He pulled me onto his lap and put his hands over mine on the wheel. He took off his hat and plopped it onto my head backwards. "Every trucker's gotta have a hat." He winked.
It was a good thing Travis was helping me steer because I honestly wasn't sure I'd be able to do it on my own. Everything felt so big-the wheel, the windshield, and the pedals (which I definitely couldn't reach with my feet).
The only vehicle I'd ever driven was the Driver's Ed. car, which was a small sedan, and Claire's Prius.
"There's Hank." Travis pointed out as we slowly passed by the auto shop.
Leaning out the window, I waved my hand wildly. "Hey, Hank!"
Travis hooked his arm around my waist and planted me back into his lap. "Gotta keep both hands on the wheel, baby." He chuckled against the back of my neck before taking over with the steering and pointing up at the ceiling. "Here, pull that."
Wrapping my hand around the rope, I pulled down and the horn blasted. Unrestrained laughter burst from me as I bounced on Travis's lap, causing him to groan.
"Sorry!" I said over my shoulder. "Did I hurt you?"
"No, baby." He kissed the side of my neck and smiled against my skin. "But Hank expects that basket to be empty when we get back. I'll steer, you throw candy."
Remaining in Travis's lap, I resumed my assignment and allowed him to take over the task of driving.
I honked the horn again when I saw Ernie making balloon animals for some kids.
"Hi, Ernie!" I shouted, then tossed the last of the candy out the window.
Our part in the parade only lasted about fifteen minutes. Once we got back to the shop, Travis parked the semi and we went into the garage to help hand out coupons and key chains.
The pimp carts, as I'd so eloquently named them, were impressively decorated. Each one seemed to have a theme. The patriotic cart had dozens of mini American flags sticking out, waving in the wind, and all four family members wore red, white, and blue. A very loud cart had bells, whistles, and bicycle horns attached. People cheered as it made all kinds of obnoxious noises. My favorite was the musical cart that had a father and son dueling banjos in the backseat while an amused-looking woman drove.
Halfway through the afternoon, we ran out of the goodies and the crowds in the streets started to clear.
At some point, Ernie stopped by and handed me a yellow giraffe. "It's my last one. Ran out sooner than I thought I would."
It wasn't a big deal-just a silly balloon animal. A kid's toy. But it still meant a lot to me. He'd saved the last one for me.
"Thank you." I hugged it to my chest.
"I'll see you Monday? My grass needs a trim," he said.
"Definitely." I nodded, and he left with a salute-like wave.
He was walking away when I caught sight of Kendra and Tara approaching the shop with a tray of ice waters.
This was the first time I was getting a good look at Tara. Last time I'd seen her it was at The Brick House, and she was too busy laughing at me behind her hands for me to see her face.
She was pretty, with a short blonde bob and brown eyes. It was hard to tell how tall she was because her heels were sky high. She and Kendra wore black polo shirts with the Buck's logo and black shorts.
Tara was a mystery to me. I never heard Colton talk about her, and she hadn't been over to the apartment at all since I'd been staying there.
"We thought maybe you guys would be thirsty over here," Tara said with a shrug. She attempted to smile, but it looked fake to me.
"No kiddie cocktail this time?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, come on, that was just a joke," Tara said with a forced laugh. When she was met with stony silence she changed the subject. "Where are the guys?"
"In the office going over the plans for the next transport job," I told her, keeping our exchange short.
She set a glass down for me, then went to the office to give the rest to the guys. Unfortunately, with Tara gone, I was left alone with Kendra. Her glare was still in place and I wondered if she always looked that way.
Resting-Bitch-Face was a real thing.
"You think you're so special. Riding in the parade. Pretending you and Travis are together. Acting like you belong here," she sneered. "But everyone knows all about you."
Man, she really didn't waste any time letting me know how she really felt, which was fine. I didn't exactly have warm feelings for her either.
"What do you mean ‘everyone knows all about me'?" I asked warily, putting air quotes around her words, although I wasn't sure I really wanted to know the answer.
"Rumor in town is you're a hitchhiker." Her voice dripped with malice. "And Travis just picked you up off the side of the road like some lost, helpless kitten."
My cheeks burned with embarrassment. I couldn't deny what she said, so I just stayed silent and hoped she would go away. But she just had to dig the knife in a little further.
"That can't be true, right? I mean, that would be ridiculous … " she trailed off.
She didn't really need me to confirm the story. Obviously, the hitchhiking thing was true and she knew it. I resented the lost kitten comment, though. It was another low blow about the fact that I was young.
"Anyone ever tell you that your conversational skills need a little work?" I gritted through my teeth, but she continued as if I hadn't said anything.
"What I do know for sure is you're that leaving. And when you're gone, I'll still be here."
The truth of her words stung. I didn't need a reminder that my time here was limited. Although, she was delusional with that last part. If she was implying she had a chance with Travis, she'd obviously lost her marbles.
I hadn't known him that long, but I knew he would never be with someone like her.
He was too good.
I didn't see the sense in arguing with her, though. I'd never been very good at defending myself. The best comebacks always seemed to come to me hours later. I'd probably think of the perfect witty retort when I was in the shower tonight. What I really wanted to do was slap that bitchy look right off her face.
Instead, I just stated the truth. "You puked on his shoes."
I could tell I hit a nerve with that one because Kendra's face got bright red. I'd be pretty embarrassed, too, if I threw up on a guy I liked.
The office door opened and Travis came over, looking back and forth between us.
"Hey, Kendra," he greeted her as he put his arm around me. Although his tone was casual, I could feel the tension in his muscles. "What's going on?"
"Travis! So good to see you. We thought you might be thirsty." She plastered on an obnoxious smile, and I rolled my eyes so hard I felt it through my entire body. I was sure Travis felt it, too.
"Thanks. That was nice of you," he said politely, and an awkward silence followed.
"Well," Kendra started to back away, "I should get back to Buck's. See you at the street dance later?"
"We'll be there," he told her while possessively rubbing my shoulder.
It was really hard not to feel triumphant in that moment. Point for Angel.
Travis just made it very clear where his interests were, and I might've even felt bad for her if she wasn't so mean.
Her words from earlier still stung, but I didn't want it to ruin my day. Luckily, Travis had the perfect distraction.
"Are you hungry? There's a barbeque going on over at the community building. Hotdogs and hamburgers," he said. "That sound good to you?"
I was already nodding before he could finish. "You had me at hotdogs."
Laughing, he looped an arm around my waist before steering me down the street and dropping a kiss to the top of my head.
ANGEL
The sun was sinking below the horizon when the music started, and the intense heat of the day began to ease up. The DJ was set up in the community building parking lot and Main Street was blocked off for everyone who wanted to dance.
Groups of people stood off to the side to talk while children ran around with glow sticks and tried to catch the thousands of fireflies that lit up the surrounding fields of the town.
Travis stood behind me, with his arms wrapped around my middle as he made small talk with some of the auto shop customers. They asked about the trucking business and he told them about the upcoming trip to Colorado. Our trip to Colorado.
Oh yeah, and he told several people I was his girlfriend, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It almost didn't seem real.
Wanting to dance with Travis again, I planned to drag him out into the mass of moving bodies as soon as a slow song came on. It seemed as though he had the same idea because when the first chords of ‘Silver Wings' played through the giant speakers, he intertwined our fingers and pulled me out into the middle of the street.