Page 23 of Full Throttled

When I finally turned around and met Drake’s eyes, I saw a little humor in the depths of blue. I huff out some air before I hear “Little Zoey Hechler?” When I turn to face the direction of the voice, I’m shocked to see Jagger James standing there. I shouldn’t be. I should have known that one of the James brothers washere to tow in the car but for some reason it catches me off guard.

“Jagger, how are you?” I ask. I try to make my voice light so it doesn’t reflect how annoyed I am right now. I can feel the emotions rising within me and I know I’m at my breaking point.

“I’m good. It’s been a long time. It’s good to see you back here,” Jagger tells me. He was always one of the sweetest bad boys I’d ever met. He was nothing like the men I had grown up around which was a good thing.

I give him a small smile. “Thank you, it’s good to be back. I just wish everyone could be as welcoming as you Jagger.” I hear the sharp intake of breath coming from Drake, but I don’t glance in his direction. I’m afraid of what I’ll say or do if I do look at him. “So, why are you trying to tow my car? Parked in a tow away zone?” I ask, making my tone playful.

Jagger gives me a confused look. “No, I was told it wasn’t running. I was going to get it to the shop and have it fixed up.”

I laugh. “Oh no, you must have been misinformed. The car is fine.”

Drake chuckles. “Seriously?”

My blood boils as I turn to face him. “Yes,” I snap out. I turn back to Jagger. “I’m sorry you came all the way out here for nothing.”

Jagger starts to say something but is interrupted by Drake. “Wilder said that it wasn’t running so he gave you a ride to the interview.”

“Well, Wilder was wrong!” I basically scream at him. “Maybe, I just wanted to ride on the back of the damn bike!” My phone starts to ring again and I growl in frustration before raking my fingers through my hair and look skyward. “Jagger, the car is fine, please leave it be. Drake, you need to mind your own damn business,” I tell him, before I stomp off into the clubhouse. I rush up to my room and slam the door before yanking my cell phone from the pocket of my purse. I chunk the phone at the wall hoping it’ll stop ringing. It does thankfully. I walk over to my bed and sink down onto it. The tears flow freely and my breath hitches, but it feels good to have this release. At least, until I hear the knock on the door. I sigh, but make no move to answer it.

The door cracks open and Drake’s head appears. “Zoey?” I look away from him, staring at the sterile but chipped white paint on the wall. “I’m sorry if I upset you. It wasn’t my intention. I was just trying to help.”

I jump up like a crazy woman and spin around to face him. “That’s just it. I don’t need your help. Stop trying to save me. You’ve made it perfectly clear that you don’t want me to be a part of your life. I can take a hint.”

Drake’s eyebrows pull together in confusion. “Why would you think that?”

“Really?” I ask, as my eyebrows shoot upward. Drake nods. “You’ve barely spoken to me unless forced to. You didn’t even tell me you had a daughter. Clearly, you don’t want me around.” I’m upset despite not having a right to be.

“That’s not it,” Drake tells me, with a shake of his head and a heavy sigh.

I throw my hands up. “That’s the only conclusion I can come to.”

Drake growls. “Well, you’re wrong.”

My phone starts ringing again and I scream, literally scream into the room. Is it any surprise that Drake doesn’t want me in his life? I mean, I’m acting crazy and I know it, but I’m at my rope’s end right now. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Just silence it,” Drake suggests, as if I hadn’t already thought of that.

I march over and yank the phone off the floor and spin back around to face Drake. “Thanks, Sherlock, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. Oh! Yeah, that’s right the damn button doesn’t work. The phone barely works!”

“What are you talking about?”

I toss the phone on the bed once it shuts up. “Don’t you think if I could silence the damn phone, I would have done that before the interview so it wouldn’t have cost me the only possible job I had.”

“What happened at the job interview? Who keeps calling you?” Drake asks, as he hobbles forward.

I shake my head; defeat weighs heavy on my shoulders. “It wouldn’t stop ringing, so Seth let me leave to answer it, but obviously I can’t because it’s Gregg and I can’t deal with him and his bullshit right now. So, when I went outside to take the call, I just went and found Wilder and told him I was done.”

“Zo,” Drake says, his voice laced with sympathy. I wave off his sympathy with a swish of my hand. “Look, I’m sorry for not telling you about Aubree, but there’s a lot you don’t know about my life right now. I may feel comfortable enough to tell you in the future but right now I need some time to adjust. It doesn’t mean that I’m not happy you’re back. I’ll talk to Seth about the job. He’s a pretty understanding guy. You could have told him why the phone kept ringing and you weren’t answering. Also, I had Jagger take your car.”

My eyes nearly bulge out of my damn head at the last part of his little monologue. “What?”

“It’s not running,” he says, as he crosses his large, tattooed arms over his broad chest, causing his red t-shirt to hug his body as if it’s painted onto him.

“I know that. Why did you have him take it?”

He gives me a look that seems to ask why I keep asking dumb questions. “I thought the not running part would have answered that question.”

“I don’t have the money to fix the damn piece of junk right now. You shouldn’t have had him take it. I told all of you it was fine.” I fall back onto the bed, feeling even more exhausted thanI thought possible. Even working all three of my jobs and going to school hadn’t left me feeling like this. Okay, that’s not true but it feels true to meat thismoment.

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