Page 25 of Melted by a Man

And again.

And again, smacking my hand on the steering wheel and feeling like ants were crawling over my skin. Like I had an itch in my bones I could only scratch with sound in my ears.

I was just about to pull out my earbuds to get the song pumping in my veins before I considered troubleshooting what was going on with my stupid car, when I heard tapping on my window.

I jumped with a yelp as I looked over and saw Brandon, Zaid, and Leo all standing outside my car with varied expressions. Brandon looked concerned, backing away a step when I yelped. The pinch he already had between his blond brows deepened at my reaction. Zaid stood to the side, both of his hands in his pockets as he crouched to meet my eyes through the driver’s side window. Leo stood behind the two men, his arms crossed and his lips twitching as if he were fighting a smile.

“Is everything alright?” Zaid asked, his dark brows rising above his black-rimmed glasses.

I nodded before rolling down my window and replying, “Yeah, why?” I asked, flipping my phone over so it lay face down on my thigh. Why I felt like I needed to hide what I was listening to was beyond me.

“It looked like you were cussing out your vehicle,” Leo explained, nodding his head toward the front of my car, “Is it not starting?”

I felt a blush start to stain my cheeks as I frowned and tried again just for good measure.

Nope, still just that stupid clicking sound.

“Sounds like the battery, can you open the hood?” Brandon asked. It took me a moment to remember where the release was, but then he walked to the front of my car and propped the hood open to take a look. Leo joined him, and I grumbled, opening the car door and standing up while these two men started inspecting the damage.

“Do you have jumper cables?” Zaid asked, pulling his phone out of his pocket and smiling at whatever notification he received.

“I…don’t think so?” I walked around to my trunk just to double-check, but I couldn’t remember the last time I had needed a jump. My car was older, but it wasn’t a piece of garbage.

“When was the last time you changed the battery?” Leo asked. I rolled my eyes and silently mouthed his question with an ugly and dramatic facial expression, my tongue sticking out at the end in a gag before I glanced up and saw Zaid standing there with his hand over his mouth, his shoulders shaking as he looked away from me.

“I don’t remember,” I replied to Leo, covering my face with my hands. I couldn’t believe Zaid had just seen me act like an immature child because the new CTO asked me a simple, non-annoying question.

I was just annoyed because it washim.

And I was cranky because my stimming was interrupted.

“What’s going on?” Signe’s voice echoed across the pavement. I dropped my hands and smiled at my friend as she walked up to Zaid’s side to bump her round hip with his.

“Jacqueline’s car won’t start,” Zaid explained with a chuckle, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close to him.

“Wow,” Signe’s hazel eyes widened as she turned to me with a smirk, “How many men does it take to start a car?”

I snorted.

“We were all talking when we saw Jacqueline start to hit her steering wheel,” Brandon spoke up, “But everything looks fine, does anyone have jumper cables?”

“I don’t,” Zaid shook his head, “My car doesn’t need them.”

“I rode my bike today.” Leo scratched the back of his head, a small frown turning his pink lips down as everyone gathered on the driver’s side of my car again.

“Actually, I think I might have some,” Brandon nodded to himself, before walking toward his car.

I studied my fingernails, refusing to look up at Leo who stood next to me. I leaned against the closed back seat door of my car, embarrassment flooding my cheeks because I mostly wanted the car to start so I could listen to my music again.

“We should probably go,” Signe spoke up after a silent moment, “You got this?” she asked, her voice indicating that she turned to the side. I glanced up to see Brandon returning with the cables.

“Yeah, this should do the trick,” Brandon waved goodbye to Zaid and Signe, and I thought I noticed a look flicker across his expression as he watched his old friend walk away. It almost looked…sad. It was hard to tell because he quickly composed himself and focused on attaching the cables to my battery.

“You’re lucky that I parked next to you today,” Brandon murmured as he walked over to his car and attached the cables there too.

I thought I heard Leo make a grunt after that comment, but I ignored him as I watched Brandon finish whatever he was doing.

Then, both men turned to look at me.

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