Junk

by Komal Kant

  Total lie. I’d spent most of the night looking at her as I tried not to look at her.

  Blair drove me up the wall, she pushed my buttons, I knew I didn’t like her, and yet, my hungry eyes had drunk her in without reservation. That perfect body, with curves exactly where I liked them; her gorgeous face, gleaming cocoa in the firelight; and those dark eyes, absorbed by whatever my damn brother had been telling her.

  “Do you want there to be?” she asked in a brash way. I let her ask it because I knew there was never any bad intent behind her words. “Because I kind of think you do. I’ve never seen you stand up for anyone you didn’t care about.”

  I did care about Blair, but not in the way Delilah probably thought. Besides, Hunter was a racist moron; I wasn’t going to let that shit fly, no matter how small this town was or how ignorant some of the people could be.

  “Will you stop trying to create shit where there isn’t any?” I snapped, getting annoyed and continuing the trek back to my truck.

  Delilah let out an annoyed hiss and followed me, relentless. “You know, you wouldn’t be so annoyed if you didn’t care.” She lowered her voice. “It’s okay to want to sleep with her. Cole does.”

  Cole does.

  Of course he did.

  “It’s none of my business who either of them sleep with.” I pushed through the final cluster of trees with a little too much force, breaking out into the clearing where everyone had haphazardly parked their vehicles in strange positions.

  “You’re so jealous, it’s seeping out of your pores.” Delilah jogged around me so that I was forced to look at her amused face. “Admit it. You have a thing for her.”

  “Quit it,” I said, lowering my head and heading towards my truck.

  Delilah stopped walking and paused, pressing a hand to her forehead. “Wade, it’s okay to move on, you know?”

  I knew that, but it just wasn’t with Blair. It couldn’t be her, as much as she intrigued me.

  “Lila, stop.” I swung around, my hand poised over the door handle of my truck. “I’m not into her in that way. Look, I’m done talking. I need to go home and let Achilles out.”

  “Your only friend can’t be your dog.” There was judgement in her blue gaze.

  “What’s wrong with being friends with my dog?” I asked, throwing up my hands.

  “If you have to ask then that’s a problem in itself,” she pointed out.

  “Listen, will you get off my case and go back and have fun?” I asked, done with the conversation. “You can annoy the crap out me another night, you little shit.”

  Delilah pursed her lips together, scrutinizing me. In that moment, she had never looked more like our mom. “Fine, but I’ll be back tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that too until you admit the truth.” She paused, her expression softening. “And, Wade?”

  “Hmm?” I grunted.

  “I know Hunter made you feel like crap. I know the moment those nasty words left his mouth, you thought about turning to liquor.” Delilah took a steadying breath, her brilliant eyes never wavering from mine as she seized my hand. “But you need to know how much I love and respect you for holding onto your resolve. And, Wade, if it wasn’t clear enough, I want you here.”

  With that, Delilah kissed me on the cheek and spun around so fast, she almost smacked me in the face with her long ponytail. She disappeared into the trees, leaving me in silence and returning to the people I would always be an outsider to.

  In that silence, Delilah’s words sunk in. She was right, and her parting words had been a kick to my senses. I didn’t need the harder stuff just because Hunter had made me feel like shit.

  My path to recovery was my choice and some asshole couldn’t take that away from me.

  As though on cue, my phone vibrated in my pocket. When I saw who it was, my heart ached,

  Iris.

  Thinking about the good times. I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you.

  I let out a breath. Fuck.

  With shaky fingers, I texted her back.

  Love you too, Riss. Always.

  The ache in my chest grew whenever I heard from her. I wanted so badly to go back that life with her. Laugh again. Love again. But I wasn’t sure if I could.

  Whatever messed up, arrogant guy had been living in my body for so many years had filtered away now, and all that remained underneath was a skeleton.

  A skeleton of a man who was miserable and alone.

  That man was me, and it was a truth I would have to learn to live with.

  IT’LL BE AN EXTRA WEEK on the car.

  Words I never wanted to hear. Or see flash across my phone screen.

  Um, WTF?? Why??

  My fingers flew across the screen with urgency, as though Wendy Deng was bearing down on me with all her wrath in one of her tight pantsuits and insanely high heels, with her oppressive, Fury-like face.

  From across the living room, Mom glanced up from the couch she was curled up in with her Kindle, drawn to the sound of my furious typing. After a long day of sorting through an array of lacy undergarments that seemed much too sexy for a grandma, we were taking some needed downtime.

  Then this had happened.

  Wade texted back immediately. I wasn’t sure how he’d gotten my number, but I was too wound up to ask.

  He forgot to mail the parts to me, so if he does it on Monday, I probably won’t get them until Wednesday the latest.

  Where does he live?? Freaking Antarctica? I texted back.

  Few hours away.

  This was not happening. I’d already been in Pine Bluffs way past my expiration date. Wade had told me a few days, and that was fine, but anything beyond that put my neck on the line. I might as well not even go back to Chicago at this point. Maybe I could live here forever in a little forest hut and chop wood and do nature things instead.

  Yeah, right. I wouldn’t last one day here. I had to go over to Wade’s and figure this out. There was no way I was going to be stuck here a second longer.

  Letting out a cry of frustration, I jumped up from the armchair I’d been resting in. “Mom, can I use your car? I need to see Wade.”

  “What? Right now?” She squinted at the owl-shaped clock ticking on the wall. “It’s nine o’clock.” Her expression turned coy, and she wriggled her eyebrows at me. “Oh. Are you having a butt call with him?”

  “No, Mom! And it’s called a booty call, not a butt call.” I did a quick once-over of the lightweight, grey sweatpants and loose tank top I had on. It wasn’t even remotely appropriate for a booty call. “Anyway, he just told me my car’s going to take another week. Freaking ridiculous!”

  “That’s not good news.” Mom put her Kindle aside and started to rise to her feet. “Do you want me to take you?”

  “No, it’s fine. You need to rest,” I told her, reaching for her car keys that were sitting on the coffee table. “I won’t be long.”

  “Ooh, I get it. Trying to get some one-on-one time with the rugged loner, huh?” She was all smiles and humor like always, and I couldn’t help but return the smile even as I rolled my eyes at her.

  “Mom, it’s never going to happen,” I said, heading out of the living room. “I’ll be back soon.”

  “I won’t wait up!” she called after me. “Just in case you get lucky!”

  The way my parents championed any semblance of a potential love life for me was incredibly mortifying and sweet at the same time, but not when it came to Wade Welsecky.

  That man was a friggin’ apocalyptic, nightmare, junk owner—junk yard owner, I mean. Get it together, Blair!

  My eyes fell on a pair of Mom’s lime green crocs sitting by the front door. There was no time to be fashionable; they would have to do.

  Slipping them on, I was outside and in Mom’s SUV in a heartbeat. If I didn’t get this figured out tonight, my job was on the line. Maybe with such wealthy parents, Wade didn’t have a single worry about money, but I had to make my own way in the world. My parents had worked endlessl
y to make life easier for Drew and me, but I didn’t want to depend on them.

  So, if my car wasn’t ready within the week, there would be hell to pay.

  It was a short ten minutes to Wade’s junk yard. In moonlight, the twisted scraps of metal appeared even more sinister, casting dark shadows and indistinguishable shapes on the ground. The place was as ominous as a cemetery, dark and silent. It needed a dog barking somewhere or the hum of an engine somewhere, but no, I was met with silence around every corner. I felt more like I was in a slasher film than on my way to rip Wade a new one. Maybe I should have brought my mom.

  When I pulled up beside Wade’s hulking truck, his house was swamped in darkness.

  Was he asleep this early? He’d been texting me up until fifteen minutes ago. There was no way he’d gone to bed at nine o’clock. He wasn’t an aging grandmother, for cripes sake.

  That’s when my gaze fell on the lake and I noticed a glowing lantern casting light on a chair with an indistinct figure sitting in it. Couldn’t be like a normal person, watching TV or something. Nope, had to be a creeper out by a lake.

  One guess who it was.

  Frustrated, a little freaked out, and mostly just stressed to my limits, I jumped out of the car, pulled up my sweatpants, adjusted my tank top, and marched towards the lone Welsecky.

  The warm, night air buzzed around me. The crickets’ chirp danced around me, layered with a faint hum that I couldn’t distinguish. Wade’s resting figure in a lawn chair grew closer, and with him came a surge of emotions I wasn’t ready to face.

  With little reason, he’d defended me against a random, drunk guy and I still wasn’t sure why. I’d hated him since the moment I’d laid eyes on him, but with each encounter, something changed between us. It was hard to wrap my head around the complicated, mixed feelings I had for him.

  But I didn’t dwell on them any further because, before I could even react, a great, big blur of fur came bounding out of nowhere and jumped on me with so much force that it almost knocked me into the damn lake.

  “Will you get this beast off me?” I cried, putting my hands up to block the onslaught of saliva from the dark grey Pit Bull. I guess there was the dog I’d wanted.

  Wade cast a lazy gaze in my direction, like my arrival didn’t perturb him one bit. How was the guy so cool and collected all the time?

  “He’s just saying “hey”, but if he’s botherin’ you so much, I guess I can make him stop.” A slow grin spread across his face as he breezily said, “Heel, Achilles!”

  The dog immediately plopped his big behind down on the ground, his thick tail wagging furiously as he gazed up at me.

  Gosh, he was huge, easily a hundred pounds. Yikes.

  Wade stood up, knocked back the rest of his beer, and grabbed another one out the cooler sitting next to him, before taking slow steps up the incline towards me.

  “You don’t like dogs?” he asked, cracking open the beer.

  I stared back at Achilles, sitting there with his big dopey eyes, his giant tongue lolling out of his grinning mouth.

  “No, they’re slobbery and stinky and unrefined.” I shot Wade a dark look, hoping he caught my meaning.

  Like owner, like dog.

  Wade raised his brows, taking in my state of dress. “Slobbery?”

  “Yes, I don’t like being licked,” I snapped, folding my arms over my chest and feeling self-conscious that he was seeing me so dressed down.

  I was wearing freaking crocs for cripes sake!

  “You don’t like being licked? Maybe someone just hasn’t done it properly,” he teased, taking a step closer towards me.

  My face flamed at his insinuation. “You know what I mean!”

  “Do I? I’m not even sure I know you, Goochee.” He stood there, beer still clutched in his hand, studying me intently. “There’s a certain kind of woman that brings herself up here at this time of night.”

  “Excuse you!” What an asshole. “What the hell are you implying?”

  “Listen, Blair, the waiting list is long.” He turned away, disinterest in his tone as he stared out at the lake. “Karla Ford and Jessica Bentley and Amy Benz are all trying to sleep with me, too.”

  The nerve of this guy. The last thing I wanted to do was sleep with him. “How dare you? You’re rude, you’re obnoxious, you’re-”

  “Naming off cars and giving you shit,” he said, casually taking a drink of his beer.

  He what?

  Then it dawned on me.

  Karla Ford, Rita Bentely, Mary Benz. Oh.

  For some reason, this only irritated me further. “You think you’re so clever, don’t you? Holed up here on your junk pile.”

  “My what now?” There was an underlying innuendo and I knew his mind was going back to the day I’d seen him naked.

  “You know what I mean!” I yelled, certain that my blood pressure was so high, it was shooting out of this planet.

  “Sure.” He seemed bored by the conversation and returned to his chair. “Is there something you wanted?”

  “You were texting me less than a half hour ago!” This guy was freaking unbelievable. I couldn’t believe that a few minutes ago, I’d actually been having mixed feeling about him. Now, the feelings were nothing but murderous rage.

  Thank God I didn’t have my car or, well, we all knew what I’d do. Which was why I was standing here in the first place, dressed like I’d just rolled out of bed.

  “Was I?” I couldn’t be sure, but I swear the edge of his mouth lifted up in a smile.

  Jerk.

  “YES!” I cried, throwing my hands up in exasperation.

  “No need to shout, Goochee. Old Bill’s gonna hear you half a mile down the road.” He seemed satisfied, like he’d gotten the reaction he’d wanted out of me. “Anyway, yeah, I gotta order the parts you need, so it’ll be a week until your car is ready.”

  “What?” I cried. “I can’t wait that long!”

  “Well, there’s nothing I can do, unless you wanna go get the parts yourself,” he said with a laugh.

  Wade’s demeanor was so relaxed that I wanted to throttle him. Didn’t he understand that I had a job and a life in Chicago that I needed to get back to? There was no waiting around. This had to be dealt with right now.

  An idea formed in my mind. It was crazy, irrational, ridiculous, but I had no other options left.

  “Then I guess the only solution is to go and pick up the parts,” I announced.

  Wade promptly choked on his beer.

  Since I knew I wasn’t drunk, there was no way I’d misheard Blair.

  Pick up the parts? Did she think I was her personal chauffeur or some shit?

  “Are you telling me that you want me to drive up to Oak City tonight and get the parts?” I asked in disbelief, spluttering on my beer.

  “No,” she said, her gaze firm, “I want you to drive us to Oak City tonight and get the parts.”

  “You sound crazy right now,” I told her, shaking my head. “I don’t have time for that.”

  This girl was something else. She was pushy. Nosy. Annoying. Just the way I expected every inconsiderate journalist to be.

  “Wade, I need to get out of here, and I can’t get home without my car.” There was an edge of desperation in her voice that made me go easy on her.

  “You could use your mom’s car,” I reasoned with her.

  “I want my car!” she hollered, making my ears flinch. “You did this! You fix it!”

  “You’re a goddamn pain in my ass, Blair Fonseka!” I yelled, jumping to my feet.

  “And you’re just a plain nightmare!” she yelled back, not standing down. “Now, you are going to take me to this Oak City place whether you like it or not!”

  “Oh, yeah?” I asked, stepping closer to her and causing her to pause. “What if I don’t?”

  “Then I will lose my job and never leave.” Her tone dropped, turning low and threatening as she leaned closer. “And when I say never, I mean I will stay in this God forsaken town
where you’ll have to see me every day for the rest of your life. I’ll be in the bar, I’ll be in the church, I’ll be at the bonfires.” Her voice dropped lower, her eyes large and unblinking. “I’ll even invite myself to Thanksgiving at your parents’ house every year. Is that something you want for yourself?”

  Goddamn, this woman was nuts.

  “You’re bluffing,” I countered, locking eyes with her.

  There was no way she’d stay here longer than she had to. She didn’t fit in. Then again, neither did I, and I was here. Crap.

  “Try me.” Her gaze was unflinching as she stared me down. “I’m a desperate woman, and I’ve done crazier things than this in desperation.”

  I hated admitting it, but Blair’s relentlessness was kind of a turn on. Her dark skin was growing red in a way that was amusing and endearing. I needed to stop studying her. My eyes had stayed on her for too long.

  Yes, she was an attractive woman, but I’d learned through a series of terrible life choices that looks weren’t everything. Attractive people always seemed to get a pass. I’d learned it just gave them an excuse to be assholes.

  “You sure you wanna do this?” I asked, just in case she’d come to her senses in the last few seconds. “A road trip together could be risky. I’m very easy to fall in love with.”

  “Yes! I’m sure!” she cried, disgust coloring her face. “And, trust me, Wade Welsecky, love isn’t even an option. I don’t even like you!”

  “Well, we’re on the same page then.” With a heavy sigh, I grabbed my cooler and lantern, called for Achilles, and headed back to the house. “Let’s get this over with then.”

  “So, we’re going?” Blair’s tone perked up immediately.

  “Yep, right now.” My strides were long and quick, keeping up with Achilles’ bound.

  From somewhere behind me, I heard panting. “Right now? Like, this very second?”

  “Yep.”

  “But-”

  “Look.” I swung around, almost hitting her with the cooler. “Take it or leave it. If you wanna do this, then we leave now. We’re on my time.”

  Blair blinked at me, different emotions churning on her face. She looked like she really wanted to argue with me some more, but finally she nodded.