Page 36 of The Road Ahead
I frowned. “Datemate?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know what the term is for a non-binary partner.”
“Uh, isn’t it just partner?” I asked, looking at Rio.
Rio tilted their head as they considered it. “I mean, yeah, a lot of people use partner, but datemate is kinda fun. I’ve also heard joyfriend.”
“I don’t think I could keep a straight face if I called you my joyfriend,” I admitted.
“Well, duh,” Rio teased me. “There’s nothing straight about you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m surrounded by comedians.”
“Well,someonehas to be funny, cos that ain’t you,” Teresa told me.
I clutched at my chest. “Ouch. You’re so mean to me.”
“Little sister privilege,” she said solemnly, then blew me a kiss. “I’ll leave you two to do car things. I’m gonna go and get a few chapters of my book read before lunch.”
I followed Rio outside to where their ’86 was parked on the grass at the front of the cabin. They went to the trunk and pulled out a small toolkit, a basic jack, and two blue jack stands. “What do you think the problem is?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. I’m hoping it’s just something that’s come loose, since that’ll be an easy fix. I don’t have any other tools but these on me at the moment, so I’m limited to what I can do here. The rest of my stuff got delivered to your place yesterday, but I don’t want to trek into town if I don’t have to.”
“If you can’t fix it, will you have to skip tonight?” They were looking forward to it so much and I really hoped that wasn’t the case.
“Nah, it’ll be okay. I don’t think it’s anything major—just annoying for now.”
I didn’t really know much about cars and engines, so I took their word for it. “What can I do to help?”
“Just keeping me company will be nice,” Rio told me, leaning up on their tippy toes to kiss my cheek. “And maybe pass me tools and stuff when I need them.”
“That I can do.”
Rio proceeded to jack up the rear of the car, and I helped situate the stands in the right spots. Once the car was elevated, Rio sat down on the ground next to the trunk and then lay down, shuffling themself up and under the ’86 until their head and chest were hidden from view. I crouched down but couldn’t see much, only that they were reaching up and fiddling withvarious parts of the undercarriage. I ended up getting rather distracted by the way Rio’s crop top was riding up and exposing their stomach, the muscles clenching and rippling beneath their smooth skin.
I was beginning to suspect I was becoming a little too obsessed with their stomach. Which was weird. Wasn’t it? I heard people go on and on about how hot someone’s ass was, or how magical their cock was, or—to be less thirsty and more romantic—how beautiful their eyes were. And Rio wasn’t lacking inanyof those departments, but for some reason, it was their stomach that held my attention. I wanted to kneel in front of them and bury my face against the soft skin, lick along the groove of their hips, and skim my tongue over their belly button.
I kinda also wanted to jerk off over them and rub my cum all over that flat expanse as well, which added an entire extra layer to my newfound obsession. I’d definitely need to have a conversation with them before doingthat, though.
“Coop?” Rio asked, and I could tell by their tone it wasn’t the first time they’d called my name. They had wormed their way mostly out from under the car, but they were still on their back.
“Crap, sorry. Yeah?”
“See something you like?” they teased, eyes twinkling with mirth.
“You know I do,” I said, not interested in being coy.
Smiling, they asked, “Can you please grab me the twelve millimeter socket?”
“Of course.” I crouched next to their toolkit but then got stuck, staring blankly at the selection of sockets. I used a regular wrench when needed, and just tried different sizes until I found what fit, but they were generally in inches. “Um . . . So, what’s a twelve millimeter look like?”
Rio chuckled. “It’s almost the equivalent of a half-inch socket. Japan uses the metric system for their cars so our half inch isabout point seven millimeters too big for what I need. The size is written on the side.”
“Oh.” I picked up a socket and peered at the tiny writing inscribed on the edge. It took a few goes before I found the right size, then another moment for me to work out how it clipped together. “Here you go.”
“Thanks. Would it be okay if you scooched down here and held the light for me?”
Wanting to prove I could be useful so Rio would keep asking me to help them with the ’86, I scrambled onto the ground next to them. “Of course.”
