Summary: After a long week, Carla is ready to leave the city. But one can never know who they will meet on the road.
Carla beams as the professor dismisses the entire class earlier than usual. She still is a good student, always eager to learn and be the best she can, but she has been looking forward to getting behind the wheels and hit the road all week. Picking up her things, she bids farewell to a few classmates and marches through the halls to leave the campus when a male voice calls her name.
“Hey, stranger,” Brandon smiles. “What do I owe the pleasure of meeting you in the Computer Science department?”
“Hey, Brandon. I was just leaving class.”
“Cool. Which classes are you taking here?”
“Statistics and Data Analysis Applied to Natural Sciences.”
“Okay…” Small wrinkles form on the bridge of his nose. “I have one question about that.”
“Shoot.”
“Why?”
She giggles. “Because I like it. Mrs. Ashby is a good professor and it’ll help me with my research project.”
“Wait. Aren’t you a freshman?”
“Yup.”
“And you already got your own research project going on?” His eyes go wide.
She nods.
“Damn…”
“Having good grades and being well connected pay off sometimes.”
“I hear you,” he nods and gazes at her as if taking her in for the first time. “What are you doing this weekend?”
“I’m traveling to work on my project.”
“All weekend?”
“Yeah. I travel every two weeks to collect data and share what I got with my professor. I’m just picking up a bag in my room and I’ll hit the road after lunch.”
“That sounds pretty awesome and all, but I’ll have to be honest with you and say that it sucks that I have to wait a whole week until you’re free so I can ask you out again,” he says, flashing a suggestive smile.
Carla laughs. “Sorry.”
“But are you free next week? My team is going to play again. I saw you from the court last time and you seemed to be having a good time watching the game.”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
Brandon steps closer and lowers his voice. “Maybe you should come to the game again, you can join the afterparty, have a couple of drinks, dance. Your roommate Bree is going.”
“As I told you before, frat parties aren’t really my scene.”
“You know, these parties are also a way to do some networking with other students. You don’t have to be just in the faculty members’ good graces,” he utters as he touches her arm gently.
Carla glances at his hand then gives him a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’ll think about,” she says, pulling away and turning on her heels to leave.
“Don’t overthink it,” he shouts.
“No promises,” she replies without looking back.
…
The wind ruffles Carla’s flyaways as she slowly decelerates, turns to the left lane and stops at a gas station right outside Oklahoma City. She steps out of her car, pays for the gas at the pump and begins to fill up the tank. When she’s done, she walks around the car, taking a quick scan to see if everything is okay and notices one of the tires lower than the others. Getting into the car, she turns on the engine and moves the car closer to the air dispenser, climbs out again and proceeds to inflate the low tire.
“Need any help with that?” A soothing male voice asks.
“It’s fine. I can manage it on my own.” She looks up at the man and freezes, staring at his impressive well-built body.
“It’s rare to find a woman who knows how to take care of her car, especially a classic one like yours. I respect that.”
“Thank you,” she replies shyly.
“I’ve never seen you here before.”
“I moved to Oklahoma City a few months ago.”
“Are you going back to your hometown?”
“Not really. I’ll spend the weekend working on field research,” she says standing up and checking the other tires.
“Beauty, knowledge in classic cars and brains. Who knew,” he smiles leaning on her car.
“Do you always flirt with strangers at gas stations?”
“Only if they’re as pretty as you are.”
“Your girlfriend must hate that.”
“Who says I have a girlfriend?”
“Wild guess. A guy like you certainly has at least one girl in every district of Oklahoma City.”
He chuckles. “Nah… I’m a one lady’s man.”
“Then why are you flirting with me?”
“I couldn’t resist,” he answers, gazing into her eyes.
Carla shakes her head and uses the opportunity to put the air hose gauge to turn away from him and hide her flushed cheeks.
“Your boyfriend, on the other hand, must go insane every time you leave. A girl as gorgeous and smart as you are never leaves a place unnoticed.”
“Who says I have a boyfriend?” She arches an eyebrow.
“Wild guess,” he smirks.
“He trusts me.”
“Do you think he would be okay if he knew guys on gas stations or frat boys hit on you?”
How does he know that? She gulps and ponders her words before speaking. “I love boyfriend and he knows I wouldn’t trade what I have with him for a one night stand with random guys, no matter how persuasive and charming these guys can be.”
“He’s a lucky fella then. Well, this was fun, but I have to go now. Maybe we’ll cross paths when you come back,” he grins, stepping closer to her and brushing a strand of hair off her face.
“Maybe,” she instinctively licks her lips.
“Nice meeting you…” he looks at her, waiting for her to say her name.
“Carmen. Likewise.”
“Lincoln,” he winks. “See you around, Carmen.”
“See you around,” she replies, getting into the car and driving off.
…
The colorful sunset gradually fades to dark blue while Carla lies on her stomach finishing some of her college assignments when she hears the familiar sound of footsteps coming from the hallway. Her heart races at the smallest sound of the keys and a smile lights up her face as the door opens.
“Now this is what I call a great view,” Logan places his jacket on the hanger, approaches the bed and bends over to pepper kisses on the small of her back.
“What a cheesy line,” she teases.
“Well, if it makes you blush so much, I consider it a win,” he grins, lying on the bed and resting his weight on his elbows.
She purses her lips but fails to hide a smile.
“Hi,” he whispers, kissing her shoulder.
“Hi. How was the delivery?”
“It went pretty well and the buyer made two more orders.”
“That’s great!”
“Yeah, it is. Also, I met a girl on the way.”
“A girl?” Carla grins, shutting down her laptop. “Is she cute?”
“She’s breathtaking.”
“Did you flirt with her?”
“Yup.”
“Did she flirt back?”
“A little. I could see she was trying not to because she has a boyfriend, but you know,” sits up to take off his shirt. “Girls can’t resist this,” he smirks.
“Show off…”
They laugh and share a small kiss before he gets up. “I’m gonna head to the shower. Wanna join me?”
“That depends. Are you going to get cleaned up or to think about this breathtaking girl you met on the road?”
“Is it wrong to say both?”
“Yes,” she glares at him playfully.
He cackles, bending down to turn her over and picks her up in his arms, locking her legs around his waist. “Come on, Carmen. Make my fantasy come true and have sex in the shower with me.”
She wraps her arms around his neck and purrs. “I’m all yours, Lincoln.”
Between giggles and heated kisses, Logan carries Carla to the bathroom and shuts the door behind him with one foot.
