Page 11 of Perfect Chemistry

“Good thing you came in, Bradley. I was stuck with no teepee,” Kai told Bradley as they walked past us to return to class.

Their voices immediately changed over to mimic Bevis and Butthead, “heh heh heh. You said teepee.”

“I needed teepee. Teepee for my bunghole. heh heh heh.”

Kai’s eyes locked with mine for a split second, and I knew he was not done with me. My thighs clenched together as thoughts of his kiss played through my head, and everything unknown swirled through my mind. Then I caught Kennedy staring at him. Again.

“Really? You wanted to get it on with the butthead taking a dump?” I asked her. I walked back to the classroom and left her to stand alone in the hall. As we took our seats, Mr. Tinneson looked up from his desk and seemed confused.

“Are you missing someone?” he asked me.

“I didn’t take a friend to the bathroom, so I don’t know who I would be missing, Mr. Tinneson,” I told him, doing my best to look confused by his question. “Kennedy was looking for Kai, but he is here, so I am not sure what she is doing,” I explained.

Was it right to air that tiny bit of laundry to the whole class? I didn’t really care at that moment. I couldn’t be bothered to spare her feelings, not after I had just kissed him myself. I wanted to turn around and talk to him, but the bell rang and Kai was out the door before me.

He gave me a quick look over his shoulder, but then disappeared with Bradley into the swarm of students flooding the halls.

It took everything I had not to touch my lips. They were still tingling. How the hell did I end up making out with Kai Rayburn in a stall of the girls’ toilet?

* * *

I couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss. Did he kiss me because he wanted me? He was definitely turned on by the kiss, but I didn’t know if it was me. Like, was he turned on because it was me? Or was he turned by the thought of someone else, and I just happened to be the one throwing myself at him.

I huffed and went back to work. I worked for a car repair center that my mother’s family managed. As one of a few women working here, I had more attention than I ever wanted. I learned at 14 to ignore the guys in the service bays, and not to make friends with any of the drivers or lot runners.

The guys must have thought I was crazy. I was mumbling to myself as I argued whether Kai liked me or not. I wanted to just call him and ask, but I couldn’t use my phone at work. Thankfully we were slammed tonight, so I was busy cleaning rental returns and preparing contracts and cars for the customers who would come in the morning. It allowed me to not obsess the whole night about Kai.

The problem was, every time I did think about him, I blushed crimson red. It was drawing too much attention and I was running out of excuses as to why I kept blushing. I stuffed my cell phone in my back pocket and stepped outside to get a breath of fresh air. I leaned against the wall and just let out a long, deep breath.

“You alright, Katie?” a deep voice suddenly sounded through the night air.

I looked over to see one of the mechanics outside smoking. “Hey five-speed,” I smiled.

Five-speed’s real name was Jason, but he earned the name ‘five-speed’ when the other mechanics found out he couldn’t drive a manual. Specifically, he didn’t know manuals had a fifth gear, and he nearly destroyed a transmission delivering a car to a customer.

“You seem preoccupied tonight. You doin’ alright?” he asked again.

I stared down at my feet, and debated on how much to say. Five-speed wasn’t that much older than me, and had been my guy guide when I didn’t understand shit. I went back and forth in my head before finally deciding, why not ask?

“There is this guy I like,” I started. “I’ve liked him for a long time, and we kissed, but I don’t know if it means anything. I thought the feeling was mutual, but then he basically ran off and messaged that we needed to talk,” I confessed quietly.

Jason’s eyebrows shot up, then he composed his facial expressions to look more serious and less shocked. “Wait, which guy are we talking about, Katie?” he asked me.

“The guy,” I said, feeling my face burning up again.

He dropped his cigarette. “Whoa! What did I miss? Wait, I take that back!. We don’t have time for the whole story. Tell your mom I’ll drive you home, so you can tell me what happened!”

I started laughing. He was just as bad as my best friend Andie when it came to any gossip pertaining to me and a guy. “Yeah, sure, but we can’t stop for coffee cause my dad is on days, and he times how long it takes me to get home.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Got it. Call your mom, I’ll message your dad so he knows it’s me taking you home, and not one of these other perverts,” he said, gesturing toward the rows of open garage bays.

“Sure thing,” I said smiling. “Thank you.”

“No worries, baby girl. You’re like my kid sister. I have to look out for you,” he smiled back and pulled me into a side hug as we walked inside.

I used the office line to call my mom so that she would know I was calling from work and not somewhere else. Of course she had no issues with Jason driving me home. And, since Jason manned up and called my dad, dad was fine with me getting a ride home and even agreed to let us stop for coffee.

My parents were super strict. So much so, that I referred to them as the wardens. It wasn’t that they were religious or conservative. They were just super protective. It was the one downside of having parents who grew up under rough conditions, they were strict as hell because they grew up in hell.

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