Y'all know the deal...The Fast and The Furious and its characters do not belong to me. The only character that does belong to me is...well, the kind stranger.
This happens while the whole team is returning from Mexico.
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Chapter One
The Kind Stranger
"What can I get you?" she asked, a real smile on her face. The two old men looked at her over their menus and smiled back. She tugged at her belt loops, pulling up her pants and laughed, knowing exactly what to do. "How 'bout I start y'all off with a cup o' joe?" The two men nodded and she winked at them before walking off.
She stopped at the next table and smiled. "What'll you have?" she asked the three older gentlemen and their companion, an older woman.
"We'll all have some tea," the woman answered for all of them.
"OK, be right back." She walked behind the counter and put her order pad down. "Gimme a pot of coffee and a pot of hot water," she told the guy working behind the counter with her. He turned around and smiled at her, raising a questioning eyebrow. "Don't make me repeat myself," she warned. Blue-eyes, as she had fondly called him, handed her a black carafe and a white one. "Thank you," she said, taking them from him and grabbing a handful of tea bags.
Quickly she made her way back to the table with the four people and placed the white carafe and tea bags on their booth. She smiled brightly and took their orders, killing them with sweetness. Then she turned and did the same at the table with two old men. When she was done, she handed her order tickets to the cook and leaned against the counter.
"Hey, Blondie," someone called. She turned around and scanned the floor. At a table in the far corner a man with salt and pepper hair had his hand raised in the air, trying to wave her down. "Blondie, over here."
She smiled and nodded, walking to the corner to sit in the booth. "What can I do for you, Cap'n?" she asked, throwing her arm around the man.
"Sit with us for a while," he told her, pointing to the equally gray woman across from him.
She looked over the floor at all the packed tables and shook her head. "But I can't, Pop. It's busy."
"Ray'll run your food out. No one else will be coming in, it's one thirty in the morning. Everyone in town is in here." As soon as the captain finished speaking the bell over the door rang.
"You spoke too soon, Cap," she told him, sliding out of the both. The three of them shared a laugh as she turned to face the door. Five very attractive men stood in the doorway, looking around cautiously. "This all a y'all?" she asked, making sure to look at each one of them. All five of them snapped their gaze to her.
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The name-tag on her shirt read "BLONDIE" and Leon wondered briefly whether or not it was her real name. He looked up at the girl's face and smiled. She was a vision: long, wavy blond hair, bright emerald green eyes, and the perfect body from what he could tell. She was skinny with the right size chest, her shirt revealing nothing, and she had nice long legs.
"Is this all of y'all?" she repeated, her Southern drawl making her sound cuter. "The five of you?"
"There's seven of us," Dom said finally. "The other two are out parking."
Blondie grabbed seven menus and motioned for them to follow her. "Good luck finding a spot," she said, placing the menus on a large table. "This is the busiest night of the week." When all of them were seated she continued: "Do you want something to drink now? Or would you rather wait for the other two?"
"We'll wait?" Dom told her flatly.
"Well, I'll be right over there. In that booth." She pointed behind herself. "You need me, just call my name."
"Blondie?" Brian asked skeptically.
"That's me." She walked over to a booth with an older couple and put her arm around the shoulders of the man. "Hey, Cappy," Leon heard her say.
"We need to find a place to spend the weekend," Vince told Dominic.
"When the girls get in here, we'll ask Blondie if she knows any place close," was his answer.
Leon looked over at Jesse, who looked tired. The medication that the poor kid was on had him asleep more than he was awake. At that moment, Leon was positive that the entire team needed a caffeine fix. Sitting at some bar in the middle of the night was not something that should be part of the game plan. Even if it meant that he'd have some time to ogle some girl's goodies. But stopping at some dive for old men in the center of Nowhere, Texas was only wasting time. They had a long trip home.
A bell rang and absolutely everyone in the place looked up. Letty and Mia spotted them and made their way over. "Man, Dom." Mia said as she slid into the booth next to Brian. "You sure do know how to pick the most secluded places."
"That way no one'll recognize us," he answered and Leon smiled.
"Yeah, we don't have any wanna be racers coming up to us," V finished for him.
"Whadda ya say we have some coffee?" Letty finally spoke up, leaning her elbows on the table.
"Sounds like a plan," Jesse mumbled from beside Leon.
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"Hey, Blondie?" Brian called, and Mia watched as Leon straightened ever so slightly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a girl stand up from some booth and make her way over to them.
"Everybody accounted for?" the waitress asked, smiling politely. Mia immediately went to work scrutinizing the girl's looks. She was tall, green eyes, small waist, fairly large chest, long long legs, and fake blond hair.
"We'll have a pot of coffee." Dom spoke and girl walked away.
"Oh, her hair is so fake," Mia told everyone in a whisper.
"OK, miss fashion is everything," Letty started, "maybe there's a reason."
"Here y'all go," the girl said, placing a black carafe on the table. She stood up straight and asked, "Is there anything else I can get you?"
"Do you know any motels close to here? Or maybe even a hotel?" Vince asked. The girl covered her mouth and tried to hold in her laughter.
After realizing that it wasn't a joke, she quickly sobered up. "You're serious? Oh, I'm sorry." Blondie took a deep breath and let it out. "OK, do you have a map or anything?" she asked, looking at Dom.
"No."
"Why?" Letty asked.
"Well, 'cause if you look at this place on a map, then go out about two hundred miles and draw a circle around here. You will definitely not find any hotels or motels within that circle," she drawled in her Southern accent.
"Damn, Dom, you sure did pick the right place," Leon grumbled. "Do you know of any Inns that are around here? One that'll have a couple rooms open for the weekend?" he asked the waitress.
She bit her lower lip and looked down at the floor, thinking. Suddenly she snapped her head up and smiled. "There is one about ten miles west of here."
"Yes! Good if you could just give us the directions-?" Mia felt herself ask, she wanted more than anything to get away from the people in this bar. They were giving her the creeps.
"Another round o' Wild Turkey, Blondie! On me!" Some guy at the counter shouted out and the waitress cringed.
"Sorry. You won't be getting a room there tonight," she told the group.
"And why not?" Letty asked indignantly.
The girl cracked her knuckles and pointed to the man that had just shouted. "See that man over there? He owns that Inn, and well, he closed up about an hour ago."
Brian put his arm around Mia and spoke up. "Well, we could always go talk to him."
"George ain't gonna do business with you folks."
"And why not?" Dom asked gruffly.
"I just served him his fifteenth shot of the night. He's too far gone." The girl looked around. "Tell you what...I'll ask around, see if anyone's got any room." She turned around and started to walk away, but stopped short and looked at them. "By the way, y'all wouldn't be interested in a round o' Wild Turkey?" she asked. "George's treat?"
"We'll pass," Vince said flatly.
"Suit ya selves."
-----
Letty followed the girl with her eyes, wondering what it must've been like growing up in a place so far from civilization. She watched as the girl poured everyone a shot of liquor, smiling and laughing with the customers, as if she had known them her whole life. When Blondie was done pouring drinks, she sat down at the table across from them with an old couple.
"Hey, Blondie?" Dom called and Letty frowned at him. The poor girl had just gotten off of her feet. She came over to them and smiled politely. "Did you happen to find any place for us?" Blondie shook her head solemnly.
"What are you looking for?" the old man that the waitress was sitting with asked.
"They're looking for a place to stay for the weekend," the girl called over her shoulder.
"Why not let them stay at the flat?"
Blondie's eyes lit up and she smiled. "I didn't even think about that, Cappy." She looked over at the team. "You guys are more than welcome to come stay at my flat for the weekend."
"You don't even know us," Mia said, always the voice of reason.
"I know that you are seven folks far from home, with no place to stay. And I also know that I have a flat with four extra beds and a fold-out couch. That's all I need to know."
"Hey, look, we finally met someone as nice as Mia," Letty said and the team laughed in response.
"That's very nice, but we couldn't possibly intrude on your privacy," Dom said, and Letty knew he was hoping that the topic would be dropped.
"Look," the girl said, shrugging her shoulders. "You wanna spend the entire night in your cars, and wait until around noon tomorrow when George is getting over his hangover? That's fine, but the invitation stands."
"Don't forget about the front moving in!" A man from another booth chimed in.
"Thank you, Ernie." Blondie put her hands on her hips. "And there's a storm moving in. Which reminds me: Everyone!" The entire place went silent. "Last call was the last round of Wild Turkey! Start calling the cabs!" A few moans and groans went up, a couple people even yelled at her, but the waitress ignored them. "It'll be here in like an hour, so you can sleep in your cars and deal with the storm. Or you can come home with me. Room and board's free and so's the grub." She walked away, tossing over her shoulder, "Your choice."
"We might as well do it, Dom," Letty told him, knowing full well that she was the only one he'd listen to. "I don't know about you, but I don't feel like sleeping in my car."
"All right, all right. We'll stay at this chick's place," he conceded finally. Letty watched at Leon's smile widened. When he caught her looking at him he sobered up.
The bar patrons had left quickly, emptying the place in a shockingly short amount of time. Blondie came back over about fifteen minutes later, a dishrag over her shoulder. "Have y'all decided?"
"We'll stay at your place, but only if you don't mind," Dom told her.
"Ray, I'm leaving. Don't work too late," she called to the blonde guy behind the counter. "Meet me out front in two minutes," she told them. "I'ma go 'round back and get my pickup."
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"Why am I not surprised that she drives a pickup?" Vince asked as they all walked out of the bar. He knew it sounded harsh, but who really cared.
"Maybe it's the accent," Jesse offered, mimicking the girl's accent.
"Leon doesn't seem to mind the accent," Letty said, playfully punching Leon on the shoulder.
Vince smiled to himself. "Yeah, I was picking up on some of those vibes."
"You have to admit," the other man said, "the girl has a nice body."
Mia walked over and put her arm around Leon's shoulders. "Dude, she's like fifteen."
"Jailbait," Brian said, causing Vince's smile to widen. After spending seven months with the man down in Mexico, he had come to like him. Somewhat. The roaring of an engine came around the corner and Vince nearly pissed his pants at the sight of Blondie's "pickup."
"Oo," Jesse said in awe. "A monster truck."
And he wasn't kidding; the step to get into the cab of the truck was easily three feet off the ground. Vince watched as Blondie gracefully dropped out of the vehicle to the cement.
"OK, so y'all can just-" She looked over at their cars. "Holy shit, are these all yours?"
"Like 'em?" Dom asked.
"I think she does," Vince found himself saying. He watched as she moved from car to car with a cat-like grace, a wide smile on her face. Thunder clashed in the distance and lightning struck in the sky, lighting up the parking lot, and making everyone jump. "Shouldn't we get going?"
"Yeah. Sorry." She made her way back to her truck and he wondered how long it would take her to climb in. But she surprised him by grabbing hold of the support bar, stepping onto the step, and gracefully swinging herself into the cab.
"What a woman," he heard Jesse mumble to himself.
"I saw her first," Leon said next to him. The two of them regarded each other for a moment.
"I'll fight you for her."
"You'll lose."
"You wish I would," the kid said, puffing out his chest.
"I know you will." Leon, clearly a few inches taller, looked down on the kid, an eyebrow raised in challenge.
Blondie rolled down the window of the truck and leaned out, smiling at all of them. "I hope y'all can drive as fast as those cars look."
"Honey, you have no idea," Dom told her. They all broke from their group and walked to their cars.
"That's good, because I wanna get there before the storm comes in," she said before closing the window and turning the truck back on.
As soon as Vince felt his Maxima purr to life he watched the monster truck shoot out of the parking lot. He muttered a quick "shit" before shifting into first and following the team out. He felt his jaw drop as the truck picked up speed, forcing him to have to shift all the way into fifth. For a truck that size, he knew, it was amazing that it could pick up that much speed.
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Dom watched as the pickup turned into a deserted parking lot and drove around a building; he did the same and the team followed. Around the back of the building was a giant opening that he assumed led to an underground parking facility.
"Does this chick think she's going to fit that monster through there?" Brian asked over the two-way. Most of the team answered "no."
His own eyes went wide as the truck went down a slope, just barely missing the overhang. "Holy shit!" Jesse said over the radio. "I am in awe of this girl's skill."
"Just follow her in and park next to her," Dom told them, always the leader. He led the team through the parking complex, following the monster truck that was hard to miss. All of them parked in the far corner of the building and stepped out of the cars. Each of them grabbed a duffle bag from their trucks and gathered in a circle, waiting for Blondie.
The truck door opened, a white shirt – which looked like the one the girl had worn at the bar – fell to the ground, as did a large pile of blond hair. Next a girl with waist-length brown hair, wearing a black sweatshirt, began climbing down from the truck with her back to them. She shut the door, leaned over and picked up the pile on the ground, and stood to face them.
"Hi, y'all," she said, smiling.
"Where'd Blondie go?" Leon asked and Dom nearly laughed out. He had not missed the bantering of his team before they left the bar; the way the team was teasing him.
"I ain't a natural blond," she told them all.
"Is there anything else about you that isn't real?" Vince asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"My name."
"And it is?" Mia asked.
"Davan," she tossed over her shoulder as she walked to a freight elevator. When everyone was inside she pulled the gate shut and pushed the button for the top floor. "So, y'all have names? Or should I just call y'all by numbers for the weekend?"
"I'm Vince," V spoke, sticking out his hand. "You can call me V," he told her as they shook.
"I'm Dom." He also shook hands with the girl. The rest of the introductions were basically the same until she knew everyone's names and they reached the eighth floor.
"Well, it's nice to meet cha'all," she said, lifting the wooden gate and the solid red door that had a square window about eye level. "Welcome to my humble abode."
Dom looked around the giant room, what he guessed was a living room, and whistled. For a waitress at some bar in the middle of Bum-fucked, Egypt, she sure did make good money. The walls were painted cream with paintings that looked like they cost at least a thousand dollars a piece, and the all furniture was made of expensive-looking brown leather. If you could use any word to describe this place...humble wasn't it.
"This is your apartment?" Brian asked, stepping out of the elevator. The rest of the team followed in the same fashion looking around the room as if they had never seen anything like it.
"How can you afford this place on a waitress's salary?" Mia asked skeptically.
Davan looked around the room as if nothing was unusual. "The cap'n bought this place for me and his girlfriend decorated it."
Letty glanced at her questioningly. "What is the captain? Your sugar daddy or something?"
"Nope. He's my dad...sorta." She dropped her pile of clothing and hair on the counter between the kitchen and living room.
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"Sorta? Whadda ya mean sorta?" Jesse was really interested to hear how that works. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted an awesome computer set up in the far reaches of the room. He immediately ran over to it and stared in amazement. Computers, math, and engines, that was his heaven. "This is like the computer of all computers! Where did you get this?"
"The cap'n had it specially made for me when I was in school."
"Oh really. What school did you go to? What was your major?" Mia asked, looking away from a picture that hung on the wall.
"I went to UT and I majored in law enforcement." The girl picked up a picture and ran a finger around the frame. "It's a field the cap'n got me into."
"Speaking of the cap'n, yet again, how is he "sorta" your dad?" Dom asked, changing the subject.
"Well, when I was about two n' a half years old I was adopted by the cap'n."
"What happened to your biological parents?" Brian asked. It was the first time he said anything in a while.
"My momma ran away and my daddy went to prison. I was told that family adopted my brother, but a friend of the family adopted me. The cap'n. He took me and ran to Texas."
"Have you ever spoken to your brother since then? Do you even know anything about him?" Leon asked compassionately.
"I haven't spoken to him, but I do know that his name was Jesse James Something-Or-Other. I don't know the last name. I have a picture of him right here but that is all I know."
Jesse finally turned away from the computer when he heard this so he could see the picture that she held up. He walked over to her and squinted at the faded picture, trying to get a better look. It was a family photo.
"Aw how cute," he said to no one in particular. He looked up to see everyone staring at him strangely, especially Davan who frowned and stared back at the picture. "Sorry, that sounded wrong.
"Why don't you guys make yourselves comfortable," she said, gesturing around the apartment. "I'ma be right back to show y'all where ya can stay for the weekend," her voice faded out as she disappeared into a room.
"Must really suck to be adopted," Vince said, planting himself on the couch.
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"Just leave it be guys. It's her business," Dom said in a no-nonsense tone. As usual the bickering was stopped the second he opened his mouth. That was one of the things Mia loved about her brother: he demanded respect, and those that didn't show it lived to be sorry. The team just sort of wandered around the living room and kitchen waiting for Davan to come back out of the room.
"She's taking forever! Maybe someone should go check if she's all right," Vince suggested and Mia rolled her eyes.
"V, you just wanna go hopin' you can catch her mid-change."
"I'll do it," Letty said with a sigh. The woman disappeared down the same hallway and knocked on the door.
Mia turned around just in time to see Leon put his arm around Jesse. "Hey, I'll fight ya for her," he said. The kid just turned to face his best friend, a horrified look on his face. The next few events happened in slow motion:
Jesse's eyes rolled back into his head and he dropped like dead weight onto the floor. That wasn't a good sign. His medication was supposed to prevent that. Come to think of it, when was the last time he had taken his meds?
"Jesse?" Brian asked, everyone hoping that the kid was just fooling around. "Jesse?"
"What the Hell is happening out here?" a Southern voice asked, and Mia turned around to see Davan standing in the hallway.
"I didn't mean to do it," Leon said, looking up from his spot next to Jesse. Under other circumstances she would have found it humorous, but the poor kid was passed out.
"Does someone want to tell me what is happening?" the girl repeated.
When everyone was focused on Davan a voice said, "Gotcha," loud and clear. Mia looked over to see Jesse smiling widely, a self-satisfied look in his eye. "I had you all."
"Jesse," Dom said, in his warning tone, and all the fun went out of it. "When was the last time you took your meds?"
"Come on, Dom, I was just havin' fun," the other man whined.
"Jesse?"
"I haven't takin' them since Wednesday," he told him submissively.
"Jess, come on. It's Friday, man. You tryin' to kill yourself?" Mia asked, immediately digging into her purse and pulling out a fat orange prescription bottle. She opened it up and dropped two pills into Jesse's hands. "Davan, can Jesse have a glass of water?" she asked the girl, who stood in shock watching the team.
"Um, yeah, sure," she said, shaking her head and walking to the kitchen.
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"OK, so there's two room down that hall, each has two beds, and there's a bathroom," Davan said and they all nodded. "In the closet outside the room on the right there are blankets for the couch. Let me pull it out for you." The girl walked over, pulled three cushions off of an L shaped couch and threw them to the floor; she then grabbed hold of a metal bar and pulled the bed out from the inside of the couch. After unfolding the mattress, she walked down the hall that held the closet, came back with a pile of blankets, and made the bed.
"I'll go grab some extra pillows and then you're set," she said walking down the other hallway to where he assumed was her bedroom.
"OK, so you and Mia take to bedroom on the left," Dom said. "Letty and I'll take the one on the right. And you three clowns can share the couch."
Brian and Mia started down the hall to their room; the door was closed. "Oh, I have to use the bathroom," she told him, quickly shutting the bathroom door behind herself. He shook his head and continued walking. Slowly, he reached out and grabbed hold of the doorknob; he wanted to make sure that he could keep a hold of the door so that he wouldn't trip over anything that might be lying on the floor.
He twisted the knob and pushed the door, right next to it was a light switch that did its job well. Of course, that's assuming it was only supposed to dimly light one corner of the room. Brian took his duffle bag into that corner and began changing, peering into the pitch-black corners cautiously.
In the darkness two silver orbs flashed and something growled. "Um, hello?" he called. The orbs and growling grew closer. Brian searched the opposite wall for a switch and quickly flicked it, looking around the now-lit corner. Moving towards him, white fangs showing, crouched and ready to pounce, was a Rottweiler.
"Nice, doggy," he said quietly. When the thing's growling grew louder he threw caution into the wind. Brian turned on his heel and scurried down the hallway, trying to pull up his pants in the process.
In the living room, Leon thought it would be funny to block his path: "Where's the fire, dog?"
Brian thought briefly of the irony in his words. Briefly. "Move out of the fucking way!" he shouted, pushing the other man to the side. Then he realized that he had just ran himself straight into a corner. Twisting around, he looked at the dog and pulled his pants up the rest of the way; if he was going to die now, at least he'd die with his pants up. "Uh, does someone wanna go get Davan?" he asked his friends who thought standing there was going to save his life. The dog barked.
"What's going on out here?"
"Your dog is trying to kill me!" he told her, trying to back up even further into the wall. The dog growled and barked excitedly, as if waiting for fresh kill.
"Oh, that's my guard dog. She's dangerous." It jumped up, trying to paw him down.
"I realized that when she tried to bite my balls off." OK, so maybe he was exaggerating, but he had a right to. If some dog was going to end his life, at least he'd leave them all with a story.
"No, she's dangerous." It barked.
"Got it! In a corner here. Holding on to life by a thread." It growled.
Davan whistled quietly and the dog sat back on her hind legs. Brian turned in time to see her pat her thigh and watch the dog run over to her, butt waving from side to side because it lacked a tail. "Her name," she said as she patted the dog's head, "is Dangerous."
"Aw, look a puppy," Mia said, walking out of the hallway.
"No, Mia don't!" he yelled, stopping her in her tracks. "Don't touch it! It tried to kill me."
"No, she didn't," Davan drawled in her Southern accent and smiled. Up until this point he found her accent cute, but now he wanted nothing more than to just have her stop talking all together and take the dog away. Imagine the nerve of her, mocking him when he was so close to death. "She was just trying to say hello. Dangerous, go say hello to the nice man." The dog padded over to him and smiled a doggy smile.
"S'a matter, Bri?" Vince asked, putting his arm around him. "Afraid of a lit'l ol' puppy dog?"
"OK, Dangerous, go say hi to the scruffy looking one," Davan said.
"OK, I'll go sit down now," V said, walking away. Brian imagined he walked away with his tail between his legs...What was with all the dog connections?
"Mia, I think you better go check Brian's diaper now," the girl said, patting her thigh again and laughing to herself. "G'night y'all," she said, walking down the hall, Dangerous in tow.
"Come on, Sweetheart," Mia said, trying to coerce him out of the corner. "The mean ol' puppy is gone."
Brian tossed her a withering glance and practically flew down the other hallway. When his girlfriend was in the room he shut the door and jumped on the bed. "Thank God, it's gone."
"Why are you so afraid of dogs?"
"Well, you know, if a dog that size jumped out at you from the dark, you'd just about piss your pants too."
-----
Davan walked into her bedroom and shook her head. It had been a long forty-five minutes. One: she found herself some guests for the weekend. Two: she found that one was on some kind of medication. Three: these people were strange. And four: she smelled like a bar and pancake house.
She looked at her welcoming bed, only to find that she had forgotten to bring out the three extra pillows. In all of Brian's commotion she had dropped everything that she was doing to make sure he was all right. Dangerous jumped up and made herself comfortable at the head of the bed, bunching pillows and blankets together with her front paws.
"Don't think you're staying there all night," she warned the dog, before grabbing the pillows and walking out of her room. In the living room Leon and Jesse sat on the regular part of the couch, that wasn't pulled into a bed, watching TV. "Forgot to bring y'all out the pillows." The two men jumped and looked at her. "Sorry. Don't worry, Dangerous will be sleeping in my room tonight, so she can't come out and kill y'all."
"That's a relief," Leon said, flashing her a smile. Truth be told: she definitely found him to be very attractive, if he weren't a stranger spending the night she probably would have acted on that. "Didn't really feel like being ripped apart in my sleep."
Davan dropped the pillows onto the bed and smiled at him. "Dangerous don't bite." She turned on her heel and headed back towards her room. "Good night y'all."
"You OK?" someone asked, making her jump as high as the ceiling. She turned around to see Vince stepping out of the kitchen and into the hallway. He leaned against the doorframe and smiled seductively.
Holding an impassive look, she nodded. "I'm just fine, thanks. G'night."
"Well, if you need one, I'll be your shoulder to cry on. Or nibble on," he mumbled before sipping from a glass of water.
"Not if you were the last warm-blooded creature on Earth," she said, smiling at him. Davan continued to her room, stopping before entering to look at him. Vince still stood where she left him, a lopsided grin on his face. "And that was the worst pick-up line I have ever heard."
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There y'all go, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you think. In other words: REVIEW!
~Lit A~