Page 49 of Pedal to the Metal

“See you at work," Bowie tells me as him and Jovi turn and disappear into the parking lot.

I walk over to where Londynn is asleep. For a minute I’m overcome with emotion, I had been horrible to her last night, yet she had stayed. She had slept in a chair that I’m sure wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world. She could have easily driven off and back to her place, to her comfortable bed. Instead, she stayed in an empty waiting room by herself after the way I had talked to her. I couldn’t dislike myself more than I did right now. I rested a hand on the side of her cheek, and I saw her eyelids flutter, then those dark hazel eyes met mine. “Morning pretty girl.”

“Morning. How’s Ace?” She asks.

“He’ll be okay. He’s out of surgery and they expect him to make a full recovery. He’ll be in ICU for some time for observation and he may need another blood transfusion but he’s going to make it.” As she sits up her hair falls forward and I move it out of her face. “I’m sorry about last night Londynn. I took everything out on you, and you didn’t deserve that.”

“It’s okay Jagger," she reassures me.

I shake my head, “No, it’s not.”

She stands up and extends her hand down to me. “Come on let’s go get some breakfast.”

I take her hand and we walk hand and hand out to her car. When we get there, she hands me her keys and I open her passenger side door but before she gets in I pulled her backtowards me. I slip my thumb under her chin and tilt her head back to look into her eyes. “Why’d you stay?”

She locks her arms around my neck and her fingers start running through the back of my hair. “Because I love you Jagger. I knew you were stressed so I didn’t take it to heart. I mean yes, my feelings got hurt at first, but I knew you didn’t mean it. Besides when you look back on this time, I want you to remember that I was here for you because I love you and I don’t want you to face things alone. I’ll always be here for you.” She tip-toes and her lips meet mine. Before I know it were both so caught up in the kiss that we forgot all about the surrounding world and troubles. When we finally broke away, we were both breathless.

“I love you, Londynn," I tell her before helping her in the car.

As I walk around the car I have to wipe at my eyes. I’m not sure why I’ve gotten so emotional but hearing Londynn tell me why she stayed had caused this reaction. When I start the carKings of Leoncomes over the speakers and I feel a smile cross my face. I drive until we reach this little beach shack that serves the best omelets I’ve ever tasted. Once were out and heading towards the doors Londynn says, “I’ve never been here before. Actually, I didn’t even know this place existed.”

“A lot of people don’t.” The waitress that passes us as we enter tells us to take a seat anywhere. I lead Londynn out to the balcony that overlooks the ocean. You can feel fall in the air, there’s a cool and crispness to it. “Is this okay?” I ask Londynn once were seated. I wasn’t sure, but I thought maybe it was too chilly out here for her.

“Yes. This is beautiful," she says, staring off at the ocean and rising sun.

I follow her gaze and look out over the ocean. I might have been born and raised in California, but I was not a fan of the beach or ocean. Yes, it was beautiful especially this time in themorning, but the ocean held a certain fear to me. It was so large, so immense that it was kind of terrifying. Not being able to see the end in sight was more than a little overwhelming. Bowie and Jovi were both surfers, but I had never even set a single foot in the ocean. “It is beautiful but a little scary too.”

“Scary?” She asks turning back to study me.

I shrug, “Yeah I don’t know there was something scary about the immensity of the ocean, something so large and deep that you can’t see the end in sight.”

“There are a lot of things in life that hold immensity within them, that doesn’t mean they should be scary.”

“I know but they are to me," I admit to her.

The waitress appears and takes our orders once she’s gone again Londynn turns back to me. “So do they have suspects on who did this to Ace?”

I shake my head, “No, no one at Red Hott saw it but I’m sure they’ll want to talk to Ace once he’s awake.”

“Red Hott, isn’t that a strip club?” She asks looking more than a little disgusted and confused. I just nod my head yes then she asks, “What was he doing there?”

I take a deep breath before explaining. “Apparently, Kynlee wanted a job there an—, “

“Kynlee wants to be astripper?”

I laugh at her reaction. “No, she wants to be a cocktail waitress because she thinks it will help her with her career in the long run. You know she wants to be a lingerie and swimsuit model and eventually a playmate, right?”

Londynn scoffs, “No I didn’t.”

“Yeah apparently, it’s why she moved to L.A. but anyways I guess when she told Ace about her new job, he wasn’t too happy, and they had an argument, she left, and I guess he decided to go after her and figured she would be there only she wasn’t. When he was leaving, he was jumped, we think.”

“Oh my gosh, that’s horrible. I mean I know that Red Hott isn’t the safest place, and it isn’t in the safest part of town but that’s horrible and poor Kynlee I bet she’s a mess," Londynn replies.

“Yeah, she was kind of a mess," I admit to Londynn. Afterwards we ate in silence and Londynn dropped me at home before heading back to her place to get ready for work. I felt like I needed to do something to make up for how horrible I had been to her last night, but I’d have to think of something or ask Axell for advice. I got dressed and headed to work.

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Londynn

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