Banging Gears (Book 1)

Chapter 7: Unexpected Situations

It's 5:55am.

I've been waiting outside Gens house for fifteen minutes.

This is unbelievable.

Three minutes later I spot her exiting her front door, giving me a sideways smile as she's locking the door.

"For f***s sake Gen, is it that hard for you to be on time?"

"Well good morning to you too babe" Gen greets me, dodging my question yet again.

Bitch.

With no time to spare, I turn on my car and slam on the gas, in hopes of getting there before our ever-so-sweet manager.

"Can we get Starbucks before-"

"No Gen, we work in a f*****g coffee shop, I'm not about to be scolded by Nate for you to get something we can make ourselves" I cut her off immediately.

"But the cups-"

"I do not care about their cups"

"We don't even have the same stuff at our shop! " Gen complains, looking out the window in the whole - angry girlfriend- act.

"You'd have the chance of getting Starbucks if you weren't almost 20 minutes late" I try to reason even though I know she won't shut up about this.

"I overslept" She says, noticing her cheeks getting a pink tint as I stop at a red light.

"Well sucks to be you" I respond, deciding that now is not the time to address her red cheeks and slight embarrassment.

Getting to the shop at exactly 6:10 am, Nate is unfortunately already there, finishing up an order for one of our usual early bird customers.

Please lord, I know I'm not a believer but if you just give me strength to overcome Nates bullshit today I swear I'll start-

"Can't even have yourself on time for a shift, now you're making Gen be late too huh?" Nate asks, shooting me glares all the way from behind the bar.

For f***s sake...

Mumbling a quick "it won't happen again" I try to get on with my work and do my best to ignore everything Nate decides to throw at me today.

I can't deal with drama today.

4 hours after my late start of my shift, Gen is already on a break in the back room, Nate is off probably pissing off a delivery guy or something,

And I am running the whole s**t show myself.

8 take away orders and 2 deliveries later, I have no customers left and I need at least another 2 bags of coffee beans to be ready for the next rush.

Running to the back room, I open the door to be faced with the most horrible thing I could ever encounter today.

"What the f**k!" I scream at Gen, as I watch her straddling Nate, her bare ass in full view for me.

"Kassidy wait let me-" I couldn't hear what she said as I grabbed a bag of beans beside me and hurried back out, banging the door closed.

Why God? What did I do that was so bad, you had to make my best friend f**k the worst possible man I've ever known?

Ten whole minutes later Gen scurries out the door, looking for me.

"Let me explain-"

"Have you lost your mind? Are you still drunk from last night?" I cut her off, admittedly sounding a bit cruel by mistake.

"It's not like that" Gen whispers, looking down.

"I thought he was gay this whole time" I mutter and she laughs for a second before resuming her previous defeated posture.

"He's not... We've been seeing each other for about 2 or 3 months, give or take" She says, looking at me.

"Why did you feel the need to hide it from me? Does Nat know?" I ask her, suddenly feeling a bit hurt.

When I see her nodding her head, I decide that I want to resume my previous statement on not wanting any drama today, so I go to my side of the bar and continue on with my work.

Gen tried at least 4 times to bring back the subject of Nate and their relationship, but I either ignored it or just straight up told her that I do not care about it and that she can do what she wants.

I can admit I shouldn't be like that, but deep down, behind my seemingly hard exterior, I'm just so freaking sensitive.

I hate it.

And I hate the fact that she thought it was better to hide her relationship with Nate from me, than just telling me what was going on from the start.

Was I that bad of a friend?

So bad that she felt the need to confide in Nat but not to me?

Was it maybe because me and Nate always pick fights with each other?

I always thought of it as just bickering...

Or was it because she thought that I would give her s**t for dating our manager?

I wouldn't care about that, she knows I wouldn't care even if he was celebrity.

Feeling like s**t from thinking that I'm that bad of a friend, I try to block out everyone except the customers and the delivery guys and try to get through my shift as fast as possible.

2 more tries from Gen and even one from Nate later, I'm finally done and I head straight to my car,not before confirming with Nate that he'll drive Gen back home after they close up.

She may thinks I'm a bad friend, but at least I'm not that bad that I would let her walk home in this heat.

The drive home was pleasant, even with my shitty feelings eating me inside out.

I hate how vulnerable I get when I feel like I did something wrong.

Even though I didn't.

I just feel like I, in some type of way, forced Gen to keep a secret from me, even though I did nothing to justify this.

I hate that I feel this bad just from thinking that I made someone else feel bad.

I have no classes today, meaning I get to have the evening to myself.

Parking my car in my driveway, I subconsciously look at the other side of the street.

Outside the garage, I spot Mr. C enjoying his coffee along with Kyle.

Mr. C sees me looking and waves me over with a smile.

"Hello" I greet them as soon as I reach their spot.

"Kass! How are you kid? Don't you have class today?" Kyle asks me as he reaches behind him in a cooler and hands me a cold beer.

"Thanks, I need this now more than ever. I'm good I guess and no, today is my day off so I get to relax" I answer, taking a seat on a random deflated tire next to them and gulping down some of the beer.

"That's great to hear, you'll find a blue Honda integra on your lift, it's in need of some love and your tiny man hands are exactly what it needs" Kyle says and pats my head like a dog as he laughs.

"Well first off, I don't not have manly hands, my hands are small and delicate and that's cause I use gloves, something you've clearly forgotten that exists" I say as he pretends to be offended.

"And secondly, I'd love to work on the integra, some jdm action will bring my mood up"

"Well then, you better get started if you want to put those delicate man hands to work " Mr. C pipes in and I laugh, getting up from the tire and making my way inside.

As I look under the hood of the blue Japanese beauty, I feel a set of hands on my waist,followed by goosebumps.

" I'd let those man hands of yours touch me everyday " Dante whispers form behind me, causing me to bang my head on the hood of the car.

Clutching my head and rubbing the side for the pain to subside, I see Dante on his knees laughing with tears in his eyes while looking at me, debating on whether he should keep on laughing or be concerned about me.

"I'm... Sorry" He said, or more like wheezed out.

"You're an ass" I whispered and turned my back at him again.

"Come on I'm sorry, I didn't know you were gonna be so... Responsive to a bit of whispering" Dante tries to apologise, holding back another fit of incoming laughter.

"f**k off Dante, I'm not in the mood"

I snap and turn to try and focus on the task at hand.

"What's up your ass? I was just making a joke" He asks, suddenly serious.

"And I'm just telling you I'm not in the mood for your jokes, what's your deal?" I return the question, now fully facing him, arms crossed around my chest.

" I just haven't seen you in a while, if I knew you were gonna act like a b***h today, I wouldn't try to make a joke " Dante says, seeming irritated.

"Are you for real? Do you actually think you can call me a b***h for not being in the mood for your stupid jokes?"

"I'm just saying -"

"No, f**k off. I'm not playing this game with you. I won't be disrespected from anybody here, especially you." I push back, looking at him dead in the eye before going to the back of my lift to try and gather my tools in hopes of easing my mind.

I don't even know what happened

But what I do know, is that I'm not in any mood for games

And that goes for everyone that tries to play with me.

Even for the one person that I'd actually want to play with in multiple other ways.

Fuck my life.

^

^

^

5 hours and 3 other beers later, I have the integra off my bay and out the door, waiting for its owner to pick it up.

The guy was so happy he could take the car today, instead of next week it was supposed to be done.

Admittedly, the shop is incredibly backed up and he still would be lucky if he'd got the car next week.

It's 8:30pm now, and after giving the keys of the jdm beauty to the 25 year old hottie that owns her,

And after his promises of offering me the car for a ride next weekend...

I'm off to the other side of the street, hoping to get a much needed shower and see what the rest of the night has to offer me.

With my shower done and Vito already walked and bathed, I'm plopped on my couch with the Netflix logo already popping up on the TV.

Such a fun night right?

2 episodes of Rust Bros later, I hear a knock on my front door so I attempt to get off my seat and see who it is.

Standing there with a bucket full of chicken and two big cups, is a hopeful looking Dante.

"Remorseful already?" I ask the sad looking guy staring at me.

"I was a bit of a d**k earlier, I hadn't noticed you weren't looking like yourself till after our... Conversation" He admitted and continued.

"I'm not that great with noticing stuff right away, and I hope you know that I appreciate you too much to purposely be a d**k to you for no reason" He said and gave me a breath taking smile.

"Oh, you mean like how your little bmw has been leaking oil since last week?" I ask and he immediately turned around to look at his car wide eyed.

"I'm joking Dante, so what do you want?"

"I came in hopes of asking for forgiveness and maybe agreeing to watch a movie and hang out with me?" Dante asked, giving me a hopeful look.

He was delighted to see my door opening further, allowing him in.

Vito was again proven to be a traitor from the minute he tackled Dante to the floor for some belly scratches.

Mummy dearest texted me earlier to inform me that she will be sleeping at my aunts place to help with the last minute wedding stuff for this weekend, meaning I had the place all to myself tonight,

Or maybe not.

I plop myself on the couch, spreading my legs on Dantes that absolutely did not mind at all.

Snatching the bucket from his hold, I seemed to have started a war with him, noticing how we were now playfighting.

For chicken.

"You said you brought it so I can accept your apology, you ate almost all of it!" I whined, trying to get him on his back.

"No, I said I came here to apologise, the chicken was extra" Dante answered back gripping my hands and throwing me back down on my back.

After a few more tries, I finally managed to throw him down, finding myself straddling his waist.

"You know, if you wanted me under you, you could just ask and I'd be 100% willing" Dante commented, smirking at me after placing his hands on my waist.

Feeling goosebumps immediately at the contact of his palms on my exposed skin, I involuntarily arch my back, making Dante grip my waist harder, looking right in my eyes.

"I, I'm ticklish" I mutter, suddenly feeling shy, but still looking right back at him, my hands firmly on his chest.

His still clothed chest, much to my dismay.

"Kass, you're making it hard not to pin you under me right now." He admits, feeling his fingers repeatedly graze the skin right above the waistband of my sweatpants,making my temperature slowly rise.

"Looks like that's not the only thing I'm making hard right now" I shoot back, feeling my confidence rise, right along with other parts of him.

Fuck my life

I shouldn't be doing this

Or should I?

"Kassidy, give me one reason not to f**k you right now" Dante demands looking flustered.

"I can't think of one, but if you give me a minute to get off of you I'm sure I'll find-" I couldn't finish my sentence.

Instead, I was gripped by my waist and thrown right back on the couch, with Dante right above me looking down at me as he once again smirked.

"What the f**k are you smirking again for? " I snap, the whole situation now getting on my nerves a bit.

"I just thought of how many times I've imagined this very moment, since the first day Kass" Dante responded, now helping me sit normally next to him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I've thought about you since the first day you came in the shop all serious to ask for an apprenticeship" He explained and I smiled thinking bout the first time I've ever saw him.

"And then you left for a year and came back to see me take your place?" I ask, laughing at the face he made.

"Yeah but when I got back, you were still here. Flirting aside, I was relieved to see you in the shop still, its nice to have a coworker your age that isn't a dickhead" He said, smiling at me.

"But I'm a b***h huh?"

"I said I was sorry!" Dante shouted playfully, throwing his hands in the air.

With me punching his arm and him pinching my sides while I squirmed away kicking, we settled in the couch together,

His legs on my stomach and mine on the coffee table, I changed in a pair of shorts and he threw his t-shirt on the side as we put the air-conditioning on blast in hopes of surviving this summers heat.

Although the heat inside the house was caused by other reasons.

So much for wondering what tonight had to offer...

I was not disappointed.