On the Rox Read online

  What kind of man wouldn’t be by her side all the time?

  I watched her laughing. Her smile lit up the dim corner, the room … me.

  “Really? Well, okay then. Let’s just stay for a drink and a little more silliness. The later it gets, the more emotional the women get. But if you aren’t yet ready to play the American field, we can wait. You’re here now. You have the rest of your life.”

  “Yes, the rest of my life,” I agreed, nodding toward Aiden but still watching my neighbor.

  She and her friends began gathering their things. If she was leaving, she would walk right past me. I could either introduce myself or only get a closer look at her and be a total chickenshit. I opened my mouth as she passed, but my voice caught in my throat.

  Chickenshit it is.

  I locked my eyes on hers. Her perfectly arched eyebrows scrunched together as she sucked in her breath through parted pink lips. My heart plummeted into my stomach. Her eyes were dark as midnight and pierced straight through me like an arrow. A fucking cupid’s arrow.

  Wow. This whiskey and emo poetry are turning me into a big pussy.

  I cleared my throat and shifted on my barstool.

  “Do you know her?” Aiden nudged his elbow into my side as she disappeared behind me. “She was staring at you hard. Did you piss her off or something?”

  “I think she’s my neighbor.” I looked behind me, hoping she would turn to look back, but I only caught sight of her perfect arse as the door shut behind her.

  “The crazy ones with the loud parties that you told me about earlier? The reason you’re too damn tired to get fucked tonight?”

  “That would be the one. Wild and crazy. Isn’t that what you brought me here for?”

  “Well, yes. But a neighbor is too close for comfort. Don’t touch that with a ten-foot stick—or dick.”

  “I’m not. I think she has a boyfriend or husband or someone else living there. I saw a man.”

  “Oh. Could be, or he could be a friend or something.”

  “Maybe. He looked old enough to be her dad. Plus, I haven’t seen him but once, so I don’t know.” I finished my drink and rubbed my eyes. “I shouldn’t have come out tonight. I think this whiskey is hitting me faster than I intended. I’m going to have to call it a night, brother. I’ll rest this weekend, and next week, it’s on. I’ll be on the prowl. Maybe let’s try somewhere else though. Somewhere more … me.”

  “Somewhere safer, you mean. With boring women who have trust funds, college degrees, and commitment issues, like the rest of the women you’re attracted to.”

  “Don’t push it.” I laid my money on the counter and peeled myself off of the barstool before ordering my Uber.

  My neighbor had rattled my brain, and I wasn’t sure why. The look she’d shot at me as she passed by warmed my body just as much as the whiskey had. My entire being had heated up with her gaze. I hurried home to sleep in the guest room, blinds up, waiting to catch that look again. I needed to feel my body flush for her again. I made a mental note to introduce myself soon and find out if my mysterious neighbor was single or not.

  Sunday brunch was our busiest time at the restaurant next to Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. To beat the morning rush, I needed to wake earlier than usual. I considered myself an early riser already at five a.m. when I usually set my alarm, so I could take a quick morning jog on the nearby hiking trails. The trails were a bonus when I’d previously scoped out homes to buy in Outer Forks. I needed my morning jog like I needed my cup of coffee every day or else I had trouble focusing.

  My life reflection happened while my feet scrambled over the dirt paths. I huffed deep breaths of stress out of my lips and breathed clear, fresh thoughts into my mind. Running was therapeutic for both my mind and body. The tension melted from my shoulders with each exhale as I focused my thoughts on the good in people I had seen while traveling abroad.

  I hadn’t planned on taking off and leaving my homeland, but circumstances were right at the time, and travel was a life goal of mine eventually. I had only thought I would have the chance to do that when I retired. But after my parents’ accident and Elena’s betrayal, I was left with enough inheritance, time, and grief to fly away. I had packed my things the day after the funeral and told my brother, who was my roommate and the only family I had left, good-bye.

  “How am I supposed to manage the restaurants alone?” Aiden asked, throwing his hands in the air as he watched me shove clothes into a backpack.

  “Mum and Dad left us more than enough money to hire help. You can do it—or not. Sell them if you want. Go, live life. We’re young, and now is the chance to do what we want. I’m not living the rest of my life here, detached—literally from the rest of the world,” I answered, my voice shaking.

  “I understand. I don’t want to either, but Mum and Dad wouldn’t have wanted to see their restaurants sold. I’m not doing that to them. Is that the real reason you’re running, or is it because of that bitch, Elena?” He sat down hard on the edge of the bed, crossing his arms across his chest and sneering at the mention of her name.

  “No. Yes. Maybe. I can’t be here right now. I just can’t. A door has opened, and I’m choosing to step through it. There’s nothing left here for me. I’m not entirely stupid. I think about going back to Outer Forks and opening a restaurant, but that is after I get done traveling. I’ll settle down then when I’m ready. Hell, maybe that can be a project for you. That is your ticket out.” I zipped my bag shut and patted my pants pockets, making sure I had my wallet.

  I tossed my keys to Aiden. “Here, take it. Everything. I’ll help with whatever in any way I can while I’m traveling. Just let me know.”

  Aiden stood up, his eyes in line with mine. “I don’t like this, but I get it, and I’ll support you because you’ve supported me. You’re my blood.”

  “Go with me then, Aiden. You can come too.”

  “But that’s not me. I don’t like to run, and you know it. I don’t exactly want to stay here either, but I’ll think about what you said —moving back to Outer Forks. I think Mum would have liked it if we ended back up in her old hometown. She was never impressed with the women here anyway.”

  “Let’s be real. Mum was never impressed with any women we brought home. They were never good enough for us. ‘Bless their hearts,’ she’d say. What was that other thing she would go on and on about? The raven? She had some odd words of wisdom.”

  “She said the world was full of showy peacocks. Find the raven.”

  “Raven. I never understood it. Those are creepy birds.”

  “They’re misunderstood, is all. They’re extremely intelligent. They can trust and empathize. I think she was onto something, except showy peacocks are technically males, so I’m not sure she had her saying right. Maybe she meant a parrot or a cockatoo.”

  “I’d settle for a penguin at this point in my life. Anything other than those damn showy peacocks.”

  He laughed.

  “Truth. I love you. I’ll keep in touch, and maybe I’ll be back and forth. We’ll see.” I embraced my brother for what I didn’t know would be the last time in years.

  Grateful didn’t begin to explain how I’d felt when I saw the world. For two years, I had dined with monks in Scotland, worked a charity for the homeless in Italy, learned life lessons from an eight-year-old orphan in India, and met some of the most amazing and caring people. I found many ravens among the peacocks in the generous spirit of the human race. My dream and my life were now complete. When I had finally tired of living out of a backpack, I had known I was ready to settle, and Aiden’s new adventure in Outer Forks had proven to be yet another perfect opportunity.

  Despite my terrible last days in Australia, my life had almost been picture-perfect. It was my relationships that suffered. I had always been very predictable in the women I chose. I fell for the fancy feathers every time. My type of woman was a stamped copy of my previous girlfriend. Getting out of my comfort zone mentally and relationship-
wise had been a more significant struggle than navigating the wide-open world. But taking a risk on someone so vastly different from me sounded like trouble.

  My mind wandered to my edgy, inked neighbor. Just her looks alone were the polar opposite of the women I knew. None of my girlfriends, and especially Elena, even had one tattoo.

  What could I possibly have in common with her? Why would I want to eat muffins in the morning with someone who demanded a slice of cheesecake?

  Okay, that was a bad analogy. Someone who would eat cheesecake for breakfast probably knew a thing or two about living life fully, which I needed to learn myself despite my worldly experience. Cheesecake for breakfast didn’t make sense in my logical brain, but neither did my attraction to the dinosaur next door.

  I threw back the covers and pulled myself out of bed. If I didn’t start my morning run now, Aiden would be all over my arse about being late for brunch prep, and I needed to run. Now. Last night’s emotional roller coaster onstage still played on repeat through my brain. A part of me wanted to reach out to those women, but the other part of me wanted to run. Next time I tried to pick up a chick, I would need to find a place that served high tea with people who discussed lighthearted romantic comedies.

  I wrapped my robe around me and stood at my window, peering through the purple-hued dawn and into the shut blinds of my neighbor. I wondered if the T. rex next door liked tea and romance novels.

  Two

  Rox

  “Rox! That guy is calling again! What do you want me to say?” Nikki held out her phone, shoving the screen in my face.

  “Ugh! Tell him we don’t need his business. We are doing just fine. If he wants the sauce, he can come to the truck and buy the damn stuff. We don’t have time for a meet-and-greet with pretentious asshats!” I rolled my eyes and waved the phone away.

  “Did you get that, mister?” Nikki smiled into the phone.

  My jaw dropped. I hadn’t known the poor guy wasn’t on mute. I let it slide. So far, Nikki’s attitude had brought in more business and not the other way around. People loved buying tacos from a team of mouthy women. This year alone, we had tripled our sales, beating out last year’s record. We were all doing something right.

  Did you seriously let him hear that? I mouthed, smacking Nikki in the butt with a dishrag.

  She stuck her ass out for me to do it again. “Sorry. We aren’t really into the whole white-tablecloth scene. Have you seen our truck? It’s a pink taco truck with a giant taco on the top. I’m not sure our brand would jive with yours. You heard the boss; you can come buy some if you need some, but we are too busy for a sit-down to discuss logistics.” She hung up the phone and shoved it in her back pocket.

  “Thanks.” I turned my attention back to the pan of simmering meat.

  In two short hours, the dinnertime crowds would hit, and the last few days, we had sold out too early for my liking. We needed more prep and more food.

  “You know, Rox, it might not be a bad idea to meet with him. If you don’t want to do it, Betty would probably love to. We could test it out.”

  “Are you kidding me? Betty? She would walk into that meeting and have them—”

  “On their knees. I’d have them on their knees and begging for the Shizzle,” Betty spoke up from the front of the truck.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “And that is exactly why you aren’t doing it. Layla either, and neither are you, Nikki. If anyone did it, it would be me. And I say, nope. Remember, if one of us disagrees with something, it’s a no-go! Our hands are too full. We can’t be making batches of the Shizzle Sauce for Scarlett Herb,” I groaned. “Have any of you ever eaten there? It’s a steakhouse. White tablecloths, a wine list for miles, and no free bread.”

  “When did you go there, Miss Fancy Pants?” Betty turned in her seat, looking up at me like I was full of shit.

  I was. I had never been to Scarlett Herb or any extremely fancy restaurant. I didn’t have the interest or the funds.

  “I saw pictures on their website. I’ve never gone.” I stared out of the open window and breathed in the chilled spring breeze. The cherry trees bent over in the wind, sending their petals into the air like a spring snowstorm.

  “So, just because you saw pictures doesn’t mean the owners or staff are pretentious,” Nikki said, handing me a pair of goggles. Chopping onions was our least favorite part of working on the food truck. “He sounds nice on the phone! He has an adorable accent.”

  “I’m sure he is just peachy. But still, we don’t have enough hands on deck to fill orders of Shizzle Sauce if we start to sell it as a side hustle. We don’t even have the kitchen capacity to make more than what we use ourselves. Maybe in the future. Speaking of hands on deck, where the hell is Layla?” I asked.

  “She called right before asshat Jones. Says she is running late. She’ll meet us at our next stop,” Nikki sighed. “That girl is an even bigger mess than me. Than all of us put together.”

  “Ha! Yeah, right! I think she is probably the smartest of the bunch—or at least, the most innocent. She needs to learn to use a calendar and a damn clock.” I turned the stove off right before the meat charred—exactly how I liked it.

  “The fuck? Innocent? She wouldn’t be in DTF if she were innocent. Dirty. Tough. Female. Those are the rules. If Layla is innocent, then I’m a nun. And you know that ain’t right!” Betty lowered her sunglasses and turned back around, strapping her seat belt over her cleavage. “Bitches, ready?”

  “I guess we can finish once we get there. Where are we parking today? I can’t keep track of this chaos.” I secured our food, putting it away, and made my way to the front with Nikki.

  “The square.” Nikki tucked her goggles in a drawer and strapped herself into her seat.

  “Seriously? But that is right by Scarlett Herb!” I protested. My fingers curled around my seat belt in a death grip as Betty pulled the truck out of the park and onto the main road.

  “It’s a sign.” Nikki’s eyes grew wide.

  “Jeez! What am I going to do with y’all? It’s not a damn sign. That’s Thirsty Thursdays. People get drunk at the bars and want tacos.” Betty shook her head. “It’s not a sign. It’s good business sense.”

  “Or it’s a sign. Divine intervention. The universe is aligning us with Scarlett Herb because that side hustle is going to buy us a new truck. A Pink Taco Truck for every corner. We will own the whole damn town.” Nikki snapped her fingers and wiggled her shoulders in a victory dance.

  “Divine intervention, my ass. I’m not walking up to Scarlett Herb. They want us, and they can come to us. Besides, we already own the damn town,” I called back to her, lowering my shades and smiling.

  “Hell yeah! That’s the spirit! DTF!” Betty cupped her hand around her mouth and shouted into an invisible megaphone.

  “Hands on the wheel! That divine intervention is going to have to take the wheel if you keep driving like a bat out of hell!” Nikki shouted, grabbing the back of my seat.

  “Don’t you know I once dated a race car driver? I know what I’m doing. He taught me more than the dirty stories y’all done heard about.” Betty revved the engine and sped off, pulling onto the interstate.

  “Yeah, yeah. Hope he taught you how to get out of a speeding ticket.” I looked into the side-view mirror, crossing my fingers that the police car riding our ass was only hungry for some tacos.

  “Shit! It’s because I’m black!” Betty’s fingers gripped the steering wheel as she slowed to the side of the interstate.

  “It’s not because you’re black! It’s because you drive like a crazy lady!” I sat upright in my seat and bit my lip. We didn’t have time for this.

  “I’m going with black … and crazy.” Nikki nodded at Betty.

  Betty nodded back. “See?” She rested her head on the seat and sighed.

  “It’s a dude! And he’s young! Also kind of hot,” I whispered, watching the officer walking toward us in the side-view mirror. “Pop ’em out, ladies! Hurry!”<
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  Nikki leaned forward as we all wiggled our shirts down and pushed our boobs together. Betty didn’t need to push anything together. There was no covering her chest up. It was just there, in your face, always.

  “Do your thing, ladies. Maybe we can get back on the road fast and out of this ticket,” I spit out right before the officer reached our window.

  “Hello … ladies.” He blushed, peering into our truck.

  Oh yeah, this dude is going to be easy.

  “Hey!” we answered in unison, smiling and sticking our chests out.

  “Do y’all have any idea how fast you were going back there?” He cocked his head to the side as his eyes drifted between all three of our chests.

  Fucking easy.

  “It’s my fault, Officer. I told Betty to speed up. We’re trying to get to our destination, so we can turn our stoves back on. You see, I just made a batch of tacos. They are juicy. So juicy. I think these are the juiciest tacos ever made. If we don’t get the ovens back on, they are going to dry out. No one likes a dry taco.” Nikki leaned forward from the back, sticking her full lips out into a pout and twirling her hair.

  “Is—is”—he cleared his throat—“is that right?”

  “No, sir, no dry tacos here. We’re always fresh and ready as soon as we open. You see, to position ourselves on top—of the food truck business—we have to be ahead of the competition. Everything is made in house and to order. Betty was just trying to get us to where we need to go, so we could finish what little prep work we have and keep the tacos juicy. Do you like juicy tacos, Mr. Officer? Have you ever eaten at The Pink Taco Truck? We have the best tacos in town,” I said in the most innocent voice I could muster. I sounded like a schoolgirl at an all-boys band concert.

  He pulled at his collar and sucked in his breath. His chest began to rise and fall faster and faster. “No, I haven’t had the pleasure. Where will you be parked today? Maybe I’ll swing by and get a taste.”