"Never." She sighed and tossed the manual on the seat beside her, falling against the head rest. "I should’ve just stayed for water aerobics. Then I could’ve floated away on a pizza slice with you while your abs glinted in the sun."
He was silent. Absolutely silent.
"We could’ve both pretended nothing was happening in the outside world." That sounded nice.
"Darla, did you just mention my abs glinting in the sun?" he asked.
"I did." She sat up. "You know what, Mach? Maybe it is time to get a little reckless in my life. You want me to stop trying so hard to be predictable? I’m gonna do it. It’s not like I have to be at work tomorrow."
For the first time in her life she had zero responsibilities. The weight of that felt oddly freeing.
She spread her fingers on her steering wheel. "I’m going to call roadside assistance, and they’ll get me sorted. Then I’m going to buy a pint of ice cream and eat it myself while they fix my tire.ThenI’m going to go to Brek’s Bar, even though it’s the middle of the afternoon, and I’m going to drink vodka, andthenI’m going to go buy a bunch of stuff at Dillard’s that I can’t really afford, andthenmaybe I’ll take a road trip without telling anyone where I’m going."
She heaved a huge breath.
"First things first… roadside assistance," she finished.
She didn’t like it. Calling roadside assistance was not a badass move. But it was the start she needed to change things in her life.
"Darla," Mach said her name in a tone that should not have been thrilling. Honestly, it should’ve been scary. And yet, a zing of attraction snaked up her spine at the way he said her name.
"I am roadside assistance."
Chapter Eleven
MACH
Mach’s absweren’t glistening in the sun because he was on a mission to help Darla. The best news of the day was that, despite her apprehension, it sounded like Darla was ready to help herself have a good time—even if it started with a shopping spree at Dillard’s and eating ice cream. If she was really all in on running wild, then he wanted to be her teacher. He figured he’d take her off to Los Angeles sooner rather than later. Ensure she had what she needed in L.A. so she could get her impulse on.
He had a silly smirk on his face because, maybe, just maybe, she might let him lend a hand on her adventure.
"This whole situation with you all twisted up over Darla is pretty sweet," Tanner said, with no consideration for Mach’s current inner-self debate about just how far he could encourage Darla in her decision to embrace a little more fun, without her shutting the door in his face and going without him.
"I’m not twisted up," Mach assured.
"Uh-huh," Tanner said as though he didn’t believe him in the slightest.
"Is this gonna be one of those deep talks I’m going to regret later?" Mach asked. Not that he’d ever regretted any of his conversations with Tanner, but he didn’t like to dig too deep into any kind of emotional shit.
Better to feel emotions without the glare of life on them. Emotions got complicated, uncomfortable, and made a guy itch all over with a rare reaction to something stupid that apparently didn’t bother anyone else.
"Dan’s gonna flip when he finds out we got our hands dirty and didn’t invite him," Tanner said.
Dan was a mechanic and owned Brother’s Garage over on Broadway. He was fair, and he was good at what he did. If there was one thing Mach appreciated most about Dan, it’s that he taught Mach and Tanner to be the same. Tanner and Mach both learned the ropes of the car repair business before Dimefront came calling. Dan made sure they learned a trade, so if they ended up back in the system, they’d have a way to get out again.
Mach shook his head. "By the time he even gets there, we’ll be finished."
He usually kept his truck for mountain excursions on the weekend, but since he’d tossed in his whole toolbox, and he preferred to be super-prepared for repairs, he loaded it up. He expected nothing out of the ordinary, but Dan taught him never to take that for granted. Yet another gem of knowledge Dan learned from tough knocks.
"Sam’s totally into Darla," Tanner said from the passenger seat, window down, staring outside. "Throwin’ that out there."
"That’s good," Mach said.
"Are you?" Tanner asked, serious as a drum solo.
Mach glanced away from the road. He couldn’t stop the half-grin; it came all by itself. After all, he wouldn’t haul his ass out to change a tire for just anyone.
"Darla’s all up in my head. It’s messing with me." Mach turned onto the cross street behind King Soopers.
