Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Exhaustion was an interesting thing, she didn’t even bother to question him. She climbed onto the back of his bike, wrapped her arms around him, and allowed him to take her home.
Nikki didn’t know what the hell she was going to do. The savings she had were so minimal, especially as she already started to pay for the car parts. Again, due to her mother’s reputation, she always had to give something upfront so people could rely on her. Not that she had ever let anyone down and not paid a bill, but it was tiring. Each time the car needed work, she had to pay half upfront. The rent she had to pay upfront, and if she was late, the landlord would constantly talk about eviction.
She couldn’t catch a break. Not that she was any stranger to a hard life. This was easy compared to some experiences from her earlier years.
Within minutes, Hawk had her outside her trailer, and she was relieved. She was getting used to climbing off his bike, so she was no longer falling on her ass.
“Thanks,” she said. “Do you want a coffee?” She did not have a lot of water left. She needed to pick some up.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Nothing.” There was plenty of water to make him a drink. She was not about to tell Hawk how pitiful her life had become. There was no reason for him to know the truth.
“Nothing?”
“Coffee?” she asked, hoping to avoid the subject.
Hawk climbed off his bike and she tried not to think about how good he looked. He wore jeans that were neither too big nor too tight, they were just the right size. She nibbled her bottom lip, and she just wanted to keep looking at him. There might have even been a little drool. No, no drool. Hawk was her friend and no one drooled over a friend.
“Coffee it is.”
Stepping into the trailer, Nikki made her way to the fridge, removing her bag and placing it down on the floor but out of the way so no one would step on it. Grabbing a couple of bottles, she was pleased to see there was enough to get her through to the morning. She might even have enough to make herself some ramen noodles, but if not, there was always a sandwich, providing her bad luck hadn’t resulted in shitty, moldy bread. She had to stop thinking this way.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”
It just seemed to be one thing after another, and she felt like she was drowning. Putting the kettle on top of the stove, she lit the gas, and sure enough, that extinguished almost immediately. She was out of gas, and this morning, the landlord was already gone, and she needed to get another canister hooked up. Gripping the edge of the counter, she let out a gasp as he suddenly put his hands on her shoulders.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“You don’t need to hear it.”
“Tell me.”
She took a deep breath and hesitated, then opened her eyes and stared straight ahead. “It’s just life. You know, when one bad thing after another seems to be causing a whole load of crap.”
Nikki turned in his arms. “Everything is broken on my car, and I can’t get it fixed fast enough.” She blew out a breath. “The plumbing. I can’t get the landlord or trailer lord, or whatever, to move off his ass and get it fixed. Now, my cell phone is dead, and that had a full charge this morning, so I’m down a phone. To make matters worse, there are rumors at work of job cuts. I might lose my job, and to finish everything off, I’m out of gas.” She pressed her lips together. “Not a lot of big deals but enough to make me a little fed up, and now I can’t make you a cup of coffee.”
She was so close to tears, but she wasn’t going to cry.
“And I’m so sorry if I smell. I’ve been washing in the work sinks as best I can.” And it would seem the dam had burst. “Oh, and because my mom has a reputation for not paying, before anyone will even work on my car, I have to pay half the bill upfront. Half to have it looked at, half for every part, half for the work, and I can’t get a job anywhere else. I’ve looked and no one is hiring.”
She pressed her lips together.
Hawk reached out and pushed some of the hair off her face. “Come with me,” he said. “Grab some clothes and come with me.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so, and you trust me.”
She frowned and then glanced at her bedroom, then back at him. “Ugh, it’s fine.”
“There is only one way this is going, and that is my way. Either grab your stuff and come with me, or I grab your stuff and you come with me. Either way, you’re coming with me.”