Page 52 of Married with Mayhem

For tonight, I’m pushing the uneasy thoughts from my mind and welcoming the friendly void of sleep.

10

MONTE

The trouble starts in Kansas.

After a night of much needed rest, we’re back on the road before five a.m. Indiana is left behind and we’re on track to pass through Illinois and then Missouri. I’m hoping to make it through most of Kansas as well.

Sabrina is in good spirits today. She’s been following our progress online and sharing fun facts about whatever Midwestern enclave we happen to be passing through.

“It’s illegal to dry clothing on a line here,” Sabrina informs me at a gas station in Columbia, Missouri.

“Good thing I won’t be staying long enough for the need to dry clothes.” I keep my eyes fastened to the rolling digital numbers on the gas pump to avoid the sight of her lips casually sucking on a red lollipop.

She lowers the sucker. “If you need to take off your clothes, Monte, you can both wash and dry them. You just can’t hang them on a line.”

Then she smiles, knocking the wind out of me with a grin that seems designed to show off just how unreasonably sexy she is.

Today Sabrina is dressed in a black skirt stamped everywhere with the Batman logo. The pink face imprinted across her tits on a cropped black tee is some anime character I’ve never heard of. She also wears striped black and white knee socks and a pair of bright pink Converse. Funny how on anyone else, this getup would probably be ridiculous and I wouldn’t look twice. But her clothes suit her like customized armor and I can’t quit staring.

Spending all this time alone with Sabrina is fucking with my head in a serious way. On the one hand, I genuinely care about her and would be willing to lose a limb to keep her safe. But all my other thoughts are far more indecent.

And they are rapidly becoming unstoppable.

Last night I needed to call up an ungodly level of willpower to block my mouth from the urge to crash down on hers in that hotel room. It didn’t help that she was wearing my shirt like she fuckingwantsto belong to me.

Seriously, how much more of this torture can I take?

I’m fighting an inner war and I’m inching closer and closer to the breaking point. If this keeps up, I’ll lose the battle with my own damn needs very soon.

“What’s the matter?” she asks from the passenger seat an hour after we left the last rest stop. She closes her laptop, her expression shifting to worry.

For one thing, a throbbing erection that I can’t do anything about is destroying my concentration. For another, this morning Nico shared the unpleasant news that Lenny Lombardo has been howling that the next breath I draw within the New York City limits will be my last. Awesome.

As if that wasn’t enough, I now have a new problem to worry about.

“The car keeps getting more sluggish.” I frown at the instrument panel. The truth is that I’ve been ignoring the issuefor hundreds of miles in the hopes that I could deal with it once I get Sabrina safely to Colorado.

While driving back from Florida last week I noticed an intermittent grinding noise and some sporadic acceleration issues. My plan was to bring the car into my buddy’s shop for repairs. However, between my surprise visitor and the way events have snowballed since then, there wasn’t time.

Leaving the Interstate at the next exit, I pull into the nearest gas station to take a look under the hood. I hope my suspicions are mistaken.

They are not.

I squat down to reach under the front end and feel for the drip before withdrawing my hand. Dark reddish liquid coats my fingers. Transmission fluid.

Sabrina is now out of the car and hunkering down beside me. “What is that?”

Her hips bumps into mine. There’s a tube of cherry Chapstick in her hand and she rolls it over her lips.

“We need to buy some transmission fluid.” I stand and automatically hold out a hand to help her up. “I don’t know the source of the leak so I’ll have to keep adding it for now.”

Her brow puckers as she slips her hand in mine and allows me to pull her to her feet. “How big of a problem is this?”

Somehow I’m still holding onto her hand. “I think we’ll be fine. We should make it to the other side of Kansas today and then we’ll stop for the night before the last leg of the trip.”

I drop her hand as casually as possible before I’m tempted to keep holding it for good. And I hope that I sound more convincing than I feel.

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