Page 21 of Moved
“You’re taking too long to plan. Just act,” he said, pulling me tighter.
Plan? If I was planning, it wasn’t defense. Head in the game, Gillian.
I blinked up at him and freely ran my hands over his chest. His surprise was priceless. His shock when I attempted to knee him in the groin was even better. He scrambled away like I was a rabid dog and frowned at me.
“I said to fight dirty but to be careful in what you do. Kneeing a man will drop him but only if you succeed in the kneeing. Otherwise, you’re just going to piss him off.”
“Obviously I need practice. Let’s try again,” I said with a sweet smile.
A smile broke his frown. He waved me forward.
Dad used to scuffle with me when I was younger. Good old fashioned wrestling matches. Before I started to look like a real girl instead of a tomboy. I used those moves, now. When Racer knocked me down, I wrapped myself around his legs to trip him up. When he fell, I jumped on him like a spider monkey. He wasn’t ticklish but was just as susceptible to sharp elbows and knees as my dad had been. However, Racer never stayed down long. When he won his feet, we circled each other, both waiting for the other to make the first move.
A few minutes later, I cried uncle. Gasping for breath, I bent over and braced my hands on my knees. Jogging was one thing. All out wrestling was much harder.
With a grin, Racer walked away to work on his car. I collapsed on the mat until my breathing returned to normal then doggedly stood and went to the treadmill. No more ice cream. Chuck would find me easy pickings if he decided to change from creepy Peeping Tom to actual attacker.
I selected an easy jog and settled into the rhythm for the next thirty minutes.
When I stopped abruptly without walking the cool down cycle, I caught Racer leaning against his car as he watched me. He immediately turned away.
“If you have all of this stuff, why don’t I ever see you using it?”
He slid under the jacked car, which muffled his response. It didn’t bother me. He’d gone from jailer to standoff-ish in just two days. It was good progress.
“I’m going in to shower. Want to watch a movie afterward?”
He mumbled something else but stayed under the car. Shrugging, I walked out of the shed.
Checking my school email while twisting my hair into a bun, I saw I had two more papers assigned and due in two weeks. I left the computer open and went to my room to grab clean clothes for after my shower. The hole in the bathroom door had me shaking my head as I shut it. I stripped and stepped into the spray to rinse off the sweat. After I dried, changed, and pulled my hair free, I went downstairs. But Racer didn’t answer his door. Puzzled, I went to the shed and found him still working on his car. Well, I could start on the research for those papers.
For the next four hours, I surfed the internet and struggled not to be distracted by videos of baby animals. Boredom grew with each tick of the wall clock. At just after two, I closed the computer and started riffling through my cupboards and freezer to come up with something for dinner. A bag of julienne cut vegetables inspired me to make stir-fry with homemade dumplings. I had to go online for the dumpling recipe, but they were surprisingly easy to make. It kept me busy for another two hours. When everything was ready, I went looking for Racer. He didn’t answer his door and wasn’t in the shed.
I stood in the shed, staring at nothing and wondering what the heck to do next.
“Racer?” No answer. “Can I borrow your car?” No answer. “So, can I drive around town naked?” No answer again. It wasn’t like him to leave. I started to worry then quickly shook my head. Racer wasn’t human. What could Chuck possibly do to him? Following me home from school when I hadn’t really been paying attention was one thing, but all the way here? There was no way Chuck was behind Racer’s disappearance. I sighed and left the shed. Racer had avoided me before. I just wished I knew why he was doing it now. I’d thought we were making progress.
I went upstairs, closed myself in my apartment, and ate dinner. When I finished cleaning up, I popped in a movie, still wondering where Racer had gone.
Around seven, my phone rang. I checked the number and answered.
“Hey, Dad.”
“How are things going?”
I was glad he didn’t bring up texting Stephanie or my long silence.
“Well, I’m still safely bored. Thankfully, Racer has pay per view. I’ve been watching movies with him the last few days. The ones I brought with me got old fast.”
“I would send you some more but—”
“I know. Chuck. Any sign of him lately?”
“Yeah, but nothing for you to worry about.”
Which meant there was.
“Is Larry hanging around more?”
