Page 74 of Cruise Control

“Screw you! If you want Wonder Woman over there, you can have her,” she snapped. Parker laughed again and then gave her a big, sloppy kiss.

“How could I want anyone but the angel sitting in front of me?” he asked, putting some cash on top of the check. She wiped at her mouth.

“That was disgusting,” she coughed.

“I bet the bartender wouldn’t think so.”

She slapped the back of his head.

“Shut your mouth.”

“Wonder Woman was a brunette.”

“What?”

“Wonder Woman. You called the bartender ‘Wonder Woman’, but she’s blonde. Wonder Woman had dark hair,” he explained. Paige groaned and climbed down off her stool.

“You’re arguing semantics over a fictional character,” she replied. He followed her across the restaurant and out the front door.

“Hey! Everyone knows Wonder Woman has dark hair!” he pointed out, pulling on his jacket as they walked down the street.

“Ididn't know that,” Paige pointed out, and Parker winced, realizing the way she'd grown up, she'd probably never seen the show or read the comic book. Surely, though, she'd stumbled across the movies.

“C'mon, you must've seen a picture somewhere. You've seen Superman, right? She's like the female counterpart. Everyone knows he's got brown hair. Same thing with her,” Parker teased. Paige rolled her eyes.

“I don’t care if she has -”

“PAIGE!”

The voice came from across the street, a little behind them. They both whirled around, startled, looking for the source. Someone yelled her name again – there was a group of people standing outside a rowdy looking bar. A guy finally separated from the crowd, whistling sharply. He called her name one more time, and she gasped.

“Oh my god!” she yelled and ran across the street.

Parker was stunned. It was horrible, but he realized he'd always assumed Paige didn’t really have any real friends. She'd been raised alone in the woods, she'd left home at a young, was always blabbering on and on about being a hobo, and going wherever the wind blew her – how did a person like that have friends?

She made friends with you.

Parker’s blood ran a little cold.

He slowly walked across the street to where she was now standing in front of a guy. He was tall – easily Parker’s height – but skinny, and lanky. He wore a pair of ridiculously tight skinny jeans and a t-shirt underneath a vest. He had that emo kind of hairdo that Parker absolutely hated; long bangs swept to the side in front, huge rats nest in the back falling to the shoulders.

Worse, the dude was eyeballing Paige like he wanted to snort her up through a dollar bill. She was too busy laughing at something he’d said to notice. But Parker noticed, alright. And he didn’t like it. If he hadn’t been so instantly pissed off, he would've felt guilty about the scene with the bartender.

“Paige,” he said, coming up behind her. She stepped to the side.

“Oh, Parker! Parker, this is my friend, Trent. Trent, Parker picked me up in Alabama forever ago. About two years ago, Trent picked me up outside of Portland – I had sprained an ankle. He actually waited at the hospital and then drove me to San Diego. Whenever I’m near there, I stop and see him,” she introduced them.

Parker and Trent stared at each other knowingly. Trent was smiling, Parker was not. Trent stuck out a hand, and not wanting to be rude, Parker shook it. He didn’t get a good feeling from the guy. There was something shady about him.

“She’s always doing something to herself, isn’t she?” Trent laughed, wrapping an arm around Paige’s shoulder and squeezing her close. Parker stood very still and nodded.

“She certainly is,” he managed to say with a small laugh, staring at Paige. She pushed off off Trent.

“So what are you doing in Utah, of all places?” she asked, and Parker was happy when she stepped closer to him.

“Oh, we were over in Moab, dirt biking, hanging out for a while. Just heading home now, stopped for a drink. Crazy that I saw you, huh? What are the chances!?” Trent exclaimed. Paige laughed.

“I know! We were just in Moab, for like three or four days!” she replied. Trent raised his eyebrows and looked at Parker.

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