
Psycho, huh? I wonder what she could’ve done to earn that moniker. My phone pinged with an email alert, displaying an email notification from the local classified ads site. I opened it and read the ad.
Roommate Wanted
Single female looking for roommate for a 2 bed/1 bath apartment to split bills with.
Can be male or female between the ages of 24-30. NO CREEPERS.
Must be able to show proof of income, have references, and willing to undergo a background check.
No smoking and no pets.
If you’d like pictures of the apartment, just reply to the ad and I can email them to you.
Thanks!
-A
I grinned to myself. The “no creepers” requirement automatically screamed that the poster was a woman. It definitely wouldn’t hurt to have the company of a woman, especially if she was nice to look at. I hit the reply button.
Interested in the room you have for rent. What’s the amount you’re looking to split and can you send pics of the place? New in town and definitely need a place ASAP. Thanks.
-O
Living in a hotel room was growing old and so was eating so much fast food. The sooner I could get a place, the better off I’d be. My savings were dwindling down and a mechanic’s salary was a humble one.
As soon as I pressed send on the email, a call from Kayla came in, her name taunting me on the screen. After looking at it for a few moments, I hit the ignore button and put my phone back in my pocket. I knew I had to deal with her at some point, but today definitely wouldn’t be the day.
Chapter Three
Ashton
“What in the hell did I even see in him?” I mumbled to myself a few days later as I scrolled through Facebook. Since breaking up with Steve a little over three months ago and seeing him again in court, I now saw so many things about him that I’d been stupidly blind to for the four years I’d been with him.
The man was a complete dick.
I went through my feed, coming across multiple posts from him and Cum Dumpster Clarissa. He’d posted a meme of a strutting, happy-looking Leonardo DiCaprio that was captioned, “Your face when you ditch a zero and get with a hero,” tagging Clarissa in the post.
Clarissa had commented, “Aww, babe! It was time for an upgrade anyway. Love you.”
I rolled my eyes, a sense of bitterness trickling into my spirit. You’d think this kind of behavior from them only happened in high school, but apparently they never grew up.
Pictures of the damage I’d done to his car still floated around social media, only this time there were more comments on it than when he first posted it.
“Make that bitch pay!”
“Oh man, she really fucked up your car.”
“Your car is so banged up, it looks like part of it was crushed while trying to be sucked into a vortex.”
“No wonder you left the bitch! She’s psycho!”
The comments went on and on, justifying him cheating on me and calling me names until I came across the few good people who called him out on what he did.
“You deserved it, prick!”
“You’re talking about a girl you were with for four years. She obviously couldn’t have been that bad if you stayed so long. Have some class, man. This shit is foul.”
Steve replied to the comment, “Just because I stayed doesn’t mean I was happy. I made the decision that was right for me and I’m happy with that decision, so fuck off.”
After having enough of his shit storm comment section, I closed my MacBook with a sigh and rested my head on the back of the couch. How in the hell did I get to this point? Almost four months ago, I was happy and preparing a future with a man I loved. I went from riding the love train to derailing and ending up in Heartbreak City and stranded on Dumped Street. Fuck my life with a cactus.
I gathered the mail from the coffee table and shuffled through them.
Electric bill- Past due.
Car insurance - Past due.
Cable company - Final notice.
Credit cards - Notice of charge off.
And after the court visit? Another ten grand I didn’t have. Yeah, I was definitely fucked.
After the revenge stunt I pulled against Steve, almost no one in our small town of Oakley Falls would hire me once they’d heard about it. I probably would’ve been better off just moving away from this place. Luckily for me, sex always sells and getting the job as a phone sex operator was as easy as applying for it. Talking to horny men with all kinds of fetishes and fantasies took some getting used to, but I wouldn't complain. Desperate times called for desperate measures. The phone rang across the room, causing my heart to beat faster in my chest. Well, here goes nothing.
“Thank you for calling Erotic Fantasies. I’m Natasha; whose fantasy will I be fulfilling this evening?” I said upon answering.
“This is uh…Paul. I’m Paul. You sound sexy, Natasha,” a raspy voice responded.
I relaxed a little onto the couch. “You, too, Paul. Your voice is making me so hot right now,” I answered.
“Oh yeah? What are you wearing, Ms. Natasha?”
I glanced down at my t-shirt and skinny jeans. Too bad I didn’t have extra money to really get into character. “I have on a white negligee and a little white garter belt just for you.”
“What kind of panties?”
“Panties are a no-no for me. Fully commando, baby.”
“That’s so fucking sexy. Talk dirty to me.”
“Well, Paul, I’m nice and wet right now…wanting your thick cock to punish me,” I drawled, trying my best to sound interested. I never thought being a phone sex operator would be in my life cards. It wasn’t the first career I thought of when my high school teacher asked me what I wanted to do with my life. I thought I was going to be an interior designer, not helping strangers get their rocks off over t
he phone. I had to resort to something in order to repay Steve; otherwise I would’ve looked at jail time.
“I bet your tight cunt is so warm,” he breathed. I blew a bubble with my gum and tore out a coupon from a sales paper as quietly as I could.
“Oh, it is, and it’s throbbing for you.”
“Mm…I want you to touch yourself.” Yeah…no.
“I’d rather wrap my full, soft lips around your cock. Would you like to put your cock in my pretty little mouth, Paul?” I asked, applying a little chap stick. As if it made a difference. How interesting was my life that this was really the only male interaction I’d had since swearing off dating? I should really get out more.
“I would love that. Would you be my dirty little slut and let me come all over that pretty face of yours?” he asked. I cringed. Hearing strangers talk like this would take some getting used to. I felt a bit disgusted, but this was a phone sex line after all. Sometimes you have to do what you must to pay the bills.
“Of course, baby. I’m just sitting here thinking about how I want your cock buried inside my tight, wet pussy,” I said, trying to get my head back in the game. Paul’s heavy, quick breaths were enough proof of what he was doing. Wanting to hurry up and get this call over with, I decided to take it further.
“Mm…fuck me harder, baby. I’m dripping wet for you.”
“Oh yeah, Natasha. I’m going to come in that tight snatch of yours.”
“Yeah, you do that, baby,” I said idly, glancing at my vibrating cellphone to see a text from Alex. Unlocking the screen, I opened her message.
Alex: Just wanted to check up on you. That mechanic was hot, right??
I rolled my eyes. While he was good looking, his looks definitely didn’t make up for him being a total asshole. Who in the hell went around calling a stranger deer killer anyway? Apparently Mr. High-And-Mighty-Mechanic had never been in a car accident in his life. Douchebag.
Ashton: Sure if you find assholes hot >.<
Alex: I think he was just flirting with you LOL
Ashton: Well that was NOT the way to flirt with me. Besides, not interested in dating anyway.
I tossed my phone aside and stretched back on the couch to finish entertaining Paul. I tuned in just in time to hear him reach his climax, sending a wave of relief over me. “Oh, Paul, that was so amazing. I came so hard,” I purred, examining the chipped polish on my fingernails. He let out a low chuckle.