Page 6 of Home on the Road

He was about to try to shift Ziggy off his chest when the man’s eyes popped open. He raised his head and looked around as if in a panic.

“Good morning,” Harry said softly with a smile.

“Oh. Oh my God. I’m sorry.” Ziggy gushed when he realized he was plastered to Harry’s side.

“No need. I liked being your personal teddy bear,” Harry said as he slowly sat up.

“You should have woken me up,” Ziggy said as he began wiggling backward, not stopping until he hit the back wall of the truck cab.

Harry hated arguing, even with his brothers, who reveled in picking fights. Instead of trying to convince Ziggy that he liked holding him as they slept, Harry sat up, swung his legs out of the bed, and reached for his jeans.

“Now that you’re awake, we need to get moving. I’d like to be a hundred miles from here before your stepmonster returns home to discover you’re not hard at work in the kitchen.”

“Yeah. Sure. No problem,” Ziggy said. “I’ve just got to use the restroom, if that’s okay?”

Harry smiled as he pulled off the undershirt and replaced it with a clean t-shirt with the company logo on the front. “Since I have to go, too, that’s more than fine. You can get dressed while I do my pre-trip inspection. We’ll get breakfast later.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Ziggy said.

Ten minutes later, they pulled out of the truck stop with Harry behind the wheel. Though he was tempted to have Ziggy drive, he decided to wait until they were away from the truck stop and without so much stress weighing them down.

Harry remained tense as he pulled out of the parking lot and moved through the gears to get up to highway speed. He did not fully relax until they were ten miles down the road where hefinally took a deep breath and felt his shoulders drop away from his ears. A few minutes later, the sun broke over the horizon, starting a new day.

A few minutes later, he glanced over at the man sitting shotgun. “How are you feeling about leaving like this?”

“I feel better than I thought I would. Thanks for getting me out before she did something…” he trailed off, as if giving voice to any action his stepmonster might take could bring it into being.

Harry did not respond. He was not sure what to say except that he was happy to help. That would lead to a confession that Ziggy had taken up residence in his daily thoughts and nightly dreams for the past several months and he really wanted to be more than just his coworker or boss.

“If you want to get some more sleep, go ahead. I thought we would stop a little closer to KC for breakfast.”

Ziggy nodded, then asked, “Are your brothers going to be okay with you hiring me without discussing it with them? I mean, you don’t even know if I can actually drive.”

“We’ve talked about expanding the company and adding other drivers to do team driving, but it’s never gotten beyond the discussion stage. Don’t worry about it. If I have to, I’ll take them out into the yard and beat some sense into their heads.”

Ziggy blinked and looked shocked. “Okay, um, I guess.”

“Don’t worry, Ziggy, my brothers will be fine with it,” Harry assured him before turning his full attention back to the road. Turning on the radio, he tuned in to the classical station that he always listened to as he drove this stretch of highway.

A few minutes later, he heard soft snores from the passenger’s seat. Ziggy was slumped against the door, sound asleep. Harry smiled at how cute he looked, even battered and too thin.

He already looked better than he had the afternoonbefore, though the bruises on his arms did make Harry want to take him to a doctor and have him looked over before too much more time passed. If Ziggy fought him, he would call it an employment physical, but one way or another, he wanted to have the man seen.

With a sigh, Harry turned his attention back to the road and settled in for the next few hours of driving across the flat middle of the country.

Chapter Four

Instead of sitting in the cab waiting while Harry did all the work to disconnect the truck from the trailer, Ziggy climbed out of the cab and helped. He needed to prove he could handle the job that Harry had already hired him for, even if it was only to himself.

It had been six months since the last time he had been on a big rig and he wanted to make sure he had not forgotten anything.

Harry watched and nodded his approval as Ziggy unhooked the hydraulic break lines. Once they had the trailer unhooked, Harry moved the truck forward, parking it across the big lot. Ziggy then followed Harry into the office and watched as he dealt with the paperwork. Harry also introduced him to the staff as his new road partner.

When they returned to the yard, Harry pulled out the keyring and held it out. Ziggy looked from his hand up to his face.

“You drive. I’ll give you directions on how to get home,” Harry said with a grin and a wink.

Ziggy swallowed hard. “Are you sure? I haven’t been behind the wheel in six months.”

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