The Wild Ones by M. Leighton

me.  “All right.  What is it?”
    I lean back and exhale.  Rusty knows me too well.
    “I’m just still getting adjusted to the way things are now.  That’s all.”
    “Is it about the money?”
    I close my eyes.  It seems that everything boils down to the money.  My entire life has been reduced to the singular pursuit of money above all else.
    “That must be a ‘yes.’  And she still won’t let you sell the car?”
    “Nope.  And it would solve everything.”
    “Well, you can’t really blame her in a way, though.”
    “Yeah, but there’s a time when sentimentality has to take a back seat to practicality.”
    “Nice!  Spoken like a true college kid.”
    I can’t help but wonder if I’d ever get to finish. 
    So close…
    “Well, it is what it is. I just need to see us through the next year or so until I can get some things worked out.  Maybe then…”
    “I hope so, bro,” Rusty says.  We sit in silence for a minute, something Rus is rarely ever comfortable with, before he casually slides back under the car without another word.  He’s already overextended himself.
    As usual, he has music on while he works.  I close my eyes and listen for a few minutes before my thoughts start crowding in on me again.  I’m just not the type to be idle with my musings unless they’re about some sort of trouble I can fix.  Right now, there is no fix.  This is the fix.
    I get up and pull my shirt over my head.  No sense risking getting grease stains all over yet another shirt.
    “What can I help with, man?  I’m tired of thinking.”
    “Why don’t you get under the hood and loosen the bolts from those brackets.”
     Grabbing a socket set from the workbench, I pop the hood and get to work.
    After about five minutes, Rus and I start talking shop and my mind is adequately occupied.  The garage bay doors are open and the slightly cooler night air is coming in, the music is still playing and my troubles are, for the time being, somewhere else.
    Until the breeze carries in the faint scent of strawberry.  I rise up from under the hood and there, standing in the garage entrance, is Cami. 
     

 
    CHAPTER FIFTEEN- Cami
     
    I can’t decide whether I’m thrilled or frustrated when I walk into the garage with Brent and I see Trick come out from underneath the hood of the car he’s working on.  I am a little frustrated; constantly running into him is making it harder to concentrate on Brent.  And it’s certainly not helping me to not think about Trick, which is what I really need to do.  But mostly, I’m thrilled.  Excited. I hate to admit it, but I am. 
    He’s shirtless.  Again.  He’s not sweaty or dirty or anything.  He’s just all bare skin and well-defined muscles.  And there’s something so sexy about the way his jeans hang on his hips. I can even see those little dents at the bottom of his stomach.  If I’m being honest, I really just want to walk right over to him and touch them.  With my tongue.
    Cue the blush.
    I feel the heat working its way up my neck and into my face. 
    You idiot!  What did you think would happen if you thought about things like that?
    But it’s not like I intentionally thought about doing that.  It was almost involuntary.  Most of my reactions to Trick have been. It’s like something else takes over and I’m sort of helpless to stop it.
    I see his eyes flash and a grin pulls at one side of his mouth.  That’s how I know he noticed my blush. 
    I turn and look at Jenna.  She’s always a lifesaver in situations like these.  Only Jenna isn’t paying any attention to me.  She looks kind of stunned herself. 
    I look back toward Trick and I see that another guy has emerged from beneath the car.  That’s what caught Jenna’s eye.  Or, rather, that’s who caught her eye .  And boy, did he ever!
    “What’s he doing here?” Brent asks of Trick’s friend.
    “He’s a friend of mine.  And he’s great with cars.  Is that a problem?”
    I think