Repair Me (Kin #1)(17)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Feeling fulfilled, working was the last thing on my list of priorities. I made a few calls and found out that my friends were going to be at the beach. Even though one of my uncles and my cousins lived there, I wanted to avoid them at all costs. They were on my mother’s side of the family, and with the exception of my cousin Shayne, I’d pretty much stopped talking to them.

When my friends confirmed, I knew I had a good reason to go there, so I offered to take Sky. I was so excited to be able to spend more time with her. It didn’t even occur to me that I was driving her there to say goodbye.

At any rate, my friends would be there. It wasn’t like I wanted to hang out and party with them, but knew they’d let me crash there after I’d dropped her off with her friends. The only problem was that I knew Ashley was going to be there too. Knowing that almost made me feel good, since Sky was going to leave me with the biggest sexual hangover of my life.

I approached my dad with my plan while he was focused on removing a distributor cap. “I’m taking a couple days off.”

He stopped what he was doing and wiped the sweat off of his face. “Does it have anything to do with that little treat upstairs?”

I had to smile, just hearing the mention of her being at my place. “Maybe.”

“Son, when I told you to hit that, I didn’t mean for you to like it that much. You do know she’s going to leave and never look back, don’t you? Girls like that don’t think twice about giving up their good lives and living in a place like this.”

I leaned against the car he was working on and thought about the future that I’d always wanted for myself. Getting out of town had always been the priority. My dad was right. I knew I couldn’t keep her around. “We’re just havin’ some fun, old man. Besides, her friends are there waitin’ for her.”

“Is she goin’ to pick up her car and pay her bill on the way home, then? Are you stayin’ there with her?”

I shook my head knowing the answer to that without asking her. She’d made it clear that she didn’t want me near her friends. “I’m going to hang out with Ashley for a couple days, I guess.”

“Ashley’s a good girl, Ford.”

I scrunched up my face thinking about how hard she partied. She wasn’t the girl my dad thought she was. “Yeah, I’m over that. We can be friends, but we ain’t ever goin’ to be more than that. I can’t trust that bitch.”

He scratched his head and walked over to face me. “You know, life ain’t just goin’ to drop some hot blonde into your lap for you to keep. Take what you can get, Ford. I ain’t goin’ to be around forever, you know.”

“Who said anything about a blonde? I’m taking her to her friends. She was an easy lay and you were right about me needin’ some pu**y. Just drop it. I ain’t gettin’ into my personal business with you. Who I bang is not your concern.”

My dad walked away, still commenting under his breath. “I bet she tasted as sweet as a peach. Back in my day, I’d have her beggin’ for more.”

After laying out what orders would be coming in to the shop and checking the slew of messages that Ashley had left on my phone, I headed back upstairs. I was starving and figured that Sky would be awake. Instead, she was exactly where I’d left her. Her legs hung out of the sheets, as did her arms, but the rest of her body was folded into the sheet that had come apart from the corners of the mattress. Her little arms were wrapped around a pillow as she slept soundly. She’d probably freak out about it, but her disheveled hair was sexy as hell.

I made two sandwiches and leaned against the counter just watching her. After I’d taken a couple bites, she opened her eyes.

I never looked away.

I couldn’t, knowing that each second that passed drew us closer to when we had to say goodbye.

Chapter 7

Skylar

We got on the road later that afternoon after Ford took a nap. I stayed in the bed next to him, contemplating whether I should ask him if we could keep our arrangement going. Surely we could figure out a way to meet up once a month or something.

I woke Ford up and he started to get his stuff in order. He seemed to be in a foul mood, not really saying anything as we gathered our things and headed out to his truck. We put our two duffle bags in the crew cab and I put my purse under the seat without even a peep out of his mouth.

Ford pulled away from the old repair shop and we set out on our ride to part ways. For me, it was bittersweet. As much as I wanted to see my friends, the idea of saying goodbye to something that felt so great was difficult.

While driving through his small town I noticed two churches, a firehouse, a town police station, and a high school. The diner was the last place before we got back onto a deserted highway. “You really live in the middle of nowhere.”

“It ain’t that bad. We’re about thirty minutes from a city. They even have a Walmart now.”

“Wow, a Walmart!” I was being sarcastic.

“When I went away at college, I thought I wanted to live in the city, truth is I didn’t like it very much. It was too fast. Everyone expected something out of you. After Harley died, I just wanted to be left alone.”

I let my hand go out the window and feel the breeze. The sun reflected off of the passing cornfields; it really was beautiful. I could see how he would appreciate the quiet. “I get it. I guess I just wanted to be away from my family. They fight all the time and I wanted to get out and do my own thing.”

He got quiet for a second. “Can you get my phone out of the glove compartment?”

I was shocked that he owned one, but I grabbed it for him and said nothing.

He turned it on and set it on the dash. I could hear it vibrating like crazy, so I grabbed mine out of my purse and turned mine on. Sure enough, messages started coming through.

He handed me his phone. “Can you read me the messages?”

I felt like I was invading his privacy in a way, even though he’d told me to do it.

“Ashley messaged you three times.”

He shook his head. “What do they say?”

I looked down and read them in order. “Are you on the road yet? I can’t wait to see you.” The last message made my stomach ache. “I’ll be waiting in our favorite spot, naked!”

I leaned over and sat the phone down on the dash in front of him, refusing to look at him, but wondering if he’d told me to look on purpose. “She just won’t give up!”