Page 31 of By Rude Strength

“Fine.” LA hissed.

“You’ll thank me later!” Cass whispered.

LA very pointedly used his middle finger to continue scrolling.

“Mmhmm.” Cass huffed. “Very mature.”

Once they were at Speabart Towing, LA quickly got out of the car. He made sure the door was shut before he mumbled, “I’ll show you fuckin’mature.”

“Oh? Will you?” Cass cooed sweetly. “Are you going to speak to the representative with kindness and respect? That would be nice! Because you weren’t very polite on the phone—”

“It’s fine.” LA growled. “I’m going to be super fuckin’ nice, okay?”

Cass patted the side of his head. “Good! Sometimes when you put positive energy out into the universe, you get it back! Just like baking a cake.”

“What?” LA headed toward the front door.

“Baking a cake!” Cass gushed. “You put good things in a cake, then you get a good cake! But if you’re full ofbadthings, then it will be a very, very not yummy cake.”

“Oh my God. Just… Shut up for a minute? Please?”

Cass huffed but fell silent as LA walked inside the office.

It was small, cluttered, and there were no chairs. A large counter separated the waiting area from the rest of the space, and a young woman with dark hair and a nervous smile was there on the other side.

“Oh! Hello!” she said. “May I help you?”

“Anna?” LA thought he recognized her voice. “I’m LA Holmes, here to pick up the Chevy Cobalt.”

“Right! Yes.” Anna turned to a computer on the corner of the counter so she could start typing. “They’re not done putting the tires on, but I can go ahead and ring you up.”

“Wait, what tires? I asked for a patch—”

“It’ll be two hundred and sixty-six dollars.”

“For a fuckingpatch?”

Anna looked alarmed. “No, sir? You, on the phone, I asked you if you wanted new tires—”

“And I said no.”

“No, sir! I, I heard you very clearly! You saidhai, which isyesin Japanese and then you hung up. I, I thought you—”

“Why the fuck would I speak Japanese?”

“I don’t know! I did think it was a little odd.”

LA snarled furiously and gripped the edge of the counter, certain all the blood in his body was rushing to his head and it was going to pop at any second now.

“Remember what you said, Elly,” Cass urged gently. “You said you would be nice!”

“I fuckinglied.”

Chapter five

“You lied?” Anna stared.“Wait, about what? Speaking Japanese?”

LA growled, frustrated that Anna obviously couldn’t hear the tiny imp on his shoulder and snapping, “No! Listen to me very carefully. I asked for a patch. The one you said was only twenty-nine dollars.”