Be sure to continue your Roman Holiday with Episode 6: Mistaken
“Look, now you made the girl cry,” Stanley said to Roman.
“Me? How is this my fault?”
“Treating her like garbage.” Stanley scratched his ear, squinting at a sign. “You want to turn right up here.”
Roman glanced at his navigation system. “GPS says to go another four miles.”
“The GPS is full of it. This way’s faster. Turn right.”
Roman passed the turn.
Stanley cleared his throat, lowered the window, and spat. The gob landed against the passenger-side window, where Ashley watched it smear across the glass, its stop-and-go progress a disgusting measure of their velocity.
Fuck, she thought. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
She should have pulled Roman aside and given him some pointers on how to handle Stanley. He had to be handled, or else he got defensive and prickly, and when he was in this mood, he did things like accidentally-on-purpose spit on your car, just to see if he could wind you up.
Winding people up was kind of a sport for Stanley, and Ashley absolutely hated it. But maybe Roman hadn’t noticed.
She glanced at his shoulders. Tight. Very tight.
Fuck.
Stanley began clearing the phlegm from his throat again.
“You spit on my car twice, there’ll be consequences,” Roman said evenly.
“I didn’t spit inside the car, son.”
“I’m not your son.”
“Thank the lord for small favors,” Stanley muttered.
“What did you say?”
“Guys—” Ashley interrupted.
“I said ‘Thank the lord for small favors.’ ”
“Guys—”