"Wake up, sunshine," Rudy's voice sounded too close to me. I slowly opened my eyes to see him crouching by the bed with his face only inches from mine. "I bought you some clothes while you slept."

I rolled over, seeing it was dark outside. My body felt refreshed and a little cold. I was back to myself and shouldn't be worried about the pains and heat sweats anymore, at least for another month. I sat up, brushing my hand through my hair and remembering Rudy falling asleep next to me when we finished the tacos.

"When did you wake up?" I asked, scratching my head.

"About an hour ago," he said, setting a plastic bag with clothes on my lap. "Go get dressed, and I'll pack up the room."

I stood up from the bed, unbuttoning the shirt. I began undressing when Rudy glanced over and looked away.

"In the bathroom, for love," he said as I smiled, messing with him.

"What?" I replied. "You haven't seen a naked body before?" I kept teasing him as my breasts stayed hidden by the shirt still.

Rudy froze before shoving clothes in the bag. His eyes looked my way as he kept the same posture.

"Rudy, I'm messing with you," I said, walking toward the bathroom. "Don't get your panties in a bunch."

I entered the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. I sifted through the bag, finding some jeans and a plain black shirt. While pulling out the jeans, a sports bra fell out. I slipped it on, surprised that it fit. The jeans were baggy but matched well with the loose shirt.

A hairbrush sat at the bottom of the bag. I smiled at myself in the mirror, brushing the knots. Hopefully, Rudy purchased more than one set of new clothes since we will be on the road for a long time.

I stepped out of the bathroom, picking hair off the front of my shirt. I glanced up as Rudy was standing there watching me. His mouth dropped open as his eyes bobbed around.

"Does it all fit fine?" he asked, trying not to be awkward.

"Yes, the pants are a little big, but not bad," I responded.

He pointed at me. "You can thank Nina for that. I sent a picture of you, and she took guesses."

I tilted my head. "What?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "Pictures?"

Rudy tucked the duffle bag underneath his arm, tossing the phone to me. "Here, have a look."

He walked by me to the door, leaving the hotel room as I followed with my head down. I clicked on the images and saw the first picture of me. It was when he just woke me up. I was sleeping in the bed. The following picture was a side profile of me looking at the hotel art. I kept swiping, seeing all the secret pictures of me, until a girl who looked like Rudy popped up. She had the same big blue eyes, but her hair was red.

"Is this Nina?" I asked.

Rudy pushed the button to the elevator and looked over. "Yep," he said, trying to take the phone back, but I moved too fast for him.

I skipped to the neighboring picture of Rudy and another guy who looked about his age. He had dark brown skin with dreadlocks pulled up in a bun. We both walked into the elevator after the door slid open.

"And who's this?" I asked him.

Rudy stepped closer to me as his shoulder touched mine. "That's Darin. He's been my best friend for as long as I can remember and now soon-to-be brother-in-law."

I looked at him in shock. "What?" I asked. "Nina and your best friend?" I looked at the picture. "How cute. I bet you are excited to have him in your family." I played with the idea as positive because most would be furious if their best friend snagged their sister.

Rudy shrugged his shoulders. "He's always been in the family." He looked at me. "A breath of fresh air when those two finally admitted they liked each other."

The elevator opened to the parking garage while I followed him to the new parking spot. We both hopped into the truck as he started it. I slid across the seat, placing myself in the center.

Rudy leaned away from me. "What are you doing?"

I smiled, lifting the phone in the air. "Taking a picture of us," I said, making Rudy wrap his arm around my shoulder, leaning closer. "Cheese," I said as we both smiled.

Rudy took the phone from me. "This one is a keeper," he said, showing me the picture.

"I like it," I responded, as he pocketed the phone. "So, where to next?" I asked, looking at the ground and seeing more bags of clothes. "Oh, what are these?"

Rudy started the truck, backing it up. "We will head to Denver, Colorado, after I stop at a junkyard for the truck part I need. It's a long trip, so I'll drive all night." He found his way out of the parking garage. "Also, those are for you," he said, pointing at the bag.

I slid to the window, buckling up while pulling out the gifts. There were a few more pairs of jeans and many plain shirts. I placed them on the seat and then saw a red jacket.

"This is cute," I said, holding it up.

Rudy looked over. "I thought you would like that," he said.

Our journey to the junkyard was on abandoned roads. The sign on the metal fence barely made out the recycle center as Rudy parked the truck in front. The pickup lights shined while a shadow walked up, unlocking the entrance for us.

Rudy pulled the truck through the gate, parking it to the side. A man walked up as Rudy jumped out of the pickup.

"Rudy?" the man questioned.

"Yep, got the part?"

"Yes, got the money?" the man responded, looking over Rudy's shoulder at me.

Rudy pulled cash from his back pocket and gestured it to the man. The guy placed the truck part in Rudy's hand without counting the money.

"You have an hour. No more." The man walked off into the dark before a bright light turned on above us, shining down on the engine.

Rudy popped the hood, then removed his shirt, tossing it at me.

"Hey," I said, teasing, setting it on the seat.

I pulled the handle to the door, trying to get out while the truck didn't budge. Putting my body into it, I pushed and pulled, but the door kept closed. I scuffled across the seat, stepping out onto the dirt.

Rudy rolled an old tire from the darkness to the front of the truck, then stepped up, putting half his body into the engine. He glanced at me before jumping off and walked to the bed. He quickly returned, handing me a flashlight with his toolbox in his other hand.

"Could you hold the light for me?" he asked.

I turned it on. "Sure," I said, stepping up and aiming the light on the engine.

I sat there with my steady arm, watching the dark old tree sway with the wind. The dog tied to it slept underneath without a care in the world. Its eyes would peek at us but continued to leave its head in the dirt.

"To the left," Rudy said.

I glanced over as he wiped his forehead. A black mark smeared across, matching the other stains on his torso. I wanted to point the light at him to make out the tattoos he had sported, but I avoided my urges.

"How's it going?" I asked.

"Almost there," his voice echoed off the engine.

"What was wrong?"

Rudy paused, standing straight while removing the gloves he had on. Sweat dripped from his collarbone to his nipples while dirt covered his skin.

"I could tell you we had a broken aileron, and you wouldn't know I just told you an airplane part," he responded and took a washcloth, wiping his chest.

"True." I watched his hands grip tight on the cloth, performing circular motions.

Rudy tossed the dirty material onto his shoulder. "Okay, go start it up."

I pointed at my chest, shining the flashlight onto his face. "Me?"

He laughed while shaking his head. "No, the guy behind you."

I glanced over my shoulder, then back at him. "Yes, of course, me," I said, handing the flashlight to him.

With the door already open, I jumped in, turning the keys. The truck started quickly, sounding much better than before. Rudy yelled into the night sky before slamming the hood shut. He walked around to me, leaning against his door.

He reached down, grabbed a water bottle, and poured it on his head, cleaning the dirt and engine scum off. I crawled across the seat, throwing his shirt at him.

"Let's get going," he said, pulling the clean shirt over his head.

Once we hit the freeway, I zoned out, looking out the window with my head on it. An occasional car would join the road with the dark sky, an opaque tunnel.

"You can go back to sleep," Rudy said while looking through the front window.

"I'm not that tired," I replied, looking at him. "When we lose Saxon's pack and make it to your camp, will they help us?"

Rudy's eyes glanced over at me and then back to the road. "Of course," he said in a high-pitched voice. "That's the reason I even ran into you. Saxon's been a target of mine for a while now."

"Yeah, but I made your job harder, huh?" I added.

He laughed. "Only a little, but that's because you are hard to manage," he teased me.

I shoved his shoulder. "Don't be mean," I said, laughing.

Rudy shifted in his seat. "No, but in all seriousness, this has been the best job I've been on in my life."

"Really?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, beats the Texas trip I took with Darin by a long shot."

"Texas trip?" I questioned. "Tell me more."

Rudy laughed, shaking his head. "It was our first trip with just us and no adults, so a lot went wrong. It was stressful, but it made for a good story. We had a blast."

"I'd like to hear the stories of what went wrong," I said, unbuckling my seat belt and reaching into the back of the truck.

"Maybe for another time," Rudy replied, glancing at me. "What are you looking for?"

I huffed out, flipping my hair back. "Don't you have a blanket in here?" I said, moving a bag. "I feel cold."

Rudy reached a hand over while still leaving the other on the steering wheel. "Should be under the red bag," he said, hitting a bump on the road and causing his hand to cup my breast. He moved it away fast, sitting up straight in his seat. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

I moved the red bag and saw the blanket, pulling it to the front of the truck. "It's okay," I replied, but I think it made Rudy feel even more awkward.

He coughed out as I buckled back up. Rudy's eyes wouldn't look over at me as he focused on the road in front. "Let's listen to some music," he insisted.

I smiled out the side window, watching the dark trees pass by. Rudy tried to find a channel to play. The blue glow lit up inside the cab, causing me to look over at him. The stations scratched as nothing popped up. Until a song smoothly came into focus.

'Baby, lock the doors and turn the lights down low, put some music—'  Rudy changed it quickly with wide eyes.

'If you're horny, let's do it, ride it, my pony—'  He panicked, spinning the dial again, causing me to laugh under my breath.

The next song began, and Rudy put his hands on the wheel, but I knew it would be the same as the others. I started bobbing my head to the lyrics as this older nineties song by Usher flashed in my memories. I knew the lyrics because of my mom.

'I got plans to put my hands in places I've never seen, girl, you know what I mean—' Rudy glanced over at me once that lyric came out. 'Let me take you to a place nice and quiet. There ain't no one there to interrupt, ain't gotta rush—' He reached for the dial as my hand stopped him, planning to sing the song.

"I just want to take it nice and slow," I sang to Rudy, causing him to freeze. "See, I've been waiting for this for so long. We'll be making love until the sun comes up, baby," I sang the last part as Rudy turned the radio completely off, but I kept singing at the top of my lungs. "I just want to take it nice and slooowww."

Rudy laughed. I unbuckled my seat belt, scooting closer to him. "Now here we are, driving around town. Contemplating where I'm gonna lay you down," I sang out with a laugh.

Rudy put his palm over my mouth. "Okay, okay, stop," he laughed, shaking his head.

I clicked back on the radio as the song continued to play, singing along to it as Rudy sang with me. Our voices were not as smooth as Ushers, but it didn't matter because we sang as loud as we could while driving down the dark freeway.

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