"Dude that fight was awesome. I want a sword and just slash some people in half!" He uses his hand and swipes at me while making a noise with it. "Heya! Shwa!"

"Ow! Stop that." I push him but he continues like an annoying little shit.

"Fight me Vargas, fight for your life. For my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!"

Wait what? I laugh because one, he is hitting me where I'm ticklish and two, from the quote itself. "Oh my god, you've seen Princess Bride?"

"Of course I have. Who hasn't?" He slashes at my neck but I grab at his wrist before he hits and strike at his throat, hitting my mark.

He gasps with wide eyes, covers his neck with his hand and falls on top of me. "Thou hath stroketh me down!"

His huge body suffocates me and I can't stop laughing. "Stroketh isn't a word!" I laugh so hard that I snort. "I can't breathe Jer!"

He gets up, laughing, leaving me laying on the couch breathless. "That's adorable and they should make that a word."

I sit up and watch him walk to the kitchen, behind the island and he asks me what I'm in the mood for. The way he looks back with hooded eyes suggests something else other than food. Or am I seeing things? He has been flirty all day and touchy-feely these past couple days. Which is more than usual.

"What am I in the mood for?"

"Yes." He chuckles. "I said I would make dinner tonight."

Oh right... Um... "How about stir-fry?" It's easy and we have the ingredients for it already.

"Have a good night guys." Alan and Misha wave goodbye as I close up the store. Sunday's are nice because we close earlier than the rest of the week at 7. I was recently promoted to assistant manager, so I get to open and close, give people orders. Another plus is better pay.

I unlock my rust bucket and hop inside. It's hot as balls inside and thank god this piece of shit truck has a/c. The car squeals to life and I blast the air conditioner then back out of my spot. As I'm turning something clunks beneath me. That's not normal... I go forward and it's hard as hell to turn. Another loud clunk then the steering wheel starts spinning on its own. What the fuck is going on?

I put the car in park and shut it off. This can't be happening... I don't know much about cars but I know this isn't good. I can't afford to pay for this if it's over 500$ even 200$ is pushing it. What am I going to do if I have to get a new car? I've had this one for a couple years and have been trying to save up. It's kind of hard to when you got bills and school, working on a part time budget. Oh god.

Before I go into a mental break down, I rest my head on the wheel and I take deep breaths. Calm down... It's too late to call my parents. They couldn't help anyway, but your first instinct is to always call your parents if anything ever happens. My second thought is my only hope and I hope to god he isn't busy.

"Yo." He answers.

"Jeremy, hey, I really need your help." The words are caught in my throat and I have to cough to get them through. "I'm at work and my car broke down as I was trying to leave. Can you please come?"

"Yeah. I'll be there in 20."

"Thank you." I hold back a cry and hang up. All of the built up stress floods my eyes. This was my breaking point. Of course this stupid car had to break down in the middle of my exams.

I sit outside in the shade of my truck and wait for Jeremy to come rescue me. Why did this happen to me?

A car rolls up and I see that it's Jeremy in his work's tow truck.

"Are you okay?" He asks when he hops out.

I sigh wiping my eyes. "Yeah. Just had a mild mental breakdown."

He holds out a hand and helps me up then pulls me into a hug. This is unexpected. I guess I sounded more desperate than I wanted to over the phone. His arms hold me tight against him that can hear his beating heart.

"Thank God you're okay. I thought you got into an accident or something."

"No." I laugh and step back, wiping the tears away. "Just can't afford to have my car crap out on me right now."

A college student that is broke sucks.

"Luckily you got me." He smiles back then rustles my hair. "Tell me what happened." He says then pops the hood of my car.

I tell all that happened, even made the noises along with it.

He checks the fluids and stuff and nods along. "Sounds like it's your drive shaft."

"Drive shaft? Is it important?"

"Yeah." He sighs then crouches down so he's laying on his side to look under the truck. "It's very important if you want to turn or go anywhere."

Ok, smartass. I squint at him with my arms crossed once he stands up. "What's the prognosis then?"

"Well I won't know for sure until I look under it. It's most likely a tie rod or u-joint or cv joint." His shoulders lift. "Like I said; won't know for sure."

Fuck... I wipe my forehead. "There is no way I can afford to fix this or buy a new car." This truck was a present, passed down in my family. My parents paid for my tuition, everything else is up to me to pay. That was our agreement and I'm sticking to it. Another panic attack rushes over me and tears build up. Jeremy's hand on my shoulder stops me from crying again though. I spin around to a smiling face.

"Relax I can fix it in a week, free of charge."

My eyes widen. "Free? You serious?"

"You would do the same if I was in your position. Right?"

"Well yeah. Of course I would." Wow, this is huge. I'm gonna have to owe him something incredibly big in return. His birthday is coming up... maybe I could do something there?

"Hand me your keys. Get what you need out of there so I can load it up."

"Ok." I take my bag and textbooks from the back seat, and watch him get ready after giving him my car key.

Jeremy hooks my truck up to the winch then climbs in. Because he is much taller than I am, he has to slide the seat back. "You know, you're one of the few girls that keeps her car relatively clean."

I place my hand on my hip. "Just like with the rest of my things, I like my spaces neat and tidy."

"God, my grandmother would love you." His says under his breath.

"I'm sure she would."

A couple minutes later my truck is up and Jeremy and I are heading back to his work. This isn't the way though. We have turned onto the highway, heading out of town.

"Thank you for rescuing me, I hope I didn't interrupt your night."

He waves a hand, "It's not a problem Ange, I was with Jasmine. She understands."

Oh. I hope she doesn't get too mad about cutting his time short with him. Lately, Jasmine seems pissed off at Jer about the littlest things.

We are still cruising on the highway travelling east, reaching the outskirts of town. Nowhere near the shop. "Where are we going?"

"Out to my dad's place."

His dad's?! "Why?"

"I can't take it to the shop, it's for paying clients only. And my dad will appreciate working on your truck."

"Why?" I repeat.

"It's a '92 Chevrolet 454 SS."

Like I understand that. Actually I don't understand anything that involves cars and men wanting cars. Didn't even know he knew what kind of truck I had. He turns to me for a moment then laughs. "It's a nice truck from a beloved time of my dad's. He's a collector."

"Ah. Makes sense, my dad likes cars too." My dad had that truck since before I was born and let me have it when I graduated. Apart from my youngest brother, this truck is his baby. Along with a couple others.

"He has good taste." Jeremy comments as we head east of Austin, to his dads place. I guess I'm meeting his parents today... wish I wasn't coming from work; I'm a little grubby.

Another few minutes pass and we are outside of town now, in the middle of no where by the looks of it. A big wooden sign comes into view with 'Highland Lake Estates' written on it. There's a community out here? Damn this place is fancy as hell. Just by the looks of the gates, you can tell that there are million dollar homes at the end of the driveways. This means only one thing, his dad is fucking loaded.

Big fancy gates go by, each more ornate and unique than the one before, then we stop at one. Black iron and a slate stone arch stands above it. The house, 3 car garage and shop beyond it has the same design scheme. Jeremy punches in a code then the gates swing open. Damn this is nice. Jeremy's dad must of won the lottery or owns more than one shop if he lives in a place like this.

As we park, a German Shepard comes trotting towards us. It goes straight to Jeremy when he gets out.

"Roxie! How you doing girl!" He scratches her ear and pets the top of her head. Adorable, both of them. They look happy to see each other.

Roxie comes over to me and sniffs my leg. "Hey there Roxie." I say, petting her soft fur. I love big floofy puppers!

Jeremy walks ahead of me to the house, and Roxie and I follow behind. He knocks on the door twice. Why doesn't he just walk on in? A moment later a short blonde woman with a ton of makeup answers the door.

"Oh! Hello!" She squeaks like a chipmunk in a thick southern accent. Not at all what I expected for Jeremy's mom.

"Who's at the door?" A deeper voice calls from inside somewhere.

"Your son, he's brought a friend too." Her smile widens when our eyes meet.

Footsteps echo and a man appears from around the corner. His frown only grows deeper the longer he stares at us.

He's a tall, wide shouldered guy, with dark hair and blue eyes. Typical Texan. He could be Tom Sellock's brother with the same bushy moustache. Jeremy is a younger version of his dad except for the eye colour of course. I wonder what Jeremy would look like with those eyes. Never mind that. What is his dads name? He's said it plenty of times before over the phone.

"Well this is a lovely surprise." His dad says flatly as he approaches us.

"Good to see you too dad." Jeremy turns to me then back at his dad. "Angela this is my dad, Ron. Dad this is Angela."

Ron! That's it! "Nice to meet you Mr. Duncan." I greet him with a small, nervous smile and lift my hand.

He shakes it. "Nice to meet you darling. You aren't the type of girl Jeremy usually brings home. Wasn't it only a few months ago that we met Penelope? When are you going to settle down?"

Whoa, what is his deal?

"Good news dad!" Jer says in an almost sarcastic tone. "This is my girlfriend."

Excuse me? I whip my gaze to him and he's grinning at his parents, throwing an arm over my shoulders.

Ron's bushy eyebrows shoot up. "Girlfriend?"

Why do I get the feeling that word isn't heard much coming from Jeremy?

"Yes, we are living together too. Anymore questions or can I tell you why the hell I'm here?"

Whoa, whoa. I can feel his arm tighten on top my shoulders. He needs to relax. I grab his hand that's draped over me and squeeze it.

"I'm guessing it's not to introduce us to your new girlfriend..." He mumbles. "Why don't you come in and visit first." Is all his dad says and walks away.

Damn if I, or any of my brothers, talked to either my parents that way, we would've gotten our asses beat.

Sofia drops her gaze to the floor and I can't help but step over to her. "It is nice to meet you Sofia, your home is lovely."

Jeremy snorts. "This is Debbie, she would've been 15 to be pregnant with me."

"Oh." I swore his moms name was Sofia... And how does that work if there's only 15 years apart from them? This can't be his real mom. God, imagine having a kid at 15?!

"I'm his step mother. Ron and I have been together for 10 years now, married for 6." Debbie answers with a kind smile.

Oh, okay. That makes more sense. Jeremy doesn't look anything like her and she does look a lot younger than Ron... Not judging! "Sorry. It's a pleasure to meet you, Debbie."

She returns the pleasantries then gestures us in and leaves us to take off our shoes.

"Mind telling me what is going on?" I whisper to Jeremy when Debbie is far enough out of earshot.

"I'm calling in my favour. Just go along with it while we are here."

What? No! I can't really say no... he is fixing my truck. For free. Do I really have to repay him by doing this though? "Okay." I groan. "On one condition; no inappropriate touching or kissing."

He rolls his eyes with a corner of his lip turned up. "Killjoy."

I'm the killjoy? I think I'm being very reasonable for this situation. At least I didn't blab that we aren't dating and we're just roommates. Why would he tell them that I'm his girlfriend when they know about Penelope?

We step in to a living room that is the size of our apartment. The ranch, southern theme, is splayed everywhere from the number of animal trophies to the stone fireplace and leather couches. These couches might look nice but they are uncomfortable. Wearing shorts on leather is a bad idea also.

"How's work going?" Ron asks as he pours himself a drink.

"Fine."

"I think you would be enjoying it more if you took over as manager when I asked you to."

"I didn't want that, I wanted to play football."

Oh man... I place my hand on Jeremy's clenched fist and he relaxes a little. Just a little though.

To ease the tension more, Debbie asks how we met. I blink at her for a moment before turning to Jeremy with a wide smile. "Want to tell her hon?"

He chuckles showing a toothy grin. A complete 180 from how he was a few seconds ago. "Sure babe." Then he sits up straight. "We met at the university. Ange is studying Sports Physio Therapy and her class was overseeing our injuries. I dislocated my shoulder and she took good care of me."

We share a smile. Hmm, well that is true but I was his roommate by then.

"Surprised you didn't meet at some frat party." Ron says under his breath before taking a sip of his whiskey. Debbie and Jeremy throw him a look then he adds, "That sounds like a good profession. How do you like it so far?"

Oh he's going to speak to me. "It's great. I have one more exam tomorrow and then I'll be starting my second year in the fall."

"Good, are you working too?"

"Yes." I nod, clasping my hands. "I'm a part time barista at Starbucks but I did get promoted to an assistant manager." Don't ask why I said that, I felt like I needed to. Why do I feel like I'm being interviewed?

Jeremy turns to me. "You did?"

"Yeah."

"Nice." He grins. "That's awesome."

"Where are you from Angela?" Debbie asks.

"Orlando, Florida."

"Are you coming to the family BBQ?"

"I might be busy..."

"You two should come. Gramma Dotty would like to see you Jeremy and Miranda is going to be there."

"When is it?"

"Here. This Friday."

Jeremy sighs. "Right, well. I'll try to make it."

"I'm sure she would like to see you there since everyone is expected to show. That's what family does, we show up."

That sounded like a low blow.