Page 30 of A Real Goode Time
“That wasinsane. It was like driving a bolt of lightning.”
I laughed. “Ohh man, you oughta feel what it’s like driving something tuned to get five hundred horses. I drove this guy’s Road Runner once, and he had a monster of an engine in there. It got like five or five-fifty, and over six hundred pound-feet of torque. Fuckin’ scary, man. You don’tdrivea car like that so much as try to just keep it straight and hope you don’t crash it.”
“No thanks. That was wild enough for me.” She took us around the corner, still laughing. “Thank you, Rhys. That was the most fun I’ve had in a car in my life.”
“I can think of some other fun things we could do,” I mumbled under my breath.
She eyed me. “Rhys…I…”
I sighed. “Yeah, I know. You can’t. A guy can fantasize, though.”
“Is that a fantasy for you? In a car?”
I laughed. “Nah. Just before she left town, my sister gave me some advice. She told me to remember three important things: one, just because she’s not saying no doesn’t mean it’s yes; two, never make important decisions drunk, and three, sex in a car is never as hot as it seems like it should be.”
“Wise advice, huh?” Torie laughed.
“Coming from an eighteen-year-old, yeah.” I rolled a shoulder. “So, perhaps surprisingly, no, I’ve never had sex in a car.” I glanced at her. “You?”
She coughed, as if choking on something. Looked beet red for a moment. Shrugged. “Ahh, no. Nope. Never had sex in a car.”
There was more to her answer, but she clicked her teeth shut and studiously focused on another right turn, which brought us to the homestretch back to the industrial complex where my garage was.
She eyed me. “You want to take the wheel, do whatever tests you need to do?”
I laughed, shook my head. “Nah, you took care of it. I heard it go through all the gears. No rattles, bumps, knocks, squeaks, or hitches. Everything is good to go. I just gotta call the owner and tell him it’s ready.”
She remembered the directions to get to my garage, which impressed me because it took me a couple of weeks before I could go straight there without a wrong turn or two. She parked it at an angle out front of the garage, put it in neutral, set the brake, and pulled the keys, handing them to me.
“You sure know how to show a girl a good time, Rhys,” she said, grinning at me. “Good coffee, greasy hands, and a burnout. Good way to start the morning.”
And I got to see her tits, I thought but didn’t say. It had been a genuine accident, but not one I regretted in the slightest.
On the contrary.
I called the Nova’s owner, told him it was ready, and he promised to come over within the hour—he was excited, because I’d told him it would be Monday at the earliest. One of the best lessons I ever learned from my dad—the only good lesson, aside from a love for cars—was to under-promise and over-deliver, so I always quoted a little high and long and tried to get the job done for less and sooner, which always made my clients happy.
While we were waiting, I cleaned up the tools and put them all away, as my next job wasn’t going to be arriving until I let the owner know I was ready. When I went up to wash my hands, Torie had made my bed, done all my dishes, emptied the garbage, wiped down the counters, and had made us both sandwiches as, by this time, it was past noon.
“You shouldn’t have done any of this,” I said. “For real. No need. But thanks, I’m starving.”
She just smiled at me, pulled the little pipe out of her jeans pocket. “A little toke and I’m off and away, power-cleaning. It’s what I do every morning at home. It’s my happy place.” She gestured around. “I couldn’t find a radio up here, so I had to clean without music, which was sucky, because I’m trying to conserve my phone’s battery. The poor thing is from twenty-ten and it’s only got so much life left in it.”
I sat down at the table with her, and we ate in companionable silence. “Well, thank you. I don’t think my loft has been this clean in a long time. I try to keep it clean-ish, but I don’t always have time to get very detailed.”
She smirked. “It’s pretty much what I would have imagined a typical bachelor pad to be.” A shrug. “I also wanted to prove that you wouldn’t regret having your boss pay me to help today. I do really need the money.”
“Didn’t need to prove nothin’,” I said. “But I do appreciate it. Just don’t think you ever gotta prove anything or try to earn nothin’ with me. I helped you out because you’re a person who needed helping. I’ve been in that position before, and the helping hands I’ve received when I needed it most kept my faith in humanity alive. I was down to my last five bucks, once. No gas, no food. Nowhere to go. My tools had been stolen, my tire went flat, and I was on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. This old fella came along in a gorgeous ’55 Studebaker pickup. Saw my flat, pulled over. I didn’t have a spare, so he drove me to town. Got me to tell him my story along the way, and by the time he brought me back to my wrecker later that day I had a toolbox full of old tools he didn’t need anymore, a new tire for my truck, a full belly, and a job waiting at the next town, because his nephew ran an auto body shop and needed a hand for a few weeks.”
She had stopped chewing and was listening closely.
“There are good people in the world, folks willing to do good things for no reason but that it feels good to do good.” I shrugged. “After that old fella helped me out, I swore then that I’d always try to do the same when the opportunity came around. So…point is, Torie, I know there’s some…stuff between us. But you don’t and won’t ever owe me shit, okay? Meaning, I don’t expect anything. Not asking for anything. You said you can’t start nothin’, and while I admit I got what you might call more than a little spark of attraction for you, I won’t push it, since you said you can’t start nothin’. So…yeah.”
She swallowed a bite with a loud gulp, set half of the sandwich down, and let out a breath. “Thank you, Rhys. That means a lot, actually. More than you may realize.”
My phone buzzed then, the Nova owner letting me know he was here and ready to settle up.
Torie waved at me. “Go. Clients wait for no one.”