Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Shane caught the keys, opened the door, and sat inside. She smelled old, but he loved it—loved a weathered car with a story to tell and this one definitely had that. Shane put the key in the ignition and turned it. The car rumbled to life with a deep purr that made him smile.
He could hear it though—a little sound in the engine that he would need to check out.
“She sounds beautiful.”
“Nothing like hearing a pretty lady purr,” Bill winked at him.
Shane had no desire to hear a woman make the kinds of sounds Bill was talking about. For him it came from a man, always had, but most people didn’t know that. Scratch that, they didn’t acknowledge his sexuality. It wasn’t that Shane hid it, but there also weren’t a whole lot of gay bachelors in Last Chance. There was an older lesbian couple and the Richmonds had a gay nephew in his twenties who came to visit sometimes. As far as he knew, there were no other gay men in Last Chance—not since Caleb’s parents had dragged him away after he got caught skipping school with Shane. He grimaced, trying to forget the painful memory. After all this time, it shouldn’t still hurt.
Without replying to Bill’s comment, Shane kept the car running, climbed out, and opened the hood. He listened to her real close, took a peek around. Oh yeah. He definitely wanted to work on that car.
“You can leave her with me a bit?” he asked. “I’m pretty booked solid but you know I want a chance at her.”
“Absolutely,” Bill replied. “I knew you would.”
He’d made a place for himself in Last Chance. A home. Was it everything he wanted? No, but it was okay. The more he’d started respecting himself, the more people in town respected him too.
Shane turned off the car, and pocketed the key which was on a ring by itself. He told Bill he’d be in touch. The man thanked him and left with his wife, who’d driven her car down with him.
The rest of the day was fairly standard. He didn’t get anyone else bringing him cars that nearly made him want to jizz in his pants.
At five o’clock, Ryan, his only other technician, approached him. Ryan was three years older than Shane. He’d moved to Last Chance just about a year earlier, apparently because he needed a change. Shane couldn’t imagine coming here from something different—in the small town that felt like it never fucking changed, but then again, he didn’t know what Ryan was running from either. He figured it had to be something, but Shane wasn’t real big on sharing his shit with people, so he didn’t pry into other people’s lives either.
“Holy fuck, that Camaro is gorgeous,” Ryan whistled.
“No shit,” Shane replied. “I can’t wait to get inside the engine.”
“It was a good day.” Ryan rubbed his oil-stained hands with a towel. “Thinking about grabbing a beer tonight. Wanna join?”
They’d become sort of friends since Ryan started working for him. It was nice to have someone around who didn’t know everything about his past. Who didn’t know about the scrawny boy he’d used to be. The boy who’d been teased and tormented by a group of assholes for most of his life. Shane wasn’t that boy anymore. He wasn’t a real social butterfly or anything, but he didn’t keep himself as distant as he’d used to. Everyone in town liked him—respected him, his work, and how he took care of his mom.
The assholes were all long gone, except Jonathan, and they were too old to pay each other much attention.
And he sure as shit wasn’t the too-thin kid any longer. Puberty had been nice to him, and he also enjoyed weight training and running. “Yeah, sure. I need to take care of a few things. I’ll meet you about eight?”
There wasn’t any question where they would meet. There were two bars in Last Chance, but Round Table was always the one they went to.
“Sounds good.”
Shane locked up before he and Ryan headed for their vehicles. Shane climbed into his black Tundra, pulled out of the gate behind Ryan, then jumped out to lock it before pulling away.
He made the familiar drive down Main Street, passing all the small shops, cafés, and the donut shop he’d been going to since he was a kid. He thought about stopping by Rosie’s for a shake, but didn’t.
Shane took a left on Fallen Tree Lane, the quiet back road that led just slightly out of town, to the property he’d lived on his whole life. The one he’d lived on with his mom and dad, before his mom started getting sick and his dad decided he didn’t want to deal with it. Their place was just far enough from town to give them their desired privacy, but close enough that he could get home and back in a hurry if need be. He turned his truck down the gravel road, where he’d built his own one-bedroom house on the same two acres of land as his mom.