Downshift (Skid Row Kings #1)

by Winter Travers

  “Nope, I’m all buckled in back here, I’m good.”

  Violet stood at the open door, trying to figure out if I was going to bite her or not. She looked fucking terrified of climbing up into the truck. “You need a hand?” Frankie hit me in the back of the head, and Violet glared at me. Hey, it was a genuine question. I’ve had lots of girls who had needed help getting in the truck. Although, they were probably more interested in getting my hands on them than Violet was. I watched as she put a foot on the running board, grabbed the door frame and hoisted herself up. Her skirt slid up her thighs exposing her pale, silky skin.

  My eyes were glued to her legs when Frankie smacked me upside the head again. Thankfully Violet didn’t notice and kept struggling to get in. “Your truck really isn’t made for girls who wear skirts, is it?” She finally got all the way in and swung the door shut. She pulled her skirt down and set her purse on the floor.

  “The kind of girls Luke dates don’t care if they flash the whole neighborhood when they get in,” Frankie chimed in.

  “Classy,” Violet whispered under her breath.

  Jesus Christ. Here we were not even a minute in my truck, and she’s insulting the girls I date. Not saying that Frankie wasn’t right, but did it matter? So the girls I dated knew how to have fun and not be some stuck up librarian, big deal.

  I pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to the shop to drop off Frankie. I really wished Bev wasn’t waiting for her at the shop because I would rather Frankie be with me whenever I was with Violet. I wasn’t sure if I could contain myself from strangling her whenever she started acting bitchy. Even her name, Violet, sounded like a snotty bitch’s name.

  “Are you planning on staying the night at Bev’s tonight?” I asked, flipping on my blinker to get on the road the shop was on.

  “Yeah. I have my bag packed. I just have to run in and get it.”

  I glanced over at Violet, her face forwards and her hands clasped in her lap. She really did look like a Goddamn librarian. “Text me and let me know what time you’ll be home tomorrow.”

  “Yes, Luke,” Frankie moaned, annoyed.

  We pulled up to the shop, Bev’s car sat idling by the front door, and I parked next to it.

  Bev hopped out of her car and dashed over to the passenger, throwing open Violet’s door. “Who the hell is this? I thought you were running to pick up Frank, not some stuffy librarian.”

  Frankie laughed, pushing open her door and hopped down. “I’m right here, Aunt Bev.”

  Bev backed away from Violet and wrapped Frankie up in a hug. Violet looked at me, shocked. “I’m not stuffy,” she huffed out.

  Oh yes, you are, darlin’. I shrugged my shoulders, not wanting to be an ass and tell her she was stuffy. “Yo, shut the doors. I got to run Cinderella to the store, home and then I still got shit to finish on the Charger tonight.”

  “Alright, alright. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” Bev swung the back door shut and motioned for me to roll down the window. “I’m not sure what time I’ll bring her back tomorrow. I might have her stay until Sunday if that’s OK?”

  “As long as it’s OK with Frankie and you let me know what’s going on, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.” Bev waved her hand at me, dismissing me and walked back over to her car. Ever since Mom and Dad had died, Bev had been trying to fight me for custody of Frankie. I’m sure the judge would have granted it to her if it hadn’t had been for her very unstable living situation. She always seemed to be moving every couple of months. Thankfully by the time we were going through the courts and everything, I had owned the garage and lived over it for over five years.

  “Bye, Violet. I’ll see you Monday?” Frankie asked, eager. I hadn’t seen her that excited talking to someone since Mom and Dad died.

  “Of course. Hopefully, Monday I will have had a better morning and be more awake.” Violet winked, making Frankie laugh. Frankie waved at me and headed into the office to grab her bag.

  “What kind of store did you need to go to?” I asked, backing out of the parking lot and headed to the shopping center downtown.

  “Something like Target. Thank you, by the way.”

  I glanced over at her again, eyes forward, lips clamped shut. I think it might have just killed her to say thank you to me. “You’re welcome. I need to pick up some stuff, anyway, so it’s not a big deal.” I didn’t want her to think I was bending over backward to help her out. I was running dangerously low on toilet paper and toothpaste.

  “So, you work at the library full time?” What I really wanted to ask her was how she could work at such a boring place every day, but I refrained from asking her that.

  “Yeah, Monday through Friday. Sometimes Saturday if they can’t get a volunteer to cover the desk for a couple of hours.” She fidgeted with her hands in front of her.

  “So you’re the only employee?”

  “The only paid one. I make the schedule for all the volunteers and do about fifty other things.”

  “Have you always wanted to work in a library?” It was a ten-minute drive to the store, I needed to make small talk, or I was going to go crazy in the silence.

  “Yeah. I love reading and just being around books. I’m sure you’re the same way with cars.” She looked over, studying me.

  I never had really thought of the fact that I just loved being around cars. Fixing and racing them was just something I was good at. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Hmm.” Was all she said and turned back to the windshield. She just hummed at me, and it somehow felt like she was judging me. I didn’t know how to read this chick. She was unlike any other woman I had ever spent time with. Usually, I would hook up with one of the flag girls from the races, and that would be it. They’d watch me race, give me a victory kiss when I won, have sex and that would be it. Hell, Kurt and Mitch had a running bet of how few words they could say before the chick would agree to sleep with them. “What song is this?” she asked, pointing at the radio.

  I turned it up, unable to hear it. “‘In Chains’, Shaman’s Harvest,” I said, finally able to hear it.

  “I’ve never heard of them before.”

  “I’m not surprised.” She probably listened to Justin Beaver or something poppy like that.

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means you don’t look like a chick who would listen to Shaman’s Harvest, let alone rock music.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and turned towards me. “So what do you think I would listen to?”

  “Justin Beaver.”

  “Who the hell is Justin Beaver?”

  “You know, the dude with the floppy hair and shit music.”

  “Do you mean Justin Bieber?”

  “Yeah, although Justin Beaver sounds better,” I smirked.

  “You’re an ass. I bet you can’t guess what kind of music I listen to.” I pulled up to a red light and looked over at her.

  “I didn’t think you’d be this spunky,” I laughed.

  “I didn’t believe that you were actually this big of a jerk, but there you go proving me wrong.”

  I glanced at the light, making sure it was still red and looked back at her. “I bet you listen to chick crap from the 90’s. Alanis, Jewel, and all that girl shit.”

  “Do you really call everything you don’t like shit?”

  “If it’s shit, yeah.”

  “Why do you think I listen to that music? I could be into rap or something like that.”

  “Just the word rap coming out of your mouth sounds wrong. You’re into Indie Rock shit, don’t deny it.”

  She glanced forward and pointed out the windshield, “Green light.” She turned back forward, not answering me.

  “Tell me I’m not right.”

  She glanced at me, glaring. “You’re right, dammit.”

  I laughed, surprised as fuck that she actually admitted to it. “You need to pick up some candles and tea to drink while you listen to music tonight?”

&nb
sp; “You’re so funny,” she mumbled fighting a smile.

  “I think that’s the first thing you’ve said to me that actually wasn’t bitchy.”

  “You seriously did not just call me bitchy.”

  I glanced over, her jaw hanging open, staring at me. I shrugged my shoulders, knowing that I might have just crossed a line that I didn’t want to step over.

  I pulled into the parking lot of Target, managing to grab rock star parking and shifted the truck into park. “You don’t have to come in,” she said, opening the door, looking over her shoulder at me.

  “Need shit,” I mumbled, opening my door and jumped down. My fucking Dodge was pretty tall and jumping down was basically the only way to get down. I looked across the seat just in time to see her drop down, a squeal escaping her lips when she landed.

  “Fucking ridiculous,” I heard her mumble, straightening her skirt.

  I shook my head and grabbed my wallet from the center console and closed the door shut. She strutted around the truck, not waiting for me, and beelined into the store. I beeped the locks on the truck and followed her.

  She grabbed a cart, and I wondered what the hell she was getting. I decided to follow her just to make sure I didn’t lose her in the store and then have to wander around to find her. I fucking hated shopping. Lord help me if Violet was one of those chicks who wandered around looking at everything.

  I followed behind, noticing she wasn’t looking at anything. She seemed to be a woman on a mission, and I had to appreciate that. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as painful as I thought.

  =_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=

  Chapter 5

  Violet

  “You think you could pick out a coffee maker before they close the damn store?”

  Luke and I were standing in the small appliance aisle in front of the coffee makers, and his patience was wearing thin. I glanced over at him and had to laugh inside. He looked miserable, and he let me know every thirty seconds of his distaste of shopping.

  I had to admit that I normally wasn’t much of a shopper either unless it was for something I really wanted. The dilemma I was having now was the fact that I wanted the new Keurig, but it didn’t exactly fit into my budget. If I got it, I would be eating Ramen and cereal for the next month. Was fantastic coffee worth bland, shitty food?

  “Just get this one and let’s go.” Luke crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance. He had already wandered to get what he needed, that ended up being a crap ton of toilet paper and the biggest tube of toothpaste I had ever seen before.

  I bit my lip, looking over the more expensive Keurig. Damn, I wanted it, but it really wasn’t in my budget. Hell, even the cheaper one wasn’t in my budget. I grabbed the smaller one, glancing wistfully at the better one and set it in the cart.

  “Why the hell aren’t you getting that one?” Luke asked, looking at me confused.

  I put my hands on the handle of the cart and pushed it forward. Maybe next time, bad ass Keurig.

  “Stop.” Luke put his foot out, stopping the cart.

  “What?”

  “I know you want that one, why the hell aren’t you getting it?”

  “Because although that is the most badass Keurig I have ever seen, it’s just not in my budget.” I pushed forward again, hoping to run over Luke’s foot, but he put a hand on the cart and held it still.

  He reached into the cart, putting the smaller one back and grabbed the big mac daddy one and put it in the cart. “Let’s go.” He pulled on the cart, pulling it out of my hands and headed down the aisle.

  “Stop,” I demanded as I lunged forward, grabbing the handle again and yanked it back. Luke kept his back to me and shook his head. His hand tightened and pulled again. This time, he didn’t manage to pull it out of my hand, but he dragged me along with it.

  My shoes slid on the floor, as I leaned backward, trying to put all my weight into making him stop. “Luke, I can’t afford this,” I screeched as we neared the checkout. He ignored me and also the baffled stares we were getting and pulled the cart to the register. He grabbed his stuff, placing it on the belt then grabbed the Keurig.

  “So you’re buying a Keurig I see.” I propped my hands on my hips, pissed off that I was going to have to walk back through the store and grab the other one.

  “No, I don’t like coffee. I’m more of an ice cold soda in the morning guy.” He pulled his wallet out, flipping through all the bills in his wallet and pulled out a handful.

  “Then why the hell are you buying a Keurig?” The clerk scanned everything, and he handed her the wad of bills.

  “I’m buying it and then giving it to you so we can get the hell out of here and go get something to eat. I haven’t eaten since noon, and now it’s quarter to nine. I need food.” He grabbed his change and put everything back in the cart.

  “You’re crazy. You can’t give me a two hundred dollar Keurig and expect me to just take it.”

  I grabbed the front of the cart, but he continued to pull it behind him. “That is exactly what I want you to do because I really doubt with all your snootiness that you will not take it. That would be rude.” He glanced over his shoulder at me, a smirk on his lips.

  Gah, this man was downright infuriating. “I’m paying you for it.”

  “Whatever. I don’t care. Pay me or not, I got you out of that damn store.”

  “I’m paying you.” We walked up to his truck, and he opened the door

  “Fine, pay me right now.” He held his hand out, waiting.

  “I can’t pay you right now. That thing was way more than I could afford.”

  “Then stop bitching about it, accept the fact I bought the damn thing for you and get in the truck.” He grabbed the big box, set it on the backseat and tossed the toilet paper and bag on the floor. “Get in.” He shut the door and pushed the cart over to the stall.

  I stomped my foot, infuriated by the fact there was nothing I could do besides listen to the ass.

  “You know I hate you.” I crawled up into the truck, tossing my purse in the back, not caring where it landed. “I didn’t ask for help, but you seem to think I’m some damsel in distress you need to rescue.”

  Luke just shook his head and started the truck. “Look, princess, I’m not in the market save you all the time. I'm just a decent human being.” He threw his arm over the back of the seat and backed out.

  “Most decent human beings don’t buy woman they don’t know two hundred dollar Keurig unless they are trying to get something.” My jaw dropped, and my eyes bugged out at the thought that Luke wanted something from me now.

  Luke glanced over at me and shook his head. “You can put your eyes back in your head, Princess. I didn’t buy you a Keurig to get in your pants. That’s not how I like to pick up girls.”

  I sat back in my seat, somewhat disappointed that Luke seemed so put off of the idea of me. Of course, this was me reading too much into what he said, but it still hurt. I glanced over at him, taking in his chiseled features and handsome profile. He really was a good-looking guy, so it was no surprise he didn’t want to be with a geek like me. “Where are you stopping to eat?” I asked, not wanting to continue thinking about the fact that I was strangely hurt.

  “You good with Miguel’s? I had planned on eating there tonight. They don’t close until eleven so we’re still good to eat there if you want.”

  I quietly moaned, imaging the delicious tamales and humongous burritos at Miguel’s. “I could eat there.” I didn’t want to look like a complete fool talking about Miguel’s. Although once I took a bite of a tamale there was no telling if I would be able to keep my moans of yumminess to myself.

  We pulled up to the restaurant, and there were barely any cars around. “Looks like we won’t have to wait for a table.”

  I slid out of the truck, sort of getting used to getting in and out and headed inside, following Luke.

  He held two fingers up to the waitress, and she led us over to a corner booth and laid out menus on the
table. “Ginny will be right over to take your order.” She beamed at Luke, totally ignoring me and headed back to the front of the restaurant.

  “I already know what I want. Two tamales, a chicken, bean, avocado burrito and a huge ass strawberry margarita.” I never messed around when I came to Miguel’s. Life was too short to eat shitty food and worry about what people thought.

  “Sounds good. I’ll have the same, but you always need to have the chips and guacamole when you come here.” Luke grabbed both the menus and set them on the edge of the table. I had forgotten about the guacamole. I was going to have to steal a couple from Luke

  “Hey, Luke. I haven’t seen you in a while.” We both turned our heads to see who was talking, and my stomach rolled. I should have known when the other waitress had said Ginny that she was talking about Ginny Marco. The bane of my existence in high school. I grabbed one of the menus and opened it up, blocking her view of me.

  “Yeah, we were in the mood for some Miguel’s.” I couldn’t see Luke, but you better believe I was glaring at him. Acting nice to the bitchiest bitch around, phff.

  “So, what can I get for you? The usual?” Ugh, just the sound of her voice made me cringe.

  “Um, do you just want me to order for us?” Luke asked.

  I peeked over the menu, his eyes on me, looking at me like I was crazy. He’d be acting crazy too if Ginny had treated him the same way she had treated me. I waved my hand over the menu, not wanting to talk, and he thankfully knew that meant to order.

  After he had ordered, Ginny the bitch thankfully left without even glancing at me. It was no surprise she was infatuated with Luke. She always went after the popular hot guys in school. Her MO had not changed.

  “Is there a reason why you have the damn menu in your face and I had to order for you?” He put his hand on the menu, pushing it down.

  “Oh, you know, I just thought you would want to be a gentleman and order for me.” My cheeks heated, and I knew I was blushing ten shades of red.

  “I call bullshit.”

  I grabbed the menu, opening it up again and buried my nose in it. “There’s nothing to call bullshit on.”

  He grabbed the menu and set it on the booth next to him. “I will tell Ginny to cancel our order, and there will be no tamales for you.”