Page 17 of Truck Up

“Oh, my God!” Hadley gasps and covers her mouth.

“What?” I furrow my brow, not liking the look on her face. She’s seeing something that I most likely don’t want her to see.

“You love him,” she whispers.

Yep, she sees it.

“I don’t know. Maybe. Yes.” I squeeze my eyes closed and drop my head to the table. I want to lie, but it’s no use. My friends can read me like an open book. “I am so fucked,” I mumble.

“Maybe not,” Hadley says with so much hope behind her words. I can always count on her to find the bright side of any situation. In addition to being the sensitive one in our group, she’s always the hopeful optimist.

“How so?” I ask.

“Let’s wait and see what the test says. You might not be pregnant.”

“I doubt the test is going to give me that answer.”

“You don’t know that. Oh—” She reaches across the table and squeezes my arm. “Nova’s back.”

I don’t have to turn around to know she’s coming. I can feel her matching across the restaurant with purpose. She’s a dominating personality.

She steps up next to my chair and hands me a small rectangular box. “Go to the bathroom. We’ll wait here.”

“I don’t want to.” I pout.

“I get it babe.” Nova squeezes my shoulder. “But the only way we can move forward is by knowing. No matter what that test says, we’ve got you.”

I sigh and take the test from her. “You’re right. I’ll be back in a few.”

Pushing to my feet, I head to the bathroom. I take the handicap stall since it’s bigger and has its own sink.

I stare at the box for several minutes before I open it and read the instructions. Seems simple enough.

I take one more deep breath and unsnap my jeans. Whatever the answer, I can handle it. There isn’t anything I can’t handle as long as I have my friends by my side. Including this.

Chapter 4

Silent bombs do the most damage.

Christian

After securing the exhaust pipe in place on this bike rebuild, I check the time. Another hour until we close. Too early to call it quits and not enough time to tackle another part on this bike unless I want to be working until after six.

Sometimes, I love working late in the evening. It keeps me busy and distracts my mind from my dark thoughts. Tonight, I’m not in the mood for more work, though.

But I can’t leave early, or else Liam will yell at me. I hate it when my brothers yell or lecture me like I’m a child. I get that I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but dammit, I’m a grown ass man.

Maybe there’s something I can help Sophia with to fill up an hour. I hate starting something and stopping before it’s finished. That’s a common issue with the general service we offer. Unfinished tasks always leave me on edge and anxious. I’m anxious enough as is and don’t need anything else adding to it.

My anxiety is one of the many reasons I turned to drugs as a kid. Drugs took away that anxiety. When I was high, I didn’t care about all the things that made me anxious. Hell, I didn’t care about anything when I was high. Not even my own life.

Now that I’m clean, I have to find other ways to kill the anxiety. I don’t mind general mechanic work, but custom motorcycle builds are my passion. I can lose myself for hours on a build project and never once hear that anxious voice inside me. It keeps my hands busy and dampens all those horrible nightmares competing for my attention.

The shop is quiet today. It’s just been Sophia and me here most of the day. Everyone else left early this morning for the tracks. I like Sophia, and I doubt she’d tell anyone if I left early. Knowing my luck though, Liam would come back right after I left. It’s probably best if I stay and pretend to keep busy.

Sophia is Mac’s girlfriend, my youngest brother. Liam hired her as a mechanic right before we all learned she’s a racecar driver too. Mac was in a race and got his ass handed to him by a new driver. A driver that just happened to be our new mechanic. Their romance got off to a rocky start, but now they’re inseparable.

There are three arms to Mutter Truckers Auto & Racing—general mechanic work, custom motorcycle builds, and racing. Liam rarely does the physical work anymore. He manages the business and keeps the work coming.