Stranded with My Stepbrother Chapter 108

McKenzie

I woke up with Will’s head leaning on top of mine. He was breathing deeply, his arm draped around my shoulders. The way he sat was protective. It was endearing. And annoying. And endearing.

“Shh, don’t wake him up,” Hoot whispered. “He finally fell asleep.”

“Okay,” I whispered back. I wondered what had stopped him from falling asleep earlier.

Hoot chuckled softly, and I decided there must be some inside joke I wasn’t getting. “Still got a lotta hours to go.”

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Texas,” he said simply.

“Where in Texas?” I glanced up to see there was a map resting on the dashboard.

He flipped it over. “Never you mind. If we get caught, best you don’t know.”

“Okay.” I focused my attention elsewhere. Elsewhere happened to be Will’s chest and abs. He was wearing a sweater, and it fit him well, but it still didn’t hide the fact that he was built. I wondered how much time he spent at the gym. I wondered how it would feel to touch abs as muscular as I imagined his were.

I licked my lips. I was in trouble for sure. I’d basically told him to go ahead and jump me after steak, before steak, independent of steak…. What had I been thinking?!

Of course, I wanted to climb him like one of those rock walls at REI, but that was beside the point. I should probably have played a little hard to get.

Everything that was a feminist in me balked at that idea. I’d done the grown up, womanly thing and told Will I thought he was hot. He’d said the same about me. It was better that way than batting my eyelashes and fiddling with my keys or whatever it was women did to be coy. Coy wasn’t really in my wheelhouse.

“What are you thinking about so hard?” Will yawned, blinking down at me as he woke up.

“You’re supposed to be sleeping, mister. Hoot told me you just fell asleep,” I admonished him.

He shrugged, and it made my head, which was still resting on his shoulder, bob. “I guess I’m not that tired.”

“You’re a poor liar, son,” Hoot said. “You’re just havin’ a situation in the southerly department and don’t wanna tell McKenzie about it.”

“And thank you for that,” Will sighed.

“I guess it’s good I’m not a guy,” I grinned.

“Right now? Yes. Very good.” Will shifted in his seat, and I realized he wasn’t kidding about his problem. “I could still smell your hair while I was sleeping. I was either about to have a very good dream or I needed to wake myself up.”

I frowned, confused. “Why not just have a good dream?”

“Because this is the only pair of pants I have right now,” he replied, giving me a significant look.

My cheeks flushed. “Oh. Right.”

“And now that we’ve had that pleasant conversation,” Will said, “maybe Hoot wants to tell us where we’re going?”

“Not a chance,” Hoot responded. “Like I told McKenzie, if we get caught, I don’t want you knowin’.”

“Fair enough.” Will leaned back. His muscular arm was still draped around my shoulders.

“I suppose asking how long the drive is would basically be asking the same thing,” I said, not sure if I should lean into him or not. I decided on ‘sure’ and rested my head on his shoulder again.

His smile said I made the right choice.

“You’d be correct. I ain’t tellin’ you nothin’, just in case,” Hoot replied.

“Sounds good,” I conceded.

“I can tell you we’re stoppin’ at that gas station yonder. Suburban doesn’t get as many miles to the gallon as a Camry. Might be a good time to visit the ladies’ room,” Hoot said.

“Okay.” I adjusted my baseball cap on my head. So did Will.

Hoot frowned in the rearview mirror. “And we’re gettin’ you new hats. Ain’t no Vikings this far south.”

“Good point,” Will agreed while I winced. We probably should have chosen something more generic.

Hoot pulled into the gas station and parked next to a pump. “Get me a Mountain Dew. Hell, get me three of ’em. We’re gonna be drivin’ for a while.”

“Can do,” Will responded, and we got out of the truck and headed into the store.

The attendant at this gas station looked a bit harried. She gave us the hairy eyeball when we started for the bathrooms. “You need a key.”

“Oh.” We walked back to the counter.

“And you need to buy something,” she continued.

Will gestured outside. “We’re buying gas.”

She shrugged. “That’s not gonna count today.”

“What?!” I protested. “What do you mean? That’s a Suburban. Do you have any idea how much we’re going to be paying for gas?!”

“Don’t care. Tired of you Yankee assholes messing up my bathrooms. I ain’t cleaning that shit again,” she said. “Not unless you buy something.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I stared at her, wondering on what planet she wasn’t going to get fired for this behavior.

As though she’d read my thoughts, she just shrugged. “Report me if you want to, but the boss is on vacation. Asshole makes enough off me to do that, you see, while I’m stuck here dealing with Yankees coming down all the time. For their vacations.”

“We’re not on vacation,” Will said. “We’re planning to stay.” He turned on the charm full force, and I felt as though I should be wearing protective glasses. He leaned on the counter with a sexy smile. “Can’t we just have the keys, please? I promise, we’re here to stock up, too.”

“Then stock up,” the woman grunted, unmoved.

I would have given him my panties and my college tuition money if he’d turned that smile on me. That woman was a rock. “Okay, fine.” I touched his shoulder, and we got two baskets and started filling them up.

Once we finished, we went to the register with our loaded baskets. The woman was still unimpressed. “I suppose you think you’ll be getting into the bathrooms now.”

“We were hoping so, yes,” Will said.

The woman started ringing up our items. “I ain’t cleaning up any mess again today. You can piss out on the side of the highway for all I care.”

I gaped at her. “Lady, you’ve got to be joking. We’re spending, like, three-hundred dollars here, with the gas and everything.”

“Tough,” she replied. “I don’t see any of that.”

Will began to reach into his pocket. I knew he was going for his money clip. I stopped him. It was the principle of the thing. “Look here, you…”

“What’s takin’ y’all so long?” Hoot asked, coming into the store. “I coulda taken a piss, shopped food, and learned to tapdance by now!”

“She won’t let us use the bathroom,” I said, pointing at the attendant. “First she said we had to stock up first. Then after we did, she said we still couldn’t.”

Hoot’s eyes narrowed. “That so?”

“They’re Yankees. They’re gonna piss all over my walls,” the woman complained.

“Maybe if you had a better disposition, they wouldn’t,” Hoot drawled. “Hand over the keys, or we’re gonna make you check that stuff all back out and shelve it yourself.”

The woman’s jaw dropped. “You can’t tell me what to do!”

“All right, kids. Let’s go. We’ll stop at the next place and get our goods.” Hoot started for the door.

The woman reached under the counter and threw two sets of keys at us, one set that said ‘Men’s’ and one that said ‘Women’s.’ “Fine. You win. Just don’t piss on my walls.”

Hoot snapped up the Men’s Room keys. “Come on, son. I ain’t wrote my name on a wall in piss in a loooong time.”

She squawked.

I bit back a grin. “Don’t do it. She deserves a break, I think.” I could be kind, now that I had the bathroom key in my hand.

“Hmph. Fine. But if I come back this way, I’m writin’ ‘Hoot’ on that there counter in front of you,” Hoot grumbled.

The woman gave me a grateful look.

Triumphant, we all went to the bathroom then went back to the Suburban with our spoils. Will and I now had generic hats with the American flag on them. They were Hoot approved.

However, when Will opened the back door for me, Hoot swore.

“Finding your inner feminist now?” Will teased him, but the look on Hoot’s face silenced anything either of us would have said after that.

“Get in. Let’s go. I don’t like the look of that black sedan,” Hoot said.

Will and I both followed Hoot’s line of vision and saw a rather unassuming sedan sitting in a parking space on the side of the store. The disturbing thing about it was that its windows were so tinted, you couldn’t see inside.

“Gonna have to switch vehicles sooner than I wanted to. Dang nabbit!” Hoot growled, hopping into the driver’s seat.

I scrambled into the back of the Suburban and across the seat so Will wouldn’t have to go around.

“Fuck, did he put a tracker up my ass or something?!” Will snapped as he jumped in and slammed the door closed.

“That’d sure be somethin’,” Hoot said, throwing the truck into gear. “But I was told not to put anythin’ past this guy.”

Will looked at me. “Maybe we should separate. Hoot takes you to safety and…”

I shook my head vehemently. “No. You’re coming with us. Hoot, tell him he’s coming with us!”

“Don’t make no difference now, I reckon. They’ve got our scent, whether we leave you by the side of the road or not. Ain’t gonna stop ’em lookin’ for McKenzie.” Hoot took my side.

Will’s shoulders slumped. “Fine.”

“Reckon that busybody at the register called ’em. Bet your pictures are out to every gas station in every state in America by now,” Hoot grumped. “Your pawpaw sure is a dick, Will the Third.”

“Just Will,” he sighed. “Fuck. Fuck.”

Not knowing what else to do, I took his hand and squeezed it. “Look, like I said, you probably saved my life and my parents’ lives by moving up your grandfather’s timetable…”

“Life? Darlin’, he’s saved you from a fate worse’n death. Jake told me Will’s pawpaw likes to play with his food,” Hoot said. “And after bein’ sent to prison, he must be angrier than a bear with his head in a hornet’s nest.”

“See? Fate worse than death,” I echoed, squeezing Will’s hand again. “So please, don’t beat yourself up.”

Will leaned his head back and squinched his eyes shut, clearly trying very hard to calm down. “I’m still going to feel guilty about Jake, Billy, and Horace for the rest of my life. You know that, right?”

I winced. “I don’t blame you. I blame your grandfather.”

“And that’s squarely where you ought to leave the blame, too,” Hoot piped up from the front seat.

Will grimaced but gave in with a slow exhale. “I’ll leave it there. For now.”

I threaded my fingers through his and leaned my head on his solid shoulder. “So, Hoot, where are we going to get another vehicle?”

“Dealership. I ain’t got ’em parked all over the country, you know. We got a different one waitin’ where we’re goin’, but we got to ditch this one now.” Hoot shook his head and scowled in the rearview mirror. “And damned if that there sedan ain’t followin’ us now.”

Will and I craned our heads around. “Where?”

“’Bout six cars back. Thinkin’ they’re bein’ all stealth and what have you. Morons,” Hoot snorted.

We watched until the highway curved then spotted the car. Will cursed under his breath. “Great.”

“And that’s why we’re lookin’ for a dealership,” Hoot said. “But I have to lose ’em first. Ain’t gonna do no good if they’re standin’ there watchin’ us buy the car.”

“I have cash,” Will offered.

“An’ you’re gonna be usin’ it, cuz I’m pretty sure that ol’ bitch at the gas station gave ’em my name,” Hoot grunted. “How much you got left?”

“About five thousand,” Will said.

“So just some walkin’ around money, then,” Hoot snickered. “It’ll get us where we need to go. Don’t worry.”

I looked up into the rearview mirror and met Hoot’s eyes. “Hey, Hoot?”

“Yeah, McKenzie?” he said.

“Thank you.” I meant it with deepest sincerity.

Hoot smiled slightly and nodded. “You’re welcome.”