“She just looks like a slutty bimbo. You, on the other hand? You've got that classic beauty thing going for you. She has to cake on makeup every day to look good, but you don't even have to try!”
I blushed, but still didn't feel like Leena was telling the truth.
“Come on, I don't need empty flattery to make me feel better.”
“It's not, Eryn. It's the truth.”
“Well thanks, Lee; you're a hottie yourself, you know.”
She giggled. “I do know, actually!”
We both laughed as we reached our cars. “Call me while you’re on the road to your parent’s house, if you get bored,” I called out to Leena.
“I would, but my phone died and I forgot my charger. But, I’ll text you when I get there.” We said our goodbyes, climbing into our separate vehicles.
My car was an old Ford Taurus that I'd bought with waitressing money. It had run okay for a long time, but the past few weeks, it had been getting rougher. I knew I needed to get it to a mechanic, but getting the money together for that was yet another thing I wasn't sure I was able to do, not with things the way they were at the moment anyway.
I turned the key in the ignition and gave it some gas. It struggled and wheezed, and after about a minute of trying, the motor finally exploded to life. As I pulled out of the parking lot, though, something about it started to feel real strange. It seemed as if it was gradually losing power.
This wasn't good – this really wasn't good. My apartment was five miles away, and it was almost dark. I really didn't want to walk home in the dark…alone. There had been a few incidents around the university area recently with students often being targeted by muggers.
I gave it as much gas as I could, revving the motor hard, but it just wouldn't go. After a minute, I could feel that it was on the verge of dying, so I pulled over to the side of the road.
This was just great. I had the scholarship matter hanging over my head, my mom to worry about, the thing with Tammy, and now this. Part of me wanted to scream, part of me wanted to cry.
I looked up and down the street. There were a few shady-looking dudes staring intently at me from a few hundred feet away. I didn't like the look of them – or how they were looking at me.
What am I gonna do? I didn't want to get out and walk, not with those guys staring at me. But neither could I just sit in the car and wait for them to go away; they might be there all night.
A car horn sounded behind me, startling me. I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a new, flashy SUV parked behind me.
When the driver's door opened, Wade Vinson got out. It was all I could do to stop myself from jumping out of the car and leaping into his arms.
His strong, manly arms…
No! No more of those thoughts! I shook my head to clear it.
He walked up to my window and bent down to look inside, and I saw his eyes widen with surprise as he saw that it was me.
“Eryn! It's you! Are you all right? I was just driving a few car lengths behind you and saw your car struggling. I figured something was wrong.”
“Oh my God, I'm so glad you stopped,” I blurted out, unable to control myself. “Yeah, Coach, my car has just broken down.”
“I can see that. You wanna pop the hood for me?”
“You can fix it?”
“I worked on cars a lot as a teenager. My old man was big into fixing up and restoring classics, so I know a lot about older motors. This is an early ‘90s model, right?”
“Yeah, '94.”
“Well, go on, pop the hood, and I'll check it out.”
I popped the hood for him while he went and retrieved something from the back of his SUV. He came back around to the front of my car, rolled up his sleeves, turned on a flashlight, and began examining the engine. I just watched him, marveling at how quickly and efficiently he worked; he really seemed to know what he was doing. I figured he used these skills as ammo for getting women to fall for him.
After a few minutes, he popped his head up.
“All right, I've got it. Your air filter is totally clogged. You have to get a new one. Almost no air is getting through, so your car isn't gonna be going anywhere.”