Painted Lines Read online

  I waited another fifteen minutes fidgeting, I was nervous about being caught, but I was even more nervous about seeing Thayne.

  Finally time was up and I quietly crept to the door. The slight clicking noise of the deadbolt made me flinch and I glanced over my shoulder. I was being silly, I knew no one could have heard that from their rooms. I quietly opened then closed the door and went to Angel. I decided to push her down to the end of the street before starting her. I knew I would never get away riding Stella. I kicked her off her kickstand, pushed her down the driveway, and down the street trying to keep an eye on the house. When I got to the end of the block without Cas coming out screaming at me in his boxers, I let out the breath I had been holding, climbed on Angel, put my helmet on, and started her up.

  I pulled up in front of the café five minutes later, and looked around. I didn’t see another bike around but when I looked into the diner I saw Thayne sitting in a booth. Hmm, guess he drove a car. I climbed off and put the helmet around the handle bars then headed inside.

  When I walked in the door Thayne turned and looked, then he smiled at me and my heart fluttered. He definitely did not smile enough, I thought as I walked towards his booth.

  “So how did you get away from the warden?”

  I sat down, reached for a sugar packet and began to play with it. “Snuck out,” I mumbled.

  “Hold on, what?”

  I sighed and dropped the sugar packet on the table. “I said, I snuck out.”

  He looked at me for a moment. “You’re serious?” he asked incredulously.

  I nodded and looked towards the waitress standing at the counter, when she glanced at me, I pointed at the coffee pot and she nodded.

  “Scout, how old are you?”

  “Twenty-one,” I muttered.

  “Have you ever snuck out before?”

  “No,”

  “So why do it tonight?”

  “Because I decided you were worth being grounded over,” I told him sarcastically.

  “What will happen if they find you gone?”

  “Call me, text me, and when I ignore that, stay up waiting for me, then when I get home they will demand I tell them where I was, what I was doing, and who I was with. Then I will get yelled at then a lecture about how what I did was stupid and irresponsible.”

  “Damn, it’s like you have four fathers and you’re sixteen years old,” he stated.

  “Feels like that sometimes,” I mumbled.

  “Then why do you put up with it?”

  I sighed and reached up pulling the ponytail holder out of my hair then running my fingers through it, when the waitress dropped off my coffee I thanked her, and took a drink.

  “It’s always been this way.”

  “Always?”

  “Well, since I was fourteen, though Cas has always been overprotective, just not to this point until then.”

  “Cas is your brother?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay, I get that at that age, I was overprotective of my younger sister too, still am,” he mused. “What I don’t understand is why it got worse at age fourteen, and why you still allow it.”

  “Long story.”

  “We’re not going anywhere anytime soon, are we?”

  I took my eyes off my coffee cup and into his grey blue ones and found myself telling him at least a little of why.

  “When I was fourteen, my step brother held me hostage for five days. He hurt me for five days, and I almost didn’t survive, so now they are overprotective.”

  “Your step brother?” he asked looking at me curiously. I waited for it to click. “Wait you mean Tristan?” he asked and I flinched at that name.

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  “He could never do something like that.”

  “He did,” I said. “He went to juvie until he turned eighteen because of it.”

  “Okay, if this happened then why hasn’t he ever told me about going to juvie?”

  “How long have you known him?”

  “Five years.”

  I nodded. “So after he got out, why he would talk about it? I mean, why would you want to tell someone that they were in juvie for two years?”

  “We tell each other everything.”

  “Did you know about him having a step sister or a step brother?”

  “I knew about the step brother, Ace said he was in the military, when he got out he would be coming to work at the shop.”

  I snorted at that, “Uhm, no, Cas will not be joining Ace’s anytime soon.”

  “You have a different last name than Ace.”

  “Yep, Cas and I both changed our last names after to our mother’s maiden name.”

  “So you would have been what, sixteen when I met them?” I nodded. “Why didn’t I ever meet you?”

  I played with my coffee cup again, better than looking at his eyes at the moment. “I was sent to live with my grandfather, my mom’s dad.”

  “Why?”

  “Ace didn’t want me anymore,” I whispered.

  “Where’s your mom?”

  “She died shortly after I was born.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, oh.”

  After that, conversation stayed away from my past and my family, which I was grateful for since it wasn’t one of my favorite subjects. We spent hours talking and laughing. I found out we had a lot of the same interests, though I couldn’t believe what his favorite movie was.

  “Really, you’re going to stick by Caddyshack?”

  “Hey, what’s wrong with Caddyshack?”

  “Other than it has no plot, and is dumb, I don’t know maybe because the gopher is creepy as hell,” I answered laughing.

  “Oh and what’s your favorite movie, some boring chick flick?”

  “No,” I answered giggling, “V for Vendetta.”

  “Good movie.”

  “Mmhmm.”

  I happened to glance down at my watch and saw that it was after five a.m. “Oh shit.”

  “Late for the ball?” he asked.

  “Cas will be up soon, I have to go.”

  He stood up and I followed, scurrying out of the booth quickly, he tossed down money for our coffee then headed out the door, he held it open for me and I nearly sprinted to my bike.

  “Scout, can we do this again?”

  I stopped strapping my helmet on and looked up at him, “Yeah, I’d like that.”

  “Good, I’ll text you,” he said then ran a finger across my cheek and then turned and headed to his car—his very nice car, a 1967 GTO if I wasn’t mistaken.

  I luckily made it home before Cas woke up, but just barely, though I was busted sneaking in by Cam who just smiled and winked at me then headed back to her room with a sleeping Zadok.

  I plopped down on the couch and reached for my Kindle. I still couldn’t believe everything that I had told him, I never spoke about what happened. I didn’t understand why I would tell him about what had happened, even the severely edited version. I shook my head and began reading my latest book, smiling occasionally as part of the night would resurface.

  “What has you so happy?” asked Cas.

  “Hmm, oh my book,” I lied.

  He looked at me a moment then nodded. “Coffee?”

  “Sure,” I told him looking back at my Kindle. , I never lie to Cas, and yet here I was doing it, and I didn’t like doing it, but I disliked the idea of not seeing Thayne more.

  A minute later my phone chirped, I picked it up and saw I had a text message.

  THAYNE: COFFEE TONIGHT?

  I looked over and found Cas was still in the kitchen and quickly replied.

  ME: 11 SAME PLACE

  THAYNE: CANT WAIT

  I smiled at his immediate response and quickly locked my phone and put it down just as Cas came around the corner.

  “Any plans today?” he asked sitting down beside me after handing me my cup.

  “Cam and I are going grocery shopping.”

  He nodded then turned
on the TV and I went back to pretending to read my book, but thinking about a certain steel-eyed guy instead.

  “Have fun last night?” Cam asked while we were pushing the buggy down the aisles at the grocery store.

  I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face at the thought of seeing Thayne again “Yeah.”

  “Yeah, I can tell.” she said smirking. “Anyone I know?”

  I shook my head, “Nope.”

  “Hmm and by the sneaking out, I am guessing not someone that Cas approves of.”

  I scoffed, “You could say that.”

  “Is it that hot guy that came by the house that night?”

  I could feel my face warming and mumbled a quick yes.

  “Good for you, he’s hot, and he likes you.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because he hit a guy over you.”

  “Huh,” I said thinking about that.

  “I don’t care what they say, Scout. He’s not a bad guy, he has the bad boy vibe going, but he’s not a bad guy.”

  “Is there a difference?”

  “Yeah honey, there is a huge difference. Bad boys will make you live your life, someone to push your barriers, and bad guys are just that,” she explained. “Sometimes I forget just how sheltered you are,” she murmured and went back to shopping and discussing Zadok and dinner plans, it was the first real girl talk I had ever had.

  Chapter 21

  I pulled into the parking lot of the diner to find Thayne standing out front smoking a cigarette, and wearing a fedora. I cocked my head to the side, he looked good in a fedora. I swung my leg over Angel and unbuckled my helmet, watching him walk towards me.

  “A fedora, really?”

  He shrugged, “I make it look good, and you know it.”

  I laughed and shook my head, “If you say so.” Though he was sexy in it.

  “So where’s that sportster you were on the other day?”

  “Stella is at home,” I told him. “She’s too loud to sneak off with.”

  “Stella?”

  “Mmhmm.”

  “You name your bikes?”

  “Yep.”

  “Okay, and who’s this?”

  “This,” I told him stroking her gas tank, “is Angel.”

  “Anyone else at home I have to compete with?”

  “Hmm, Mina is at home with Saul,” I said thinking and following him into the diner. “Noche and Luz,” I added.

  “And they are?”

  “Mina is my custom 1942 Ford truck,” I answered, “Noche and Luz are my ball pythons.”

  We sat in the same booth that we had the night before. The waitress brought us over two cups of coffee, and I realized Thayne hadn’t said anything in a while. I looked up and found him staring at me like I had a second head.

  “Problem?”

  “Ball pythons, as in snakes?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why?”

  “Why not?”

  “Uhm, hmm let’s start out with they’re creepy, they’re slimy, and it’s just weird.”

  “First off they’re not slimy, they are also not creepy, and it’s not that weird.”

  “No, it is weird, and they are creepy.”

  “Ever held one?”

  “Uhm no.”

  I shrugged, “Don’t knock it till you try it. They are fun to watch, easy to care for, and like to cuddle.”

  “Like to cuddle? As in wrapped around your throat?”

  I giggled, “No, as in on the couch.”

  “You let them out of their cages?”

  “Not cages, enclosures, and yes, often, when I am home.”

  “Okay, so who’s taking care of them?”

  “Saul.”

  “And Saul is?”

  “My grandpa,” I told him, “but he doesn’t like that name, he likes us calling him Saul.”

  “Okay, let’s move past the strange pets for now.”

  “Leave anyone pining at home for you?”

  “Nope.”

  “So you know I am currently living in Phoenix, what about you?”

  “San Diego,” I told him, “currently working in Saul’s restoration shop.”

  “What do you restore?”

  “I work in the bike shop, but also help out with the car portion when we’re slow.”

  “Who taught you to paint?”

  “Lots of people, I always had a knack for it, but over the years a lot of different people have taught me techniques. I also attended an art school in San Diego, and take occasional classes when I have the time and money.”

  “Lucky.”

  “Don’t know about that, just the way it worked out.”

  He nodded, looking at me like he was thinking something over. “So I talked to Tris.”

  “Oh.”

  “I asked him about what you told me, he said it wasn’t any of my business then wouldn’t say anything else.”

  “Hmm.”

  “The scars, he did that?”

  I nodded my head and focused on my coffee cup.

  “Want to tell me how?”

  I shook my head no. “Not really,” I whispered.

  “Okay, but if you do want to talk, you can with me, you know?”

  “Thanks,” I said when I couldn’t think of anything else.

  I reached over to grab the sugar when he grabbed my wrist, I gasped and yanked it back.

  “Sorry, sorry I just noticed the tattoo, how hadn’t I seen that before?”

  “Not in the most scenic of spots.”

  “Can I?”

  I reached my arm out to him and he turned my hand over palm up and looked at the tattoo on my wrist.

  “What does it say?” he murmured while tracing it with his finger.

  I had to take a second to unscramble my brain, “Uhm, it’s hope in Greek.”

  “Any others?”

  I held my other arm out and he gave it the same treatment then looked up with a question in his eyes. “Fight in Welsh.”

  “Any more?”

  I gently tugged my hand away and exposed the inner skin of my upper forearm. “Survive in Italian.” I showed him the same spot on the other arm. “Breathe in breathe out in Latin.”

  “That it?”

  “No, I have two more,” I told him.

  “Can I see?”

  “Uhm no, I don’t think so,” I said looking back down to my coffee like it held the answers to life.

  “You are a surprise, Scout, and an enigma,” he mused.

  “So you never did tell me how you got my address and phone number.”

  He looked down at the table and I could swear he was blushing. “Matt,” he mumbled.

  “Matt?” I asked confused.

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh you mean Uncle Matt,” I said, “hmm, surprised he told you.”

  “Uncle Matt?” he asked. “Yeah, I was surprised he did too, he seems to be very protective of you.”

  “I’ve known Uncle Matt all my life,” I told him, “he’s Simon’s dad.”

  “Huh,” he said looking up at me, “you’re like a princess, your dad is Ace, you grew up around Matt, Saul Lewis is well known for his restorations, it seems everyone knows you or met you at some point.”

  “Not a princess,” I growled. “I hate that, but yeah I know a lot of people, hard not to when I’ve been around this scene all my life.”

  “That makes sense, what about your brother?”

  “What about him?”

  “Does he plan to join the family business, or stay in the military?”

  “Marines, and he’s decided not to reenlist this round. I don’t think he really cares about the family business, he’s good at it, but he’s never been as in love with building and restoring bikes like I have.”

  “What is he going to do when he gets out then?”

  I shrugged, “He’s talked about joining us at the shop.”

  He nodded, “And if he doesn’t?”

  “I don’t really
care as long as he’s happy with what he is doing.”

  “You’re a good sister.”

  “Don’t know about that, I worry him a lot, and I’ve put him through a lot.”

  “And he’s overprotective with you in response.”

  “Maybe so, don’t know, it’s hard to explain.”

  “You’d have to tell me what happened for me to understand?”

  I nodded, “That and afterwards, he has his reasons.”

  “Hmm maybe so.”

  We didn’t stay out long since we had a competition in the morning to be ready for, and I really didn’t want to try to explain why I was out this late at night to Cas.

  I got home around three a.m. and plopped down on the couch. I went back over our conversations, and I really didn’t like the idea of him talking to him about what happened. I didn’t want him to know more than I had already let slip. I didn’t want him looking or treating me differently. I didn’t want the devil spewing lies about me, and Thayne believing them. I knew he would find out at some point, I just didn’t want that point to be now. I sighed and decided to take a nap before having to work in the morning.

  When we got to the garage I tried ignoring Thayne as much as possible, but it was like every corner I turned he was there. Finally we were lined up on our new marks, since another team was dispatched, then Eddie took center stage.

  “This week’s mini-challenge has to do with shop management. No shop can succeed without good shop management. So each team will choose one member who will go into the storage area and determine what needs to be restocked, you have sixty seconds, when your time is up name as many standard items a shop would need that are missing.”

  Three of us turned and looked at Simon. “No, no way,” he said.

  I quirked an eyebrow at him, “Then who?”

  “You do it.”

  I shook my head, “Nope, I don’t have any clue on this, you handle the business side.”

  He sighed, “Fine, but we’re going to lose.”

  I shrugged. “So we lose, it’s a mini challenge.”

  He grumbled under his breath but headed off with the other five guys that were participating in this challenge. I sat down on the floor and waited, I looked over and found Thayne looking at me smiling, and I smiled back then looked away. A minute later, I glanced back over to find him still watching me. Today he was wearing a beanie; I grinned and shook my head.