15. Jesse

15

JESSE

"I'm never doing anyone a favor again," I grumbled, leaning over my steering wheel to try to see better in the dark.

I left my apartment three and a half hours ago, and I still wasn't at Sebastian's damn cabin.

It hadn't taken me long to get a tire from work, but anything that could have gone wrong from that point had.

The rain started twenty minutes after I left the shop, right when I was about to get onto the highway. It wasn't bad, just a typical evening shower.

But it was the weekend, and it seemed like everyone and their brother were on the road. And of course I'd gotten stuck behind an accident that had backed traffic up for nearly a mile. What should have been a ten-minute drive had taken a full hour. It didn't look like a bad accident, more like a giant fender bender because people forgot that roads got slippery when they were wet.

The rain stopped for a bit, and I thought I was home free. Until I got to the offramp for the lakefront properties and the rain came back with a vengeance. Instead of a gentle shower, it started downpouring. I was two and a half hours into an hour- long drive at that point, and it wasn't like I could just turn around and leave Sebastian stranded, so I kept going, hoping the rain would stall out again or lighten up.

It did neither, and the private roads leading to his cabin were in even worse shape than I'd imagined. The broken pavement, massive potholes, and missing parts were a nightmare to navigate, and the stretches that weren't paved had turned into muddy slip 'n slides. I'd had to slow down to a crawl so I didn't end up sliding right off the road.

I didn't actually know where Sebastian was, but I was coming up on his property boundary, so it couldn't be too much further.

Was he okay? I'd texted him a few updates to tell him about the delays, but he never opened them.

I'd tried calling him a couple of times too, but they'd gone straight to voicemail. I assumed his phone had died, considering how long it had been since I heard from him, but a little part of me was terrified something happened and he wasn't answering because he couldn't.

Had he seen my messages? Did he think I abandoned him?

I hoped not. Bas was a smart guy, but he was impulsive. I wouldn't put it past him to try and walk through this if he thought he was on his own.

Fear tightened my chest at the thought of him lost in the woods, wet and alone and thinking I left him to fend for himself.

The back of my truck fishtailed, my rear tires spinning in the mud.

"Shit!" I wrenched the wheel, steering into the spin, and took my foot off the pedals.

Keeping my focus on the spinning tires and the still shifting back end of my truck, I used every trick I knew to gently coax my vehicle free of the mud and get myself back on the road.

Slowing down enough a bunny could outpace me, I flipped on my high beams so I could check out the road ahead of me. They didn't work all that great with the rain, but at least I could see more than three feet in front of my hood now.

Gripping the steering wheel tight, I focused on driving and not on the dozens of worst-case scenarios flashing through my mind.

Just as I was working myself into a full-on tizzy, my headlights reflected off something shiny as I came around a corner.

Was that Bas? Or was some other poor soul stuck on the road too?

It was too dark to be sure, but the car ahead of me was the same color and type as his. That had to be him.

The driver's door opened and Sebastian jumped out.

Thank fuck he was okay.

My relief was short-lived as I pulled up behind him and put my truck in park.

He was beside my door as I threw it open and stepped out onto the muddy ground, the warm rain soaking into my clothes and hair.

"Where have you been?" he demanded.

My hackles instantly rose, and all the concern and goodwill I'd felt for him in the past few hours disappeared in a flash.

"What do you mean where have I been?" I slammed the truck door behind me, barely noticing that we were still being pelted with rain. "I've been driving on the worst roads on the planet to come save your stupid ass."

"My hero." He glared at me and pushed his wet hair back from his forehead. "You want a cookie?"

"A thank you would be nice." I made a shooing motion with my hands. "Can you back up a bit so I can get your fucking tire on?"

He took a step back and crossed his arms over his chest, his glare shifting into a look I couldn't make out in the dark.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine," I said icily, stomping past him to get the tire and my jack out of the backseat.

The rain had soaked through my clothes and hair, and my shoes were covered in mud, putting me in a fouler mood than I already was.

"I can help," Sebastian offered.

I almost told him to back off and let me handle it, but the faster we got the tire on, the quicker we could get the fuck out of the rain.

I handed him my lug wrench, and he hurried over to his car. I followed a bit slower since I had the spare and the jack to balance and didn't feel like face-planting.

My headlights lit up the area around his car, so I was able to see where I was going, but the darkness around the little swath of light was unnerving.

His left front tire was completely flat, the rim nearly resting on the ground. I could see a scrape on the underside of the bumper and some damage to the wheel well, but it looked like the tire had taken the brunt of the impact.

"Is that the one you hit?" I pointed to a giant pothole between our vehicles.

"Yeah. I didn't see it until it was too late."

"How could you not see it? It's the size of a manhole cover?" I used my arm to wipe some water from my face.

"I guess I'm in dumbass mode today. Haven't we already established that?"

"I guess we have. Hold that while I get the car up on the jack." I pointed to the wrench he was still clutching.

"I'm not some damsel in distress, you know. I can help."

"I never said you couldn't. But it's dark and wet, and it'll be easier if I do this part alone." I paused what I was doing and gave him a little smirk. "I am, after all, a professional."

"Professional pain in my ass," he grumbled.

"Actually, I think that would be you, since I haven't gotten a turn at your ass yet."

He made a weird sound, almost a squeak, but not quite, so it kind of sounded like a bird call.

Chuckling at his stunned silence, I finished getting the car up on the jack, then went to kneel next to him again.

"Now you can help," I said. "Get the lug nuts off for me, will ya?"

He said something, but it was quiet enough that I didn't catch it.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing." He fit the end of the wrench over one of the nuts. "Just calling you a bossy asshat."

"Yeah, well, you called this bossy asshat for help, so I guess you're just going to have to deal with it."

"Fuck," he grunted, his arms shaking as he tried to spin the wrench.

"Give it here." I held out my hand.

"I've got it," he snapped, putting his whole body behind each pull. "Goddamn it!" He pulled harder, rocking back and forth as he tried to get it to move. "Come on, you stupid son of a bitch. Come on !"

"Bas—"

" Fuck !" He let go of the wrench and fell back on his ass. "Fuck," he repeated softly, his shoulders stooped and his head down.

"Bas." I grabbed his wrists, stopping him before he could put his head in his hands. They were covered in mud, and this tantrum wasn't about the lug nuts.

A flash of red on his palm caught my attention. Was he hurt?

I twisted his hand toward me so I could take a better look.

He wrenched his wrists out of my grip. "It's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"It's fine," he snapped.

I knew he was acting out because of the situation, not necessarily because of me. But I was also in a pissy mood and soaking wet, so I wasn't able to muster up much understanding just then.

"Either help me with this or get your sulking ass into your car and get the fuck out of my way."

He went tense, his expression shifting into a glare. With all the grace of an apex predator, he shifted onto his knees, our arms close enough I could feel his body heat through our wet shirts.

Silently, I worked the wrench off the nut and handed it back to him.

He shot me a surprised look. Bas wasn't some skinny weakling. He could get the nuts off; that first one was probably tighter than the rest.

"You sure you trust me with this?" he asked, waving the wrench in my face.

"Try the next one if your hand is okay," I said, knowing the challenge would light a fire under him.

I was right, and he worked off four of the five nuts with no trouble. Together, we managed to get the last one off.

We got the new tire on and the car down off the jack without any more drama.

"Did you damage anything else when you popped the tire?" I motioned to the scrapes and damage to his undercarriage. It was too dark to see the extent of it, but it looked superficial.

"Don't think so." He flipped his hair back from his forehead and wiped his dirty hands on his mud-covered jeans. "I started it a few times while I was waiting and it was fine, but obviously couldn't try driving, so…" He shrugged.

"Test it."

Nodding, he got into his car and cranked the engine. It started immediately, his headlights lighting up the road ahead of us.

I took a few steps back as he put it in gear and drove about twenty feet down the road, then stopped and rolled down the window.

"I think it's fine," he yelled, sticking his head out of the window like my parents' dog liked to do.

"I'll follow you," I shouted to him. "Go slow."

"Slow? I was planning on working on my street racing skills. See if you can keep up!" he called back, then stuck his head back in his car and did up his window.

"Jackass," I muttered, trudging over to my truck.

I was completely soaked and coated with mud. Thank god I had a couple of old towels in the back seat. Otherwise I'd be cleaning dirt out of my cab for the next six months.

I took a moment to spread them out over my seat, then climbed in, ready for tonight to be over.