I pull away, quickly spitting it out. “What?” she says, worriedly.
“That’s nasty. Why would you let me put mud on your lips?” She shoves me backward into more mud and stands up, wiping her hands off on her legs.
“What am I getting myself into?” she groans, walking up the shallow path.
“You haven’t gotten yourself into anything yet. Just wait…” I’m a little excited for what I might get into, though.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
SASHA
I’D LIKE TO think the last hour of my life didn’t happen but it did, and it can’t be erased. My pretty little car is totaled, and the man sitting beside me just kissed me like I have never been kissed before. He made my heart do flips and all sorts of somersaults. Now he has this egotistical smirk etched across his face, and I still want to slap it off. This is the most confusing and yet, dare I say, enjoyable experience I’ve had in a good while.
Looking down at my crossed legs, I see I’m covered in a thin layer of dirt, and I have scrapes all over my legs. My white jacket is nearly black, and I can only imagine what my face looks like. I’m having a hard time thinking about the fact that anyone is seeing me like this, but Jags doesn’t look much better. Actually, I take that back, looking at him a little more with the mud on his face, his eyes look far bluer, his teeth are way more brilliantly white, and his dark blonde hair is accidentally spiked in this messy way that’s just…wow…he’s really something.
The roads are a disaster, and I don’t remember ever seeing this town look so rough. “This is pretty bad,” Jags says.
“Yeah,” I sigh. “It is.”
“Do you mind coming back to the shop with me for a few? I have to drop this car off and grab mine. I’ll take you back to Cali and Tango’s after,” he says.
I look down at myself again. I honestly look terrifying but after he just saved my life and I’m in no position to argue. “Of course. Whatever you need to do,” I say, combing my fingers through my dirt-riddled hair.
“We’ll call the insurance company this afternoon and start a claim on your car, okay?” I don’t even know what he’s talking about. I’ve never had to do a claim or anything like that. I guess I’ve been lucky. “Do you know who your insurance company is?”
“Yeah, it’s Towne Mutual.” I can’t focus on insurance right now. This storm is just the icing on the cake, the final layer of I can’t take much more. My life is officially upside down and inside out, and it’s making my chest ache almost every minute of the day. I’ve gotten this feeling many times over the course of my life, like a smothering pain. I’m always told I have to move away from what makes me comfortable and told what to do and when to do it. I’m constantly advised on what I should be doing rather than what I want to do. I feel like I’ve had a leash tied around my neck for way too long and I want to break away.
We pull into a run-down body shop downtown and Jags parks around the back side of the building. I pull down the mirror on the visor and look at exactly what I didn’t want to see. Makeup is streaked down my cheeks, and my hair is one giant knot. I wipe the makeup off my face and close the mirror back up before I have any more time to look at my scary reflection.
Jags manages to get out and around to my side of the car to open my door by the time I even remove my seatbelt. “You open doors too?” I joke.
“Only for pretty ladies, and sometimes Tango.” He offers me his hand, and I don’t hesitate to take it. “Doesn’t look like this area got hit as hard as where you decided to break down.” Isn’t that just my luck.
My hand instinctively tightens around his as we walk into the car-oil-scented shop. This place isn’t very big and no one is inside. Jags looks in the various areas of the shop until he pulls me out into the front lot where we see a woman lying underneath one of the cars. At least I think it’s a woman. The legs are way too thin to be a man’s. “Bambi,” Jags shouts.