I slipped on the heels I’d been wearing for the past two days and rushed out the door.
I hurried down the road and prayed Billy in the motel lobby couldn’t see me. There was no shoulder on the road, so my options were to run in the ditch or on the pavement. Fortunately, there were no cars on the road. I knew I looked ridiculous trying to jog in heels. After a hundred feet I gave up, took them off, and ran barefoot while carrying them. Hopefully I didn’t step on any broken glass.
No matter how small the town was, it was too far when traveling on foot. I ran for ten minutes before the double-wide trailer of the diner appeared on the right. I made myself stare straight ahead as the few patrons watched me through the windows, the girl jogging barefoot up the road like she was fleeing Freddie Kruger.
After the diner I passed another of those strange metal skeletons. This one had a long face and sneering steel teeth, and it seemed to be laughing at me as I ran the final fifty feet to where I was supposed to be.
The community center was a sad little building with one boarded-up window and half the shingles missing from its roof. A butch woman wearing a John Deere tractor hat stood outside with a clipboard in her hand and an annoyed look on her face. She watched as I shambled the final stretch to her.
“I’m sorry!” I gasped, catching my breath. “I’m sorry. So sorry. For being late. I got lost.”
She leaned away from me. “You smell like a Sunday morning frat house.” Then she looked at the heels in my hand. “Those the shoes you brought?”
“I couldn’t find any others,” I said. “Is there a loaner pair or something I can use today?”
“Nope.” She ticked a box on her clipboard, then handed me an orange reflective vest. “Put this on. You’re on trash duty. That’s your ride.” She nodded at a white pickup truck with a man inside parked a few spaces down.
“Thank you,” I said, grabbing her hand to shake. “Sorry again for being late. Won’t happen again!”Because hopefully this is the only day of work I’ll do, I thought as I approached the truck.
I opened the passenger door and froze.
Jayce sat in the driver’s seat, an amused grin on his handsome face. He wore a tight black T-shirt with an orange reflective vest over top.
“Huh,” he said in his rumbling voice. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re stalking me.”
Seeing him brought back memories of my dream. Mysexydream. “You. Just what I need.”
“You’re not who I was hoping for, either.”
I climbed in and he started the truck with a rumble.
“Guess you saw Judge Benjamin yesterday?”
I could still feel his face between my legs, long tongue penetrating me deeply, devouring me completely. The image was fresh and vibrant like an oil painting.
I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Listen. I’mveryhungover right now, and I woke up literally five minutes ago. So if we could have a moment of silence for my sanity I’d be very happy.”
“Suit yourself.”
The truck rumbled down the road, bouncing along as it hit old potholes that had never been filled.
“This is all your fault,” I said.
Jayce grimaced at me. “Thought you wanted silence.”
“The judge was sympathetic until he realized I knew you.”
“Youdon’tknow me.”
“No, but I had your stupidjacketwith me. When the judge saw it, he turned on me like that.” I snapped my fingers.
“How’d he find out it was mine?”
“I told him.”
“Ahh,” he said with satisfaction. “So you didn’t listen when I told you to keep your mouth shut?”
I shook my head and stared out the window, my head still pounding too much to respond.