Page 109 of One Touch

Ethan

“Vladmobile.” The gothic letterstaunted me from the hood of the car.

I had finally found a bit of time to secretly work on Lily’s car, doing my best to get it running and presentable. Obviously, the stupid name and the flame decal had to go. I wanted to scrub out any indication that Vlad had ever had his hands on anything that belonged to Lily.

It felt good to work on it—like I was close to Lils.

I hadn’t seen much of her since we relaxed the rules. I’d been training almost every day. The evening sessions would be coming to an end soon, but until we reached that point, the schedule was punishing. The emergency medical training had been a lot more emotionally draining than I had been prepared for, too. I was enjoying it all, but I yearned to be with Lily at the same time. It was a scary feeling.

I’d been proud of myself for taking Lily on that date. For asking her to go steady with me. It hadn’t been an easy thing to do, and I had to be careful that it didn’t sound like I wanted tomarry the girl. It wasn’t easy to tell someone you want to sleep with them exclusively without getting emotionally involved. I hoped I’d pitched it right. I’d noticed Lily looking at me for a lot longer than five seconds during mealtimes with Ava, which had to be a good sign.

I grabbed a socket wrench and loosened the bolts on the brake calipers, then pulled each one free from the rotors. I winced as I got a proper look. The rotors had been shredded by the ill-fitted calipers, but it looked as though I could repair them.

The garage was quiet except for the clanking of my tools against the car. Ava was at school. Lily was—I assumed—at her store.

I turned my attention to the brake plates. I sprayed them generously with brake cleaner, the acrid smell filling my nostrils. I scrubbed away the grime and corrosion with a wire brush, revealing the shiny metal beneath.

I wiped my greasy hands on a rag, my thoughts still churning.

That’s when I saw it. A creature, outside my garage, looking in.

At first, I thought it was a dog. It was roughly the same size and lay low to the ground. The giveaway, though, was the fur. It was the color of rust, with a streak of white down its belly.

I’d always thought that foxes were meant to be scared of people. This one wasn’t. It loped up to the garage, without a care in the world. It had bright, intelligent eyes and a clean muzzle. Soft, perky ears, and black whiskers studding its cheeks.

My first instinct was that it was rabid. But it just didn’t seem that way. It was calm. Relaxed.Friendly.

For a crazy moment, I thought about holding out my hand and letting it rub up against me. My heart pounded in my chest as I considered it.

What if it was rabid? Or had some other illness? I couldn’t take that risk. I couldn’t take any risk that could leave Ava without a dad.

Fear gripped me like a python, and I grabbed a socket wrench and waved it at the fox. “Hey! Get out of here!”

It reacted instantly, turning and running at a speed that shocked me.

I barely had time to process what had just happened, when the sound of a revving motorbike engine roared from somewhere nearby. Then, seconds later, a hog pulled up in front of my garage. A hog that happened to have a flame decal on it.

Fuck. Vlad.

He cut the engine and swung his scrawny leg over the bike, sauntering toward me with a smirk on his face.

“Ethan,” he drawled, his dark brown eyes flicking between me and the Vladmobile. “Just the man—and car—I wanted to see.”

He looked ridiculous. His long, bleach-blond hair cascaded down his shoulders like a wild mane, catching the sunlight and almost glowing. His skinny frame was clad in leather. The shiny pants were a size too small, emphasizing his awkward gait, and his jacket was festooned with an absurd amount of zippers and studs. With each movement, the chains on his jacket created a cacophony that could have alerted everyone within a mile.

“Nice bike,” I deadpanned. “Have you checked the brake calipers are compatible with the rotors?”

Vlad stared at me. “I have literally no idea what you’re talking about, dude.”

“Of course you don’t.”

“Look, I’m not here to chat about capers with you.”

“Calipers.”

“I’m just here to pick up my car and get out of your hair.”

I straightened up, wiping my hands on a rag. “I wasn’t aware that this was yours.”

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