Dirty Thoughts - Megan Erickson Page 0,14
it—but Cal hadn’t had to take the bait. After that, her father had forced her to make a choice—break up with Cal, or Dylan would press charges.
She hated Cal for putting her in the position of having to make that decision. She hated her brother and her dad for forcing it.
Cal had been contrite but angry. He’d refused to break up with her, saying he needed to be punished for the mistake he’d made in hitting Dylan. She hadn’t wanted to ruin his life like that, though. So that was it—to save Cal an assault charge on his record, she’d cut ties. She was bitter that she was the one who’d had to do it, that it had fallen on her shoulders. That at eighteen, her brother and dad had enough sway over her life to force that choice.
Yeah, so she was bitter about the whole damn thing. Still.
The crack that rent the air was like a gunshot, and Jenna swerved to the right onto the shoulder of the road and slammed on her brakes. She threw the car in park and sat there, breathing heavy, as goose bumps rose along her skin. She didn’t want to get out of the car, because what the hell had that been? She was on a rather secluded, forest-lined section of road between Hattery and Tory.
Once she felt okay enough to drive again, she put the car in gear and slowly pulled onto the road. And that’s when she heard the steady wap.
She’d blown a tire.
She breathed out an exasperated sigh and pulled onto the side of the road again. She turned the car off and sat there, listening to the pinging of the engine. She knew how to change a tire. At least, she’d known once, but it’d been a decade, and she wasn’t sure that was so much like riding a bike. Plus, it was dark, and she was wearing a dress with heels. Not the most ideal situation to be in. She opened up her car door and peered back. It was the driver’s side rear tire, which meant she’d have to squat half in the road to change it.
“Shoot,” she muttered and pulled out her AAA membership card her father had given her when she came back into town.
She called the number on the card and told the operator she needed a tow. The operator told her the nearest tow truck could be there in about forty-five minutes. She thanked her and settled in for a wait.
Luckily, she had an iPhone, complete with Candy Crush, so she settled in to beat the stupid, frustrating level 125 once and for all.
She was close, oh so close, when the headlights of an approaching truck shined into her windshield. She put down her phone and watched as the tow truck driver executed an impressive three-point turn in the road and then backed up to the front of her car. Booted feet attached to a pair of sturdy, jean-clad legs dropped down from the cabin of the truck, and then a man with a baseball cap walked toward her, a pair of work gloves in one hand. A lit cigarette dangled from his lips. She wished now she had a jacket or something to cover up her bare shoulders, because she was on a stretch of deserted road with a strange man.
She gripped her keys and stepped out of the car—then immediately sucked in a breath. The headlights from her car reflected off Cal’s steely irises.
Chapter Five
“CAL?”
He stared at her from under the brim. The ends of his dark hair stuck out around the edges of his cap. He inhaled and then took his cigarette out, crushing the butt under his boot. He blew the smoke off to the side, away from her. “Long time, no see.”
She stared at the tow truck and then at him. “You guys do towing?”
“We have a contract with AAA. We got a kid who does it usually, but Brent and I fill in on his nights off.”
“A kid?”
A slight smile curved his lips. “Okay, a young man, then.”
She blinked at him. She’d just vowed to stay away from Cal and avoid any situation where she could be alone with him and that stretch had lasted approximately four hours.
He raised his eyebrows. “So you got a flat?”
“Yeah, it just blew.”
He glanced at her car. “Is this one actually yours or another one of Dylan’s?”
“This is mine. I just picked it up for something temporary when I got into