Page 11 of Feint

CHAPTER 5

ROSALIE

Gettingready for work two days later took more effort than I thought it would. Who knew having sex on a bike would feel like a full-body workout to your muscles the next day? Because I sure hadn’t. And day two was no better. I dragged my way through getting dressed as Kordell slept. Walking down, I looked at my kitchen and decided to not make anything. I’d pick something up on the way to work. I wrote a little note for Kordell telling him to have a nice day and I’d see him later with little hearts around it and left.

Thirty minutes later, I was pulling into work, a coffee in my cup holder and a donut in my hand. I had also picked up a little baggie of donut holes for Dad. I knew he liked them because they were easier to eat while he was working. I walked into the shop and almost ran into Reece, Dad’s assistant, on the mechanic floor.

“Easy there, Rosalie. Damn, you look like shit.”

He laughed and clapped my back once, hard. I stumbled a step and glared at him, but even that was too much effort.

“Reece! You come in hungover every Monday from partying all weekend. I don’t wanna hear it!” I stuck my tongue out and walked to clock in with him shrugging behind me.

Then, I walked over to Dad, who was leaning against the tool bench in his bay, reading the tablet to see what the schedule for this week looked like.

“Morning, Dad! I picked you up something.” I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek and then held out the baggie of donut holes.

Dad looked at the bag, and his smile grew as he took them and peeked inside. “Thanks, hon. These are just what I need this morning. Are you going to be able to finish your lowrider today?” he asked as he lifted the bag to his mouth, shaking it to make one of the donut holes roll out.

I nodded back. “Yep! I only have one small side panel to finish this morning, and then I can clear-coat it this afternoon. It’ll be all ready for his pickup date tomorrow! And I’m going to finish that wrap today too.”

I sipped my coffee and rolled my shoulders, trying to wake up faster. As tired and sore as I was, I was so dang excited to get the lowrider done! I wanted to see it all painted and clear-coated, shining under the show lights of the main floor. I wanted to see its owner’s face light up when they took in all the interior and exterior details. It was one of the best parts of the job!

We chatted for a few minutes before I walked over to the paint lab and got to work.

Before I knew it, I was sweeping the last line of the car’s livery with my paintbrush. I stepped back to double-check my line work, and then I laughed.

“YES!” I exclaimed as I admired it.

I set the lab temp to help the paint dry faster, then walked over to the wrap bay. The car was almost done, only the back bumper panels and trunk left to do. This meant starting tomorrow, I would have new projects to work on. Typically, after such a big lowrider job, the rest of the week was simple full sprays or rims. Dad knew just how tiring doing all those finelines and swooshes can be, so he went a little easy on me every other week.

As I sliced through the wrap, gently going around the bends of the taillights of the car, it reminded me of drifting around a track. Seamless and precise, or you would ruin your car. We hadn’t had a drift meet for a while now, actually. We’d been super busy this spring. Dad had even hired my friend Tyler to do some cleaning after hours, to help the shop stay on track. We pulled extra weekend hours, too, to keep on top of the orders that poured in. I thought Dad had mentioned at one point that he had a four-month wait list for custom work. Which was so awesome but crazy at the same time.

I rubbed the last piece in place and then rolled the car out of the bay. Parking it outside in one of the pickup spaces, I went in and completed the car order that was on the tablet. We had it all set up to when you completed the job, the owner of the vehicle got a text, stating their car was ready. Mom had helped set it up when she first walked into Dad’s office years ago and saw how his perfectly organized chaos was completely unorganized. Dad might have protested at first, but now, he enjoyed the system. It gave him more time to work on vehicles without stopping, and then he was able to talk with the customers when they actually picked up and dropped off their vehicles too.

I checked the time. It was just about time to spray the clear coat, so I went to mix it up. As I stood there, the radio station changed, and one ofhisfavorite songs came on. My body stiffened. I let the lyrics of “Take Me Where Your Heart Is” by Q flood through my mind. And I couldn’t stop my thoughts from wandering to him.

“I wonder what you’re up to right now,” I whispered to myself, thinking about AJ.

I looked over to a stool in the corner and remembered the time AJ had sat there as I was grabbing paint chips for himto pick a color out for his donk. I wondered what he had done with it. He’d only left me the Lincoln, so maybe he had sold it. I thought about the way AJ’s voice used to pour over me, his voice so deep and soothing. The way his strong hands had pulled me in close and held me so gently. I touched my lips. I still remembered the way his kiss tasted.

Sadness washed over me, and I tried to snap myself out of it.

Dang it! Why am I still so hung up over him?

He’d left me. He had broken my heart into a million pieces and not even cared. So, why did I still miss him so much? Why couldn’t I just move on already? I had Kordell now, and he loved me. He liked to be here with me—heck even when he had to go, he did whatever he could to get back to me faster. So, why did I still wish that instead of Kordell holding me at night, texting me, and taking me for a cruise, it was AJ instead?

I pushed AJ to the back corner of my mind and focused on spraying the lowrider. Coating her evenly and to perfection. I walked upstairs to the break area when I was done. Seeing Dad eating his lunch on the couch, I went and grabbed a few snacks from the vending machine and sat down with a sigh next to him.

Dad glanced over, swallowing a bite of his sandwich. “Something on your mind?” he asked as he took another bite.

I groaned. “I have too much on my mind. I wish I had something else to think about instead of what currently keeps going around and around.” I knocked my head playfully and opened the chip baggie I was holding, popping one into my mouth. I slowly chewed it as another moment between me and AJ passed through my mind. One from the fight we’d had on this very couch, and I scowled. “Ughhhh!”

Dad chuckled, and I looked over at him. I was so happy my misery was so amusing to someone at least.

“So, what you’re saying is, today really is the perfect day to tell you the next date for Flywheels to meet back up?” Dad said, and he tilted his head a little toward me.

I could see the smile on his face growing and his eyes shining with excitement at the mention of his underground street crew.

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