Twisted Asphalt (Asphalt Outlaw Series Book 1) Read Free Page A

but she wouldn’t hear
it. Any door that might have been open for her to be interested in dating him
had slammed shut when she saw the bottom rocker on his vest. She hated being
that way, but she was not going to put herself on an emotional rollercoaster
like her mother had been on. Gail and Alan had a beautiful relationship, he
doted on her hand and foot, but everyone saw how the emotional turmoil her
mother wrestled with every day wore her down. Sometimes, Amy blamed her father
for her mother’s death, not caring that it was an illness. It justified her
hurt.
    Sleeping hadn’t made Amy feel any less disappointed or angry
that Mason was a prospect. She actually looked forward to her first date in
months, and now she may as well join one of those dating sites and pray some
psycho didn’t try to send a flirt her way. She went through the motions of
getting ready for work, and found herself in the shop going through the daily
motions of stocking up product and dusting off shelves, mentally arguing the
pros and cons of trying to get involved with Mason.
    Just as she was about to slam the imaginary gavel,
sentencing herself to a life of no dating, she heard the angry jingle of the
shop’s doorbell and Maggie’s voice shouting her name.
    “Good Lord, Mags. You’d think the Pope was in town.”
    Amy couldn’t help but grin when her best friend came tearing
around the corner of a bookcase, topaz eyes lit with mischief. That was all
Maggie. They had been friends for as long as she could remember, growing up
side by side, though it seemed Amy grew up and Maggie grew out. She was a few
inches shorter than Amy, but had a good twenty to thirty pounds more on her
than most females her size should. Caramel-kissed skin, jet-black hair, and
old-world curves that most women would kill for—that was Maggie in a nutshell.
    “I heard what you did to the prospect last night.”
    Amy rolled her eyes while shaking her head. “He deserved
it.” She wrinkled her nose and looked away, taking a few steps toward the
barista station for a cup of coffee.
    Maggie’s perfectly shaped brows shot up when she followed
Amy, not giving up on the start of an interrogation. “You’re so not telling me
something. Spill it.”
    “Uhh, no. There’s nothing to spill. I don’t know what you’re
talking about.” Amy heard Maggie huff, and was about to grab a cup of coffee
when she felt hands on her ribs and a tickle session beginning. Squeaking in
surprise, she tried to wiggle away from Maggie, but got pinned between the
counter and a rack of flavored syrups.
    “Stop! So. Not. Fair!”
    Maggie burst out laughing as she tickled further, reaching
for a couch pillow, then smacking Amy right in the kisser. “Tell me now!”
    “Okay!” Amy yelped with laughter as she grabbed for the
pillow, whacking Maggie upside the head before tossing it on one of the
couches. “I met him in the store and he asked me out. I agreed. But…”
    “But?” Maggie asked incredulously.
    “I don’t date club.”
    She half scoffed-half snorted and threw up her hands.
“Doesn’t mean you can’t do them.”
    “Maggie!” Amy burst out laughing at her friend’s bold
statement, though she was used to it.
    “What?” She gave Amy an innocent look, acted like she was
adjusting an invisible halo over her head. “He’s hot. I can think of several
things I could do to that body.”
    Amy groaned and started that pot of coffee she meant to start
a while ago. Seeing the time, she glanced over her shoulder. “Lunch?”
    “Old Town?”
    “Like we’d go anywhere else.”
    “Lead the way.”
     
    * * * *
     
    “I’m telling you, there is nothing better than having a bowl
of menudo to get rid of a hangover.”
    Amy shuddered in repressed horror at the very thought of
eating pig intestines when she was hung over. “Yeah, maybe to make you puke
again.” She picked a pepper off of her plate, wrinkling her nose when she
thought about Mason once more.
    "Penny for your