Tex (Burnout) Read Online Free PDF

and she followed his gaze as a disinterested, younger version of the motorcycle enthusiast fired up a Chevy truck, gave the group a wave, and rolled out of the lot. Hale straddled the bike and bounced in the seat a little, feeling out the frame. Abby’s jaw twitched.
     
    He fired up the engine, revved it a few times and saluted the group before pulling out of the lot to follow the truck. Abby fisted the check in her hand for a brief moment before taking a deep breath and folding it up meticulously.
     
    “Well, thanks,” she said aloud to Tex and Shooter who were nearby. She dug out her own check, also folded neatly, and handed it to the owner of the garage.
     
    “It’s still too much,” Shooter declared.
     
    Abby shook her head, as much to quell any arguments as to will away any tears that were threatening to fall. “It’s worth it,” was all she managed to tell him. She pulled her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and turned away from them. “Have a good one,” she called out in a chipper tone. Her thumb swept over the screen and she was about to begin dialing a cab when the phone was taken from her.
     
    She turned and looked up into Tex’s blue eyes. His blonde hair highlighted his tan. “I’ll take you home,” he told her.
     
    Abby shook her head. “I can call a cab. It’s not-”
     
    “I’m taking you home,” he said in a firmer tone. She realized he was holding her phone hostage as he guided her across the lot and toward a large, black Hummer. He opened the passenger side door for her and it wasn’t until she was safely ensconced inside that he handed her the phone back.
     
    Abby sighed and resigned herself to being given a ride. As Tex pulled out of the garage’s lot, she leaned her head back on the leather head rest and looked out the passenger window.
     
    “You okay?” Tex asked, glancing at her.
     
    “Yeah,” she assured him. She sighed. “Maybe I wasn’t really ready.”
     
    He turned the wheel and took the cross street. “You’re never ready.”
     
    “He had cancer,” she declared. “It went on a long time. It’s not like I didn’t have time to prepare.”
     
    “My old man had a stroke,” Tex confided. “He lingered a while, too. It doesn’t make it easier when you see the train coming, Abby. All you can do is make decisions and stick to them. No matter how strong the impulse is to change your mind.”
     
    Abby turned to him, surprised. “How- how did you...?”
     
    “The last thing I sold was my old man’s rodeo saddle. Never fit me right, but that might’ve been in my head. It seemed like the right thing to do. It was the right thing to do. But at the last minute it took everything I had not to back out of the deal.”
     
    “Our relationship was....complicated,” she replied.
     
    Tex smiled. “I think you just described everyone’s relationship with their father.”
     
    He pulled up in front of the condo and parked. “Wait there,” he commanded.
     
    Abby complied.
     
    He came around the front of the Hummer and opened her door. He took hold of her elbow and helped her down from the rig. She smiled at him.
     
    “I’ve got my boots on,” she reminded him. “I can get down.”
     
    Tex was standing close, very close, and her body brushed up against his as she slid down to the pavement. His sparkling blue eyes met hers. “I didn’t ask.”
     
    Abby’s stomach fluttered. Tex reached out and pushed back a strand of her hair that had come loose from its tie.
     
    “I will ask you if you want to go out for a beer, though,” he said. “Rough day and all.”
     
    Abby sighed inwardly. Of course a guy like Tex wouldn’t be interested in someone like her. He was just being nice.
     
    “Well, thanks,” she replied in a steady voice that covered her disappointment. “But tonight’s a drinking alone night.”
     
    “Some other time, then,” he said, in a tone that made it clear he wasn’t asking about that, either.
     
    Tex was a nice guy,