14. Sebastian

14

SEBASTIAN

I steered my car along the familiar road, weaving around potholes and taking care when driving over the unavoidable ones.

The week had been weird as hell, and I needed to escape to my cabin for a bit.

I still couldn't quite wrap my head around what had gone down after my show last weekend or what I'd learned about Jesse.

How was I supposed to talk to him about this? And when? Should I text him and be like, Hey, so my stalker was actually your stalker, and I think he used to be one of your escorting clients?

I could wait until the next time we happened to be in the same place again, but it'd been almost six weeks since that night in his bedroom, and I hadn't seen him once in all that time.

Finding out that Jesse may or may not have been an escort wasn't the earth-shattering revelation it would have been with anyone else. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

I had no clue why he'd started, but knowing him, I wouldn't be surprised if it was because he wanted a challenge or he was bored or something equally innocuous.

This felt like another one of those weird glimpses into each other's lives that we were never meant to see. I wasn't supposed to know this about him, but now that I did, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I'd always had pretty liberal views of sex work and hadn't really thought much of it when Jesse's older brother Quinn started filming porn in his early twenties. I'd never watched any of his stuff, but that was because I'd known Quinn since I was eight and it would be weird to see him having sex. Not because I didn't agree with his choice or thought there was something wrong with it.

And maybe I was obsessing over nothing. Maybe I'd misunderstood Carl or he hadn't been completely honest with me.

The only way to clear things up would be to talk to Jesse.

But that brought me right back to how the hell was I supposed to do that and not make things even weirder between us.

Crunch .

The world tilted as my front tire fell into a giant pothole, the underside of my car scraping loudly against the cracked and broken pavement.

"Fuck!" I hit the brakes as my car fishtailed, the left front end lower than the rest of the car when I came to a skidding stop, my front end pointed toward a deep ravine.

"Holy shit." I turned off the car and sat there for a few beats, giving my brain a chance to catch up to what had just happened.

Once my heart slowed back to its normal pace, I threw open my door and climbed out to assess the damage.

The tire was flat, and there were fresh scrapes on the underside of the wheel well.

"Of fucking course," I said to the woods.

Kneeling, I checked to see how bad the scrapes were and if it looked like I'd busted up my undercarriage at all.

It seemed okay, but I wouldn't know until I got the spare on and could try driving.

Heaving a sigh, I popped the trunk and went to get the spare.

It took a few minutes to get to the compartment under the trunk, but once I had access, I twisted the little handle and tugged it open.

"Motherfucker!"

The spare was gone.

"Goddamn fucking idiot !" I shouted at myself.

I'd gotten a flat and used it about a year ago, the day before I had to leave to get back on tour. I'd been in such a rush I forgot to get a new one and hadn't replaced it since.

Angrily, I put the trunk back together and closed it with way more force than I'd meant.

What the hell was I supposed to do now?

This stretch of road was right at the edge of my property, so I was sort of in No Man's Land. It was about five miles to my cabin and probably about seven to my closest neighbor.

Just to be dramatic, I stomped over to the driver's seat and flopped onto it, leaving the door open as I pulled out my phone.

I only had fourteen percent battery left.

Whatever. I just needed to turn the car on and idle for a bit, and I could charge it. It wasn't the most environmentally conscious thing to do, but I didn't have another choice.

Leaning over, I dug through the mess of things I'd stacked on the seat to bring up with me. When I couldn't find my cord, I checked the center console.

"Oh, hell," I stopped searching as I remembered where it was.

I'd charged my phone at work earlier and left it at my station.

Fuck.

Panic tickled my chest, but I breathed through it and unlocked my phone.

This wasn't good, but it wasn't the end of the world. I had enough battery to call for help.

I paused, my finger hovering over the screen. The only person I could think of was Jesse. He was a mechanic, so he'd be able to help if there was more wrong with the car than just the flat.

I could text my sister or Adam, but they were about as good with cars as me. And I knew they were going to a party close to their old college tonight, so they'd probably already started drinking.

And I sure as shit wasn't calling either of my parents. The last thing I needed was to give them more ammunition they could use to rag on me about how irresponsible I was.

I really didn't want to do this, but I had no choice.

Sebastian : how much do single tires cost?

I put my phone on my leg and leaned back in my seat. I probably could have thought of a better way to open the conversation, but it was too late now.

My answer came less than a minute later.

Jesus : do I look like AAA?

Sebastian : no but you are a mechanic

Sebastian : seems like this would be in your wheelhouse

Jesus : depends on the tire

Jesus : why are you asking me this?

Sebastian : because I have a flat

Jesus : can you get your spare on?

Sebastian : about that….

Jesus : you don't have a spare????

Sebastian : I did! But I used it and forgot to replace it

Sebastian : and before you say anything

Sebastian : I know I fucked up

Jesus : at least you can admit it

Jesus : but again, why are you texting me and not AAA? That's kind of their thing

Sebastian : I would have but I'm in a bit of a bind

Jesus : what happened? Are you okay?

Sebastian : I'm fine

Sebastian : it's just I'm a little outside of AAA's area of service

Jesus : stop with the word games and tell me what's going on

Sebastian : I was on my way to the cabin and I hit a pothole and now I have a flat

Jesus : the cabin? How far are you from it?

Sebastian : about five miles

Jesus : fuck

Sebastian : pretty much what I said when it happened

Jesus : but you're okay?

Sebastian : yeah. Just stranded

Sebastian : did I mention that my battery just dropped to 12% and I don't have a way to charge it?

Jesus : why didn't you open with that dumbass? Or the fact that you're stranded?

Sebastian : I like to live dangerously

Jesus : apparently

Jesus : what year is your car? And the make and model just to be sure I get the right tire

I quickly typed out the info and sent it.

Jesus : it'll take me about 90 mins to grab a tire, and get out there

Sebastian : that's fine

Jesus : just don't wander off or do something dumb. I'll be there as soon as I can

Sebastian : thanks

Sebastian : I didn't have anyone else to text and I wasn't sure you'd answer

Jesus : I'll be there as soon as I can. Now stop wasting your battery

Sebastian : okie dokie

He sent me the emoji with the flat lines for eyes and a mouth.

I tossed my phone onto the dash and leaned back in my seat. This was going to be a long hour and a half.

Crack .

"Ow!"

I rubbed my knee where I'd bounced it off the steering wheel and blinked groggily.

Had I fallen asleep?

The soft patter of rain on the windshield helped clear the last of my daze.

It was raining? And it was getting dark? How long had I been asleep?

Blearily, I grabbed my phone off the dash and hit the home screen.

Nothing happened.

"No, no, no, no, no," I muttered, tapping the button a half dozen times like that would somehow recharge the battery. "Fuck." I tossed the phone back onto my dash and looked around.

It was dark, but not just because of the rain.

It was nearly nightfall.

"Shit." Scrambling, I threw my car door open and nearly fell out, my feet getting caught up under the pedals in my haste.

Cool rain pelted my skin and soaked into my clothes as I stood beside my car, scanning the area for any sign of Jesse.

I'd called him just after six, and it didn't get fully dark until almost nine at night this time of year.

That meant almost three hours had passed.

Realizing I wasn't accomplishing anything except getting wet, I got back into my car and closed the door.

Was he okay? Had something happened to him?

Maybe he'd texted that something came up or that he couldn't make it, and I hadn't seen it before my phone went dead?

A flash of lightning lit up the sky and the interior of my car.

"One, two, three, fo?—"

Crack !

I jumped, even though I'd been waiting for it. That was close, and louder than the thunder that had woken me up.

The sky was rapidly darkening, going from steel gray to midnight blue to black as the last few minutes of twilight faded and night fell.

Nervously, I peered through the window of my car. I loved the woods and had never been afraid of the dark, but I also had an incredibly vivid imagination and could easily scare the piss out of myself if I let my thoughts wander.

"Okay, think about this logically," I coached out loud to distract myself. "You're stuck in your car with no cell. You're five miles from anyone, you can't drive, and it's storming."

The rain came down harder, falling in thick sheets as the sky seemed to go pitch black in an instant.

A flicker of irritation cut through my panic. I'd checked the forecast after work, and it said there was a thirty percent chance of rain. It hadn't said anything about a storm.

It was way too dangerous to try and walk to the cabin now. I knew the roads like the back of my hand, but between the storm and the darkness, I could easily get turned around and end up lost.

And what if Jesse was coming? I couldn't leave now. My car was blocking the road. Even if he managed to get my car off to the side, the road wasn't wide enough for our vehicles to pass each other.

Breathing deep, I leaned back against my seat, ignoring the chill from my wet clothes.

I needed to calm the fuck down before I did something stupid.

Everything would be fine.

I'd be fine.

And Jesse was fine.

Hopefully that fucker was doing whatever he did on Friday nights and I'd find out when I eventually charged my phone and saw his text telling me he changed his mind.

My eyes flew open.

What if he'd already been on the road when the storm started? What if he was in a ditch or he had his own flat or he crashed into a tree?

"It's fine," I said into the car, my voice barely louder than the rain beating on my roof and windshield. "Everything is fine."

It had to be.