Position 69

Chapter 1-2

As the day wore on, things continued to spiral downhill. Irate riders yelling at him and each other, accidents closing down streets, roadwork tying up traffic. By the time he took his dinner break at a little after four, Vic had the start of a migraine pulsing behind his right eye. He downed three Excedrin but they did little to stave off the pain.

So it was something of a relief when quarter to eight finally arrived and Vic could turn his sign to Out of Service after dropping off his last fare. With no one else on the bus, he turned off the interior lights and let the darkening evening press in around him. It took six minutes to get back to the bus depot, four to park in the lot, three to turn in the keys and sign the bus in for the night, and two at his locker. He clocked out at eight on the dot, tucked his timecard back into its sleeve, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally.

As he headed for the parking lot, though, a familiar voice called out his name. “Vic, hey! Wait up, will you?”

Kyle Munley. Literally the last person Vic wanted to deal with at the moment. The guy was annoying at best, the most obnoxious coworker Vic had ever met, and it didn’t help matters that Matty had dated him before meeting Vic.

What he ever saw in this creep, I’ll never know. Without a word he hunched his shoulders and picked up the pace, eager to reach his car before Kyle reached him.

“Vic! Dude! Hold up…”

Vic didn’t, but it didn’t matter anyway. Within seconds Kyle was beside him, a little out of breath and walking twice as fast to keep up, “Man,” he sighed, leaning on Vic for support. “What a day.”

Vic pulled his arm away and glared at Kyle, but it was dark out and the employee parking lot wasn’t well-lit, so the look went unnoticed. Though even if Kyle had seen it, he was the type to brush it off. In all the time they’d worked together, he had yet to notice Vic didn’t like him. In fact, Matty once said Kyle called Vic his friend.

As if.

To Vic, Kyle was only “this guy at work.” Nothing more, nothing less.

When Vic didn’t take the bait, Kyle let out a bemused chuckle. “Roadwork’s a b***h, ain’t it? And what do you think about this whole Pulse thing?”

Whatever Vic thought, he was going to keep it to himself. He tried to pull a little ahead, put some distance between them. If only he hadn’t parked so far away…

But now that Kyle had caught up with Vic, he managed to keep the fast pace Vic set. As if Vic had answered, Kyle added, “I tell you what, I’m not looking forward to this training tomorrow.”

Vic groaned. The training was supposed to stretch over three days. What were the odds he’d be scheduled for the same day as Kyle?

Who was still talking, rambling almost. “Like I don’t already know how to frigging drive a bus, you know?” He waited a second or two, giving Vic the opportunity to jump in, then kept on rolling. “I mean, how different can this Pulse thing be? They’re supposed to start construction on the stops soon. And what, slow down my route even more? Where are people going to get on my bus, you know?”

Another pause, waiting for a response, but Vic wasn’t going to get drawn into a b***h fest about something neither of them could change. Besides, he could see his car now, at the end of the row, its brown roof dull in spots where rust was beginning to eat through the metal. If only he could cross the lot faster, pull ahead of Kyle, pull away…

Then Kyle said, jokingly, “So how’s that ex-boyfriend of mine doing?”

Vic stopped abruptly, as if he’d run into a brick wall. The dull anger that had churned in him throughout the day bubbled back to life. A muscle in his jaw twitched, his hand clenched involuntarily into fists at his side. For the first time since Kyle had caught up with him, he slowly turned to face his coworker.

“Your what?” Vic snapped, his voice dangerously low.

Kyle took a step back and held up both hands in surrender. “Hey, kidding. Kidding!”

Vic glared at him. How dare he…

“Look, it’s cool,” Kyle said, fumbling to pull his phone out of the back pocket of his work pants. “I was joking, okay? Let me—”

“He was never yours,” Vic snapped, punctuating the words with a sharp jab of his finger at Kyle’s chest. “You two weren’t dating. You’d gone out once or twice, and that was it.”

Distracted by his phone, Kyle conceded, “I know, alright? Let me show you my new guy, okay?” He tapped the screen, then started to swipe, obviously looking for something. “This one’s hot. Just don’t go getting any ideas about taking him away from me, too.”

Anger pulsed through Vic, and he fought the urge to deck Kyle here and now, just lay him out on the pavement, pound him into the ground. f*****g ass. Matty’s the hottest guy you’ll ever meet, he wanted to say. Why would I even look at anyone else when he’s waiting for me at home?

That did it. That broke through. Matt was waiting for Vic to get home, and every second wasted with Kyle was one he could spend with his lover instead. He didn’t need to defend Matty, any more than he needed to defend himself. They had each other, they knew it, and Kyle…hell, Kyle was probably jealous he didn’t have anything near what they had.

Without another word, Vic turned on his heel and stormed across the parking lot, away from his coworker. Kyle called out a feeble, “Hey, wait!” but he was too busy looking for something on his damn phone. He took a few stumbling steps after Vic, then gave into the distraction completely, lost in the phone’s soft glow, gaze glued to the screen. As Vic got farther away, Kyle yelled out, “I’ll send it to you!”

“Don’t,” Vic growled.

But he was already at his car now. Vic unlocked the door and slid into the driver’s seat. As he started the ignition, he realized Kyle probably hadn’t heard him.

Hell, even if he had, Vic knew the dumbass probably wouldn’t listen.

Not my problem. Putting the car into first gear, Vic peeled out of his parking spot. His guy was at home, and Vic didn’t want to keep Matt waiting.