Page 8 of Touch of Innocence
“Okay, boys, back to work,” Mike said, as Sam tossed over some car keys to Ben. The four of them, plus Sam’s dog, went through the door into the back, and Ben got into the car that Gunner and Sam had done the oil change on. With a friendly wave, the man was gone.
While Sam picked up a broom again, Mike showed Gunner around the shop, which wasn’t particularly big but which was full of cars in for repair. Full enough that he didn’t even notice the special car, not at first.
“One thing you gotta know, Gunner, is that we’ll get along fine so long as I never see you lay even a finger on the Jag,” Mike spoke with pardonable pride as he led him through the space. The Jag? Gunner frowned, confused until Mike led him around the corner. There, under a dust sheet which Mike whipped away with great pride, was a beautiful, gleaming black car.
It was a Jaguar, no doubt about it, and so lovingly maintained that it would be worth a nice chunk of change. Gunner couldn’t even help himself. He softly whistled as he walked around the vehicle, not having to feign being impressed.
“Jaguar XK-E?” he asked, and Mike nodded, obviously pleased with himself and pretty much glowing with pride. As well he might be. This car was a classic. “From the sixties, right?”
“1964. You have an eye for cars,” Mike complimented. The dog, who had followed Sam into the shop, came around as though to see what they were looking at, and Mike eyed him warily.
“Sam, if your dog does anything to my car …”
“Relax, old man,” came Sam’s voice. Gunner smirked a bit to himself. These people were absolutely adorable, and part of him couldn’t believe that he’d been accepted. Him, of all people, being trusted around a Jag, invited onto someone’s property, given a job, even.
No way in hell was he going to mess this up. Sometimes he felt like everything he touched turned to shit, but not this. He was determined about that. He was just going to get what he needed to do done, and be out of here before he could ruin anyone’s life.
“Shadow,” Sam called, and the dog bounded away, an adoring look on his face. Someone who could make a dog love him that much couldn’t be all bad, right?
“Okay. You guys give me another hour, and then you can knock off. Sam, keep cleaning. Gunner, there’re a few more oil changes to do, and you can tell me what else you know how to do.”
There was a huge backlog of cars, Gunner saw, and clearly only one mechanic. He grinned at the older man, watching in amusement as he covered up the Jag again like he was putting a baby to sleep. He knew that adoring look. It was the same one he got whenever he looked at his bike.
“I think you’re gonna get your money’s worth out of me,” Gunner teased, and Mike’s slow, lazy grin rewarded him.
“You know it, Mister,” Mike confirmed, and Gunner grinned right back. For the moment, at least, he was good. He really doubted that Chad would find him here, no matter how hard he looked.
In short, for the moment, life was good, as long as Gunner remembered his place and as long as he didn’t screw this up.
Throwing himself into work was the easiest thing in the world, and soon, Gunner lost track of time. The only thing that could pull him out of it was when he saw Sam wandering by, idly pushing a broom.
The guy seemed like he was lost in a world all of his own, far away from the shop. Sam didn’t belong here, but then, who was Gunner to talk? He and Sam were the same, really, because not only did Gunner not belong here, he was pretty sure he didn’t actually belong anywhere.
* * *
Sam drove them home, in a beat-up old car that Gunner was pretty sure should be falling apart at this point. The engine whined and growled at them, obviously not well maintained, and Gunner had to fight off the urge to roll his eyes.
“What? I’m sorry it’s not a damn Jaguar,” Sam huffed, apparently seeing Gunner’s look as the car rolled to a stop outside of the biggest old farmhouse that Gunner had ever laid eyes on.
“Come on, Sammy,” Gunner said, a smirk on his lips. “You work for a mechanic. Can’t you keep your car in better working order than this? It’s a mess. Like almost not safe to drive.”
“Don’t call me Sammy,” Sam protested, as Gunner had pretty much assumed that he would. It seemed to be a bit of a sore spot for him, and Gunner couldn’t actually say that he wouldn’t try to do it again. Call him that, get a rise out of the guy. He was just so easy to piss off, how was Gunner supposed to resist?
Especially because Sam looked at him, really looked at him, when Gunner teased him enough, which shouldn’t matter much at all, but somehow did. So yeah, it was a dick move, but he would probably just go ahead and keep on calling him Sammy.
“Okay. Sorry,” Gunner told him, and he moved to get out of the car. Just before he shut the door, he added, “Sammy.”
He didn’t stick around to enjoy the other man’s scowl. He just gave him a friendly little wave through the window and then wandered off toward the front door, wondering just what all of that had been about. He was fully aware that he could be a bit of a brat, but he wasn’t usually quite this bad.
There was just something about Sam, with his clean hands and his superior attitude, that got under Gunner’s skin. That was really all there was to it. So he pushed the thoughts away and walked up to the front door, nerves gnawing at his guts like a dog with a bone. Speaking of dogs, Shadow almost knocked him down, having bounded straight out of the backseat of the car and now bouncing around Gunner.
Cute dog, even if his owner was a bit of a dick.
The door was pulled open by a young girl who looked somehow familiar to him, though it took a second for Gunner to place her. He had a good memory for faces, though, and he remembered seeing her being pulled out of the office of the repair shop by a gorgeous man with the bluest eyes that he had ever seen.
“Hi,” Gunner said, giving her a bit of a smile. Cute kid, even if she was looking at him like he might bite her head off. But what to say next? How much had she been told? Did she even know that he was coming to live in her house?
“Are you, Gunner? That’s a cool name,” the kid confided to him, and Gunner smirked a little and nodded.
