Page 19 of Tandem

My dad cocked his head to the side with a curious look. “Oh yeah? Not going to be sneaking to the old airfield for some racing without permission again, are you?” he asked with a wink. I remembered some of the other times when that was exactly what I had done, but I giggled and shook my head no.

“Oh no! I, umm… I have a date.” My cheeks were inflamed again when I pictured AJ.

Dad opened the door a bit more to stand up straighter, then walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. “Anyone I know?” Dad seemed genuinely interested. I hadn’t ever talked to my parents about going on a date before. But I didn’t want to share much because Jayden didn’t like AJ from the car meet, so it was time to deflect.

“Probably not. It’s just someone I met at the coffee shop up the road this week. We talked while we waited for coffee, and then he asked for my number and asked to take me out on a date Saturday night.” I shrugged, trying to act less excited and more indifferent. “I haven’t really gone on many dates, and he seemed nice enough, so I said sure.”

Dad reached over and pulled me in for a big hug. His lips pressed on the side of my head in a good night kiss. “Well, if he’s a dick, let me know. Me and the crew will do burnouts and donuts around him until he’s smoked out and scared.”

I laughed, imagining four cars doing burnouts and donuts around a guy who wasn’t AJ, and he was scared and yelling for them to stop. I looked at my dad and felt my heart swell with happiness. Dad always said the best things. And I honestly believed he would get his Flywheels crew together and do just that if any guy was a dick to me. “Thanks, Dad, but I think I’ll be fine. Besides, it’s just a first date. I don’t know if it’ll even go beyond that.”

Dad gave me one more quick, tight hug and stood up. “Well, I’m going to go pack. Your mom will kill me if I leave it at the last minute again.” He winked at me, and my smile got bigger as he walked out and shut my door.

I laid back down, pulling my soft sheets up to my face. I checked my texts one more time. I was pretty sure I drifted off to sleep finally with the biggest grin on my face.

CHAPTER 12

AJ

My car cruisedto a stop outside Kayden’s Customs, and I parked next to a blue Viper. I’ll be damned, she’s got decent taste in cars. Wouldn’t mind taking that for a spin one day. My window was down, and my arm was resting on it. I nodded to her with a smirk growing on my face. “Slide in, girl, don't be shy.”

Fuck, if that simple phrase didn’t make her face turn red as she made sure her car was locked and speed-walked to the passenger side. Opening the door and sitting in the passenger seat, she buckled up while fumbling a bit with the click. I kept watching her as she settled in, and the more I looked at her, the better it got. She had a pretty face that curved into a cute nose and rosy little lips. Her eyes fluttered around the car as she looked at the custom work, her fingers touching the dash as her mouth opened in a little “O”.

“Your car is super nice,” she said nervously as she gently rubbed her fingers back and forth.

I reached over and pushed her hair behind her ear, letting my thumb trail along her jawline and then down her neck.

“Mmhmm, thanks, baby girl. You hungry?” She looked over and nodded. Little did she know, the only meal I wanted to have was her. We drove out to the hood. Now I could tell she was alittle more nervous, probably never allowed to go past her dad's shop, if I had to figure. I rested my arm on the backrest, placing my hand firmly on her right shoulder, massaging it slowly. Glancing over, I watched her face blush a little more as she bit her lip softly. “Relax, baby girl, no one will mess with you if you stick with me.”

She glanced over, her hands fidgeting on her lap a bit. “O-oh, I wasn’t worried. I’m just wondering where we are going, that’s all!”

I chuckled at the crack in her voice at the last two words. “Mmhmm, sure you were, baby girl, we’re actually here.” I parked the car at the best little chicken dive in the ghetto. It might not look like much, and the paint on the exterior was peeling, but it was the best food around. I exited the car, waiting for her to slide out after me, and then I shut the door behind her. We walked over to the outside sitting area, where Chloe, the owner, was coming out with menus and two glasses of water.

“Sup, AJ, got a cutie with you today. What can I get you?” Rosalie peered up at her and then at the menu, reading it.

“Umm, can I get the chicken strips and fries, please?” she said quickly with a warm smile on her face. Damn, she was even adorable when she ordered food. I got my usual ten-piece fried basket and watched Chloe as she walked away. She always did have a dump truck on her, but she was boring as shit in bed.

“So…” Rosalie looked around the street as we waited. “AJ… what do you do for work?” Then she blushed slightly as I raised my eyebrow. We were really gonna do the small talk, then, I see.

“Odd jobs, never doing the same thing for too long.” I leaned back in my seat more, gazing at how the sun caught the natural highlights in her darker hair. Telling her I stole cars and fought in an illegal street ring might not be her ideal “first date” conversation.

“Oh, well, that’s cool! I guess it’s probably fun getting to do a bunch of different things. I've always known exactly what I wanted to do, working at Dad’s customs is my literaldream. Painting cars is what I’ve wanted to do since I was little when Dad used to buy me little model car kits. What about you? What do you like to do for fun?” She took a deep breath and smiled at me, and she didn’t seem as nervous now that we were here, just chilling.

Something I’d noticed in the short time I’d spent with her is that Rosalie would talk a million miles a minute when she was nervous. But once talking about something she was passionate about, like painting cars, she slowed down a bit, almost like she was letting every word about it sink in. There was just something about her that made me want to know more about her and what she was into. Her passion was sexy.

I shrugged at her question. “Cruise around in my whip, go to the gym, parkour.” She glimpsed out at where my car was parked, and her eyes lit up as she gazed at it.

“Well, I mean, you do have a gorgeous lowrider. I can see why you would want to drive in it for hours and hours. I would love to try to paint something as pretty as it, but I’m still new, so I haven’t really started doing more detailed work like that. One day, though.” She giggled and looked back at me, tucking her hair behind her ear with her delicate fingers.

I felt my dick twitch as I watched her. I reached down and adjusted it in my black joggers. I could just picture her wrapping her hands around me, stroking me.

We talked about other small things, the conversation moving right along and her nerves lessening as it did. Then Chloe brought out our food, and the smell of juicy, deep-fried chicken hit my nose. I start eating, and I look over at Rosalie again. I chuckled, and she looked up at me, surprised. She didn’t evenrealize there was a little ranch sauce on her cheek. I leaned over, grabbing under her chin softly.

She gasped as my fingers closed around her chin. I tilted her face toward me and slid my tongue across her perfect, lightly tanned skin. Taking a few quick breaths, her eyes locked with mine. I slowly sank back in my seat, and her face was fully red now. She shifted her legs together and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Uh, umm… Why?”

I chuckled and took another bite of my fried chicken. “You had some sauce on your cheek, so I took care of it.”

She lightly touched her cheek, which I had just licked, and looked down at her plate, her pink lips softly speaking. “T-thank you.”