Sweet Trouble Read Online Free Page B

then closes the door and starts walking to his car. I follow him. He opens the passenger door of his truck and practically tosses me up into the seat.
    When he gets in, he takes out his phone, dials, and tells someone to tow my vehicle to Arnold’s Garage. Incredulous, I listen to him give the person a description of my car and that my keys are under the floor mat. I want to stop him but something in the way his eyes burn makes me think better of it.
    He ends the call. “It’s probably just a dead battery, but I can’t do much in the rain and you sure as hell don’t want it here overnight.”
    “Okay,” I say, reluctantly. “But it’s not the battery. It’s the transistor.”
    He stares at me, probably surprised that I know a thing or two about cars. A slow smile curves his lips.
    “Transistor, huh? Why don’t we leave the diagnostics to the professionals? I’m sure those boys can figure it out.”
    “Right.”
    A moment later we’re pulling out of the parking lot into blinding rain. The downpour is deafening and I practically have to shout the directions to my house. He’s forced to drive slowly. I take in the details of his truck. It’s big and has a new car smell.
    “How’s your chin?” I shout over the din of rain. It’s not possible to have a conversation, really, but I want to know.
    “It healed up fine.”
    You’re welcome . That’s what I want to say, but I let it go.
    When we pull up to my house, I see two other cars there. Cars I don’t recognize.
    “How many roommates do you have?” he asks.
    “Just one. I thought she would be alone tonight. She just broke up with her fiancé.”
    He undoes his seat belt and I lay my hand on his arm. “Thank you Nick. You don’t need to walk me in.”
    “The hell I won’t.”
    Getting out of the car and following him up my own walkway seems a little silly. The man clearly thinks very little of me and I’m starting to feel insulted. Plus, I’m tired. Exhausted. All I want to do is lie down and go to sleep. In my own bed. With no alarm clock going off at five in the morning, it’s going to be pure heaven.
    The door is part way open. Nick enters before me but I’m right behind. The front hallway is littered with two pairs of enormous boots and two cowboy hats. Susanna’s voice pierces the quiet house.
    “Yes. Jimmy. Yes.”
    A man’s voice joins her and then another …
    My mind reels. Susanna wouldn’t hook up. She’s heart-broken, at least, that’s what I thought. And yet, it’s clear that’s what’s going on. She’s with two guys at once.
    “Holy shit,” I whisper. I say the words without thinking and when I glance up at Nick, I feel a burst of mortification light my skin.
    “Harder…harder…yes…”
    He leans against the door frame, the look on his face is bemused as he scans the entry and the den. The coffee table is littered with wine bottles and take out. A bottle of soda, half empty, serves as an ashtray with butts floating in the dark sludgy liquid. I’ve only known Susanna a short while. She’s a slob, but this is worse than anything I’ve ever come home to. And I’ve never come home to her having wild sex.
    “It doesn’t usually look like this,” I tell him.
    “Fuck me…Yes…Harder, you bastard.”
    “Or sound like this. Susanna doesn’t even drink. I don’t know who these people are.” Why I feel the need to explain, I don’t know, but I don’t want him to add more black points beside my name.
    “You can’t stay here.”
    My mind lurches and I replay the words in my head, trying to make sense of everything, or anything.
    “I’m not leaving you here. Go pack a bag. You’re coming with me.”
    “Oh my God, I can’t go with you!”
    “Move,” he orders and then starts nudging me down the hallway.
    “There’s no way.” I start hiccupping for some reason I can’t understand. Panic most likely and I’m about to tell him he’s got to leave as Susanna’s door opens. A man strolls out. I’ve never