She slammed the door, and only a moment later, was sticking her head through the open back window the way the goat did.
“He’s still here! He’s fine!”
“Goodie,” I muttered sarcastically as I went back to trying to get the truck out of the ditch.
Over the revving of the engine, I heard the goat and her laughter. It only pissed me off more. My life had been nothing but bad luck since she crashed into it. I was sure that God sent her into my life as some kind of payback for living a life of crime. I may have been too good for the police to catch, but there was no escaping Karma, and based on the gorgeous blonde in the back of the truck that was rolling around with the fucking goat that made me run into the ditch, Karma was the biggest bitch of all.
I stomped on the gas, and we went shooting forward. The truck jumped and bounced over bumps in the grass, and then the tires squealed when they found pavement. I didn’t let off or slow down as I let out a cheer of excitement.
She pounded on the window. “Slow down before you wreck again!”
“I don’t wreck anything when you’re not involved! In fact, you can stay back there. Maybe we’ll actually get to a motel in one piece.” I reached behind me, and my fingers found the frame of the window. I slid it over and closed it. I knew it wasn’t fucking broken. She just didn’t know how to work the damn thing.
She banged on the window a few times, and I just laughed as I kept my foot on the gas, driving as quickly as I could to the next town that was a good twenty minutes away.
It was a peaceful ride, and I glanced in the back to see her lying with the damn good cuddled up beside her. I shook my head. The woman was odd…but endearing.
On the edge of town stood a gas station, closed for the night. Deeper, we passed a bar, a grocery store, a post office, and a hardware store. On the opposite end, there was a rundown motel, restaurant, a few offices, and another gas station. I pulled the truck into an empty parking lot down the street from the motel and climbed out. When I looked into the bed of the truck, I found her and the goat still cuddled up together.
“I’m going to go check into this motel. You coming or do you want me to leave the two of you alone?”
“Don’t be rude. He might be an animal, but you belong in the barn more than he does,” she said, standing and moving toward the tailgate with the goat’s rope in her hand.
“So, it is a he. Way to go, buddy. I hope she brings you better luck than she brought me.” I petted its head.
It tried to fucking bite me. I cursed softly and jerked my hand away.
She jumped over the back and stuck her tongue out at me before lowering the tailgate. “Come on, hop down, Kevin.”
“Whoa, what are you doing?”
“We can’t leave him tied up in there all night.”
“We sure the fuck can,” I argued. “Also, did you name it Kevin?”
She put her hand on her hip and tilted her head to the side. “No, we can’t. It’s cold, and it’s probably going to rain some more. That’s animal cruelty.” She pointed to its collar.
I leaned in to see a tag that clearly read “Kevin.”
Wow. What the ever-loving fuck…
“I’m not sharing a bed with a fucking goat, crash.” I backed away, shaking my head.
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not that bad. He kept me warm.”
“Tie him up or set him free. He’s not staying in that room with us.”
“Fine. I’ll get my own room, and he can stay with me.” Keeping his rope in her hand, she started toward the motel.
“Have it your way.” I started following her over.
Outside, she tied his rope around one of the posts that held up the awning over the front door, and we walked inside together.
“Hello,” the man said from behind the counter.
Pale skin. Pot belly. Ugly shirt. Greasy hair. Well, what was left of his hair since he was sporting a pretty robust combover.
“Hey, we need two rooms,” I said.
