Page 42 of The Boy I Hate

They both grinned, then grabbed the rest of their belongings from the back of her van before slapping it shut and sending her onherway.

The auto shop was old fashioned, with stacks of tires along the whole fence line. They entered through the back, where Tristan’s Mustang was already on lifts in the middle of the garage. A man in denim coveralls was poking around in a tool chest, and looked up when they entered the building. As he walked toward them, he wiped his hands on what used to be a red rag. “I’m guessing this beauty is yours?” he said, around a mouthful of tobacco. “Haven’t seen a ’67 since I went to a car show in two-thousand.” He reached his hand out to Tristan and gave it a firm shake. “Myname’sBob.”

“Tristan.” Tristan replied, then glanced up to his car above their heads. “I’m hoping you know what’s wrongwithher?”

“Well,” the man said, clearing his throat. “Thing is, there’s some good news and some bad news.” He looked to Samantha, nodding his head in hello. “Good news is, it’s only a bad radiator cap.” He turned back to Tristan. “Bad news is, the nearest I can get one is a two towns over.” He spread his legs wide and shoved his hands into the back pockets of his coveralls. “I’ve already sent one of my guys to get it, but I’m afraid I won’t have the car ready ’tilmorning.”

Tristan ran a hand through his hair and cringed. “Shit. Are you sure? We’re on our way to awedding—”

Bob shook his head, cutting him off. “I’m afraid so. I wish there was more I could do. But truth is, y’all are lucky I found one even that close.” He then looked at Samantha. “I can see you’re disappointed ma’am, and it hurts my heart. But there’s a great bed and breakfast just across the road. People come from all over to stay there. Tell them Bob sent you, and they’ll give you a discount onyourstay”

Samantha smiled, then turned to Tristan. “Well, I guess that settles it then. We’re staying the night in Colton, Iowa.” She was trying to make the best of the situation, to lower the pressure she could see stiffening Tristan’s shoulders, but he wasn’t really paying attention. He was looking at his cell phone, deep in thought, and there was an odd expression onhisface.

He finally excused himself, holding up one finger before walking out of thegarage.

Samantha looked down to the ground, to the oil-stained floor, as a weird uncomfortable feeling grew in her stomach. She finally looked back up, thanked Bob for his recommendation of the B&B, then walked in the opposite direction from Tristan, wanting to give him privacy. She sat on the curb in front of the shop, kicked her legs out in front of her, and dug through her purse looking forhercell.

Three notifications waited on her phone. Two of which were from Steven. She punched in her pass code, and began playing themessages.

“Hey babe, I need to talk to you. Call me as soon asyoucan?”

“Samantha, I really have to talk to you. Call me when you getthis,okay?”

Her brows furrowed, and she frowned.What did he need to talk to herabout?

The last message was fromRenee.

“Hey Sam! Are you and Tris killing each other, yet? This is taking forever, and I’m not even in the car! Call me when you can. Loveyou!Bye!”

Samantha closed her eyes, leaning back on the pavement to let the sun warm her face. “This is almost over. You’ll see Steven in a couple of days, and everything will go back tonormal.”

She sat up again, straightening her back as she dialed Steven’s number. It went straight to voice mail, and she began to leave amessage.

“Hey babe,” she began. “You’re probably working, but I wanted to call while I had reception.” She blew out a breath and looked back over her shoulder to the garage. “We ran into some car trouble, unfortunately. It seems we’ll be delayed about a day.” She paused for a moment, her eyes focused on nothingness. “Call me when you can.” She hung up the phone without even sayinggoodbye.

When she looked up, Tristan was standing above her. His sunglasses were covering his eyes, but the tension couldn’t be hidden from his face. “I guess we should go get somerooms?”

She pushed herself from the pavement, but Tristan grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her up the rest of the way. His grip was firm and strong, yet sent goose bumps to cover the length of her body in a second. “Everything okay?” she asked, searching his face foranswers.

He nodded, but immediately looked away. “Yeah. You?” he asked, meeting her eyes onceagain.

“Yeah,” she whispered. He still looked upset, and all she wanted to do was yank the glasses off his nose and demand that he tell her what was wrong. Why he’d suddenly changed from the easy-going Tristan she’d always known him to be, to this. But in these few short days she’d become closer to him than she was comfortable with. Closer to him than was healthy. She needed to keep her distance, to keep her walls up and not let them fall. “I guess you’re right. We should go get somerooms.”

They both stepped off the curb separately, keeping distance between them as they walked toward the bed andbreakfast.

True to the mechanic’s word, the bed and breakfast was stunning. Samantha was sure it had once been an old Victorian home. Brick walls, a castle-like roofline, and shutters on every window. But there was a large pool in the center of the courtyard that was modern and sleek, and looked exhilarating. Lush foliage surrounded the property, offering privacy, yet the building sat in the center of town, not even a half block away from thepublic.

They followed the intricate stone path past the magnolia tree scattered with huge white blossoms, then to the gold sign that took them to the frontoffice.

A pretty blond woman waited at the counter and looked up as soon as they entered the building. “Welcome to the Gumtree Mansion. How can I help youtoday?”

Tristan took his wallet from his back pocket and braced his forearm on the counter. “Two rooms please,” he said, but his voice betrayed hisexhaustion.

“Oh…” The woman’s brows furrowed and she began clicking at her computer. “Let me see…” She clicked a few more times, her frown growing deeper and more intense. “That’s what I thought.” She looked up, glancing from Tristan to Samantha. “I’m afraid I only have one room fortonight.”

Tristan looked over his shoulder to Samantha, where she violently shook her head. She couldn’t stay the night with him. Not after their too close moment the night before. Notalone.

He turned back to the woman and put his wallet back in his pocket “That’s okay, we’ll gosomewhereelse.”

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