I went to bed last night with Beau's deal hot on my mind, and the feelings I had around it were still going strong the next morning. I was confused and annoyed, but also intrigued- and dare I say excited?
I would have the opportunity to chase cross-country and meet new people. Emmy and Mira, my best friends weren't living in OKC with me. Em was living in South Carolina, something she'd talked about since we were kids. Mira and I had our money on her ending up Florabama, but to the Carolina's it was. Mira was at Texas Tech, and I'd only seen her a handful of times this school year, Emmy less.
I wasn't sure if I was going to run with Beau and his people yet, but he'd bought me food last night- the least I could do was go and see what the deal with his team was. It dawned on me that he may have given me a fake address and was actually a serial-killer. Serial-killers were always some degree of attractive, if watching Criminal Minds and Dateline taught me anything.
Before I could think about anything else though, I had to lay in bed and complain about getting up for an hour. It was already ten o'clock, but that didn't make getting out of bed any easier. And so, that's exactly what I did. Whined to myself, rolled out of bed, laid on the floor, and checked my phone before dragging myself to the bathroom around ten forty five. I was always a procrastinator. I'd stare in the mirror and count my eyelashes before bringing my laundry down as a teenager, and it drove my mom and dad crazy. I'd like to say I no longer procrastinate, but I can't.
I got into my car and turned on the country radio. I wanted to stop for a coffee before hitting Beau's place. Or wherever I was going. For all I knew, it could be serial-killer hell. Fifteen minutes, with an iced coffee in hand, I stood on the doorstep of the place with the Bricktown address he'd given me. A large portion of the place appeared to be a garage, the rest of it appearing like a townhouse. My heart was racing in my chest. What if this is the wrong house? What if someone who isn't Beau is here? I pushed the thoughts aside and knocked on the door. I waited a moment, and no one came. I rang the bell this time, sighing and crossing my arms. I was fixing to turn around and leave when the door opened halfway. A guy with light eyes and blondish-`brown hair stood there in a t-shirt and plaid pants, his head titled to the side like a confused puppy.
He said in a deep southern accent, "Hi, can I help you?"
I smiled politely. "I'm looking for Beau Cleburne."
From somewhere inside the house, I heard a female voice say "Who the hell is knocking at the door before eleven thirty on a Saturday?" The guy standing at the door looked over his shoulder then back at me. "Why don't you come on in, he'll be here in a minute."
"Where is he?"
"Down in the garage, I'll send someone to go get him."
The southern guy in the Oklahoma City EMS shirt and the flannel pj's looked unassuming enough, and I shoved all thoughts of serial-killers away. I shrugged and followed him into the house. It smelled like vanilla and fresh breeze, reminding me of fall days on the ranch. Potential-but-unlikely-confused-kidnapper-dude led me into a small but open living room. A girl with long hair was sitting on a barstool, staring into a cup of coffee. "Beau's got a visitor," potential-but-unlikely-confused-kidnapper-dude said, giving her a knowing smile. She jumped up and faced me. I recognized her as the girl from Desi's with the sweet, vaguely Australian accent. Malinda. No, not that. Madi. Madina. That's it.
Once she was gone, a took a seat at the counter. "Want something to drink?" I shook my head and help up my coffee, grinning. He turned to me, tilted his head to the side again, and then recognition flashed in his eyes.
"Leigh Hale," he said matter-of-factly. I nodded and laughed a little bit, because I was the kind of person to laugh at everything, even if it wasn't funny. "And you might be?"
"I'm Clay. The girl in the kitchen is Madi. Beau's in the garage with Sammy, and I don't know what Jacky and May are doin'."
"Y'all all live together?"
He made a so-so gesture with his hand. "Kind of. Sam-Samantha's goin' into her junior year, and she's owned this place since she got here two years ago. My cousin Maybry and I came to live here at the beginning of this year. I live on campus during the week when it's baseball season though. Jacky and Beau are here when they ain't playin' football, and Madi's been here almost s'long as Sam."
I nodded. "Y'all've got a garage here." It was more of statement than a question. Clay nodded. He opened his mouth to speak when a door swung open. A shirtless guy in sweatpants with a six-pack walked out of the room, a phone pressed to his ear. He nodded at Clay, did a double take when he glanced at me, then left the room. A moment later he passed through the kitchen, this time wearing a shirt, and retreated into the bedroom.
Clay smiled sheepishly. "Don't mind the mess."
I smiled right back. I could tell I'd like this group. Clay and I talked a bit while waiting for Beau, wherever he was. I found out Maybry was his cousin, and they'd known Beau, Samantha, Jacky, and Madina since high school in Dallas. Great, I was surrounded by more Dallas people, I thought, only half-joking. We were heading towards an argument over Dr.Pepper or Diet Coke, when Beau walked in. Clay thought Dr.Pepper tasted like barbecue coke water, and suddenly I wasn't so sure if I'd fit in with this group after all.
Beau tossed a tool bag on the counter and looked at me. "You made it Leigh."
"I said I'd be here."
"Sorry you had this one for entertainment."
I frowned. "He's nice."
"She had to spend an hour with you last night, I think that's worse than listenin' to me talk about soft drinks for five minutes," Clay pointed out.
I turned to him. "This conversation is still not over. I will make you like Dr.Pepper."
A door slammed somewhere in the house, and Mr. Six-pack walked right into a girl who'd appeared out of seemingly no where. Beau waved to her. "Howdy Sam. Might wanna watch where you're going, you know Jacky can't see anything under six feet tall."
I made a mental note that the girl with brown hair and light golden-brown skin was Samantha. I was getting the hang of this. I knew what Clay and Madina looked like, and obviously Beau. I pieced together the rest- Jacky was Mr. Six pack, and Maybry was nowhere to be found yet.
Beau sat down next to me. "So, this is everyone. Well except for lady May, but she'll turn up I'm sure. She tends to sleep in." He grinned, and I wanted to bang my head against a brick wall. His smile was annoyingly pretty. I decided to focus on the house instead, and said the first thing that came to mind.
"You know, this place is awfully clean for six college kids living together."
"You can thank me for that," Mr. Six- I mean Jacky said. He popped up from under the kitchen sink holding a thing of bleach and an unlabeled bottle of a cloudy blue liquid.
Beau smirked. "Tryin' to make chloroform or something?"
And this is where I get kidnapped. Clay looked at me. "I know you wouldn't see it at first glance, but Jacky's a total clean freak. It's kind of scary."
I grew up with adhd in a house alongside two messy boys and a mother who was an organization-a-holic. I always tried to keep things neat, but always failed. My dad and Declan never tried though. Of course, this drove my mom, who also likely suffered from adhd, crazy. It was shocking to see a college-age boy actually care about the cleanliness of the place he lived in.
I smiled, suddenly at home with the dynamic around me. I found myself laughing and telling a few of my own stories. I was no longer in a rush to leave the place, and began to relax.
I had just drained my coffee when a girl with blue eyes and dirty-blonde hair entered the room. "I've been listenin' to y'all for the past hour now. No one wants to show our guest the garage? I think Leigh Hale came here to talk cars and weather, not argue over soft drinks. Correct me if I'm wrong, though," she said with a wink. Something passed between us, and I decided I liked Maybry right off the bat.
I stood and tossed my coffee in a trash can. Even the garbage is clean here, I thought. I wiped my hands on my jeans and glanced around the space. "So... Is anyone gonna show me this garage your friend speaks of?"
I was bustin' with excitement to show Leigh the garage. The others could tell, and if Leigh noticed, she didn't say anything. She just smiled and laughed. If I hadn't known any better, I would think that she was just bein' polite, but I'd heard her laughter all the way from the kitchen.
The rough and tumble girl she'd played the role of at the street races had disappeared. In her place, stood the other Leigh Hale with her dark eyes, highlights, thin lips, and loud laugh. Put a jar of sweet tea in one of her hands, and a phone hooked up to a Doppler radar in the other, and she was home. A tool belt and some lip liner were added bonuses, it seemed.
"I want to show the boys somethin' in the garage, why don't you ladies fix yourselves some sweet tea?"
"Maybe if you all hadn't drank it all, then we could," Madina quipped. I had a feeling that she was still bitter about the 'not my pants' incident last night.
"My bad baby," I said, and left them behind with a wink, pulling Jacky and Clay into the garage. Jacky quirked an eyebrow, and Clay just shook his head and laughed.
"You've got it bad, Beau Cleburne."
"You got 'em butterflies or something baby boy?" Jacky teased, leaning forward and ruffling my hair in a brotherly type of way.
"Y'all, I don't know what to do. I can't screw this up, or I'm done-for."
"Done-for in the Leigh Hale department, or in the newsroom type of way?"
"The Leigh Hale department..?" I sputtered, feeling my face go hot.
"Just act chill Beau. Don't get your wires all in a tangle."
"Right. Don't spill sweet tea on the HDMI cables. Got it."
"What is he talking about?"
"Something my momma used to tell us, except it actually applied to something in the real world and wasn't a stupid metaphor!" I hissed.
"What in the hell is an HDMI cable?" Jacky asked.
"Not important. Go get the girls, I'm going to hide under my car and pretend to fix it while I pray it runs me over."
"Someone's dramatic," Clay said. "Just because I'm a paramedic doesn't mean you get a free ambulance ride."
"Hmph." I slid under the Corvette and went to work, fiddling with her wires and bolts. The door squeaked open.
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Jacky led Madina, Maybry, and I into the garage. Clay stood peering down at something under Beau's Corvette. A hand flew up. "Wrench."
Clay shook his head and handed who I presumed to be Beau a wrench. I watched him disappeared behind a toolbox, and some agressive whispering.
I tilted my head to the side, confused, and looked to the other girls. Madina and Maybry exchanged a glance and a smirk.
I frowned. "Do y'all all even know why I'm here?"
Silence.
"Let me set the scene," I said, walking around the garage. "It's right around ten pm on a Friday night, when I'm approached. Last night. By a boy in a Corvette, to be exact." I paused, all of their attention on me.
"So this boy, **he's playin' nice. I mean really schmoozing up to me. We talk a bit, yada yada yada some time later and I'm sitting 'cross from him at Desi's. Hi Madina." I looked in her direction, and she offered a wave.
"It turns out, he's not actually so bad. I mean, he's from Dallas, so I expected the worst- y'all country-in-the-city folk are just too much sometimes! Anyway, I'm getting off topic here. So Beau and I are having a nice little chat, when we strike up a deal. Y'all ready for this?"
The garage was dead silent. I had them wrapped around my finger.
"I'll admit now, that I judged him a bit too quick. I offered my help anyway. And now that I've met y'all, I don't regret offering to help." I sent a smile in Beau's direction, and he averted his gaze. "What I've heard, is that y'all've got a thing for storm chasing. No?"
After nobody objected, I went on. "There's a rival team that I've been informed of. If y'all can get them some classified intel from the frickn' FBI, then they'll back out of the deal y'all are both goin' for. You all get the big bucks, they get their Secret Service stalking rights, and I get a sweet internship with the FBI."
"An internship with the FBI?" Clay asked.
I grinned a Beau. "I called. Jamie and Michelle got me the internship. I start the first week of June."
"Woah, woah, woah- back up a bit," Jacky said.
"Long story short, I'll get us into the database. My cousin and his fiance work for the FBI. We can chase storms on the way over there, I'll get my info, then dip and blame it on school."
"And you're doing this because?"
"I'm bored as hell, y'all! There's hardly anything to do in Bricktown. Let's go rock these people's shit! The government is stupid anyway. It's heist time!"
"Business trip," Beau interjected.
The others looked shocked, and I didn't blame them- I was crazy-sounding! It was the smile that lit up Beau's face that grounded me. The seven of us would make one killer team, and I couldn't have been more excited.