Slade(22)

“Are you going to sit there and play with that bacon all fucking day?” He takes a bite of his hash browns and then leans against the back of his booth. “It has to taste better than that crap you were catching on fire when I walked in.”

Rolling my eyes, I point my bacon at him and start waving it as I speak. “I wasn’t catching it on fire, dammit. Why are you-”

The bacon slips out of my hand and hits him on the cheek, causing me to stop and cover my mouth to keep from laughing.

Watching me stifle my laughter, he grabs for the piece of bacon, smiles and takes a bite out of it. “You think that’s funny, huh?”

I nod my head and laugh. “Yeah. You should have seen the way your eye twitched when it hit you. It was pretty damn hilarious.”

“I bet,” he replies before shoving the remainder of it in his mouth. “Now eat. I have things I have to do today.”

“Yeah. Like what?”

He takes a drink of his coffee and then holds the mug under his lips. “Lots of things. Some of them include: work out, run, grocery shopping, clean the house and then go to work tonight. The things that adults do. In between, I plan to just ride and get away. Get out of my fucking head and breathe a little. That’s what I have to do.”

I look at him a little stunned. For some crazy reason I just didn’t take him as the responsible type. I expected that Cale took care of the things around the house. I have to admit, it’s pretty sexy. I almost like this side of him.

“I’m done anyways.” I reach for my purse and get ready to pull out my wallet, but he reaches over and snatches my purse away. “Umm . . . my purse.”

Shaking his head, he sets my purse down and pulls out his wallet. “Never expect to pay when I ask you to eat with me. I asked you because I wanted to treat you to breakfast.” He pulls out two twenties and sets them on the table. “Let’s go then.”

He stands up right as the waitress walks over. She’s a young woman, maybe in her early thirties. She looks a bit stressed out as she keeps looking back at the counter. “You guys are all set?” She picks up the money and her eyes go wide when she looks at the tab. “Sir, it’s only fourteen dollars. Let me get your change.”

Looking over at the counter, he watches the two kids that our waitress has been sitting with in between her running around like crazy. “No, ma’am. Keep the change.” He pulls out another twenty, drops it down and grabs my hand. “Have a nice day.”

I don’t even get to see the woman’s reaction because he pulls me out of the diner too quickly and then jumps into his truck without another word.

I keep wanting to say something, to maybe get a reaction out of him, but I can’t think of what to say. I’m still stunned speechless by his generosity back at the diner. He did seem distracted while we were there. I noticed he kept looking away from the table as if something was catching his attention. Now, I know why.

“Slade,” I say softly. “That was a really nice thing you did for that lady back at the diner.”

He looks away from the road with a distraught look on his face. He looks like he’s beating himself up over something. “Yeah, well she needed it more than me. Those kids shouldn’t have to be at the diner while she works her ass off for three dollar tips. It’s not fucking right.”

I sit here and watch him as he drives. He seems a little worked up and I can’t help but want to comfort him. I don’t even know why. The urge just comes out of nowhere. His side profile is strikingly beautiful and the act of kindness that I just witnessed makes him even more beautiful.

Without thinking, I reach out and grip his knee, running my hand up and down his leg for comfort. He stiffens at first and glances down at my hand with a surprised look, but doesn’t say a word. He just drives in silence, keeping his eyes on the road. For some reason, I keep my hand there the whole way home.

I rub and massage his leg while looking down at my small hand on his muscular thigh. It feels good under my touch; natural. It isn’t until we get back to the house that I feel his muscles fully relax.

When he stops the truck and pulls the key out the ignition, he looks over at me and then down at my hand. He’s silent for a moment, his body still.

“I need to get ready to go running. I think Cale has the day planned for just the two of you.” He lifts my hand off his knee and sets it on my own lap. “I’ll see you later.”

I nod my head as I watch him jump out of his truck and walk over to the door. Why is a part of me feeling down for him? Maybe it’s because I feel there’s something more to him than I thought. That maybe he is a real human being after all.