Page 27 of Tandem

My brother, the ultimate communicator. Anyway, I pulled into the customs, parked the car, and got out to see Dad shaking hands with that man in the red-and-white striped suit again. He looked over, and so did Dad, as I walked over and stood next to Dad, not wanting to interrupt.

“The money will be dropped by tonight,” the mysterious man told him, and Dad nodded.

“Of course, that’s fine,” Dad replied stiffly as I came to a stop next to him.

The man’s gaze slid over to me. His eyes had a weird, heavy redness to them. It was in a way that sent chills through my entire body and it was unnerving to maintain eye contact as he spoke. “Your daughter has grown to be a beautiful woman, Kayden Wells. Keep her safe. There are… a lot of people out there who would love to take something so priceless.” He dipped his hat, then walked toward the garage door with his wrists crossed behind his back, never lifting his head until he paused before exiting through the large bay door. Turning his head, he glanced back as he stated with a smirk on his face, “Sure would be a shame.”

And just like that, he turned the corner and was gone. Who the heck was that?

Dad turned to me, frustrated. He reached his arms out before dropping them to his sides. “Thought I said to come when we opened, Rosalie!”

I hung my head, embarrassed that I had upset Dad. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see the time, I thought it was close enough.”

He brought his hand to his face, rubbing it with a sigh. “Some of these clients are… high-profile, who like to keep their business private, and I don’t really want you around them. Next time,come a few minutes late, Rosalie. Just… in the future, listen to me, all right?”

I nodded. “Yes, sir… So what’s on the list to do today?”

We spent the next thirty minutes going over the work today and getting at it. But even through a full day of sanding, mixing and spraying cars, my mind kept wandering back to what happened last night. AJ moaned in my ear as he thrust into me. The feel of his fingers traced my naked body, like I was the most precious thing in the world and he wanted to make sure every inch of me was okay. The feeling of his lips on mine, when he gripped my ass, pulling me up onto him. His fingers in my hair. Thank God it was a hot day in LA because my cheeks were super red the entire day. All I knew was Wednesday couldn't come soon enough.

By lunch, Mom had swung by to eat with Dad and handed me a few options to choose from for Jayden and myself. I picked my favorite options, a couple of houses next to each other or adjacent condos across the hall from each other, to show Jayden later.

Mom and Dad had lunch in his office, and when she went to leave, they hugged for a long minute. If soulmates were a thing, Mom and Dad were it. They were perfect in all the sickening, sweet ways, and I adored them for it. I couldn’t imagine a world where Mom wasn’t overly protective of Dad and he wasn’t so into everything about her. It was funny how they met. Mom was new to the city when she walked into the dealership Dad now owned, and one thing led to another, and she started being a flag girl for Flywheels.

Could you imagine my mom, Rose Wells, always so professional and put together, mom and wife of the year, standing between two revving cars in booty shorts and fishnet stockings? Well, if there weren’t photos to prove just that, I wouldn’t have believed it either. Dad said Mom and I were a lotalike, but I guess having kids had changed things. Because after she got pregnant, Mom stopped all of the car stuff. Dad said Mom’s reason was that we couldn’t risk losing both parents to illegal street racing. From what I understood, neither Mom nor Dad really had any blood family left.

At the end of the day, Dad strolled over to me while I was cleaning the paint sprayer. “Rosalie, if you really want to move out, I’m fine with it. Just… come over for dinner or breakfast sometimes, okay? Not ready to not see my girl every day yet.”

I turned around and hugged Dad. “Dad, I love you. You wouldn’t be able to keep me away if you tried!”

Later that night, after dinner and a nice warm shower, I was sitting on my bed thinking about AJ again. I thought I was in big trouble, not because of what Jayden said, but because I thought I really,reeeeallyliked him. Wasn’t it too fast to be feeling like this about someone? Suddenly my door opened and Jayden walked in, slumping down into my office chair again.

“So did you get them to say yes?” he asked, staring at me as I grabbed the two property papers Mom gave me.

“Yup!” I held them out, and he took them to read through.

“Okay, so the apartments are out, too many rules about noise. So the house will work, and actually, there are a couple of houses on this road. I think one is even right next to this one. I’ll convince Mom to have her and Dad help us get both.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “Jay, I think even one house is a stretch, but two?”

He rolled his eyes. “Rosalie, Mom and Dad could afford to rent or buy ten mansions, and their money would be fine. Buying these two houses would be easy investments. Plus, if we move out, Mom would be able to flip them easily, or heck, even rent them to other people. Let me handle it from here, all right?” He stood up and patted my head. I smelled exhaust fumes, and… was he smoking weed again? Mom wouldkillhim.

“Fine, whatever, but I want the house on the paper. You can take the other one,” I replied as he strolled out of my room. “Might wanna shower before going to Mom, I don’t think she will believe the weed smell is a new cologne.” Jayden chuckled and shut my door, but I smiled as I heard his shower turn on a few minutes later.

The next week was a whirlwind. When the Wellses made their mind up about something, it didn’t take long to put the plans into action. We signed for the two new houses, and movers came, packed some of our stuff, and took it over. We went shopping with Mom to buy some more furniture, and then it was Monday night, and I laid back in my bed in my new house. That still felt so weird to say. And driving here instead of my parents’ after work today was an odd feeling. Pulling the covers up, I reached for my phone, pressing the text chain from him.

Rosalie

Hey, are you up?

AJ

…

I sat there waiting for a reply. A few moments went by and nothing, so I placed my phone down and turned off my lights as I got all comfortable, then I saw my phone light up. I reached over and grabbed it.

AJ

What’s up, baby girl, miss me?

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