Chapter 27 - That girl needs to get her own man
Vince put his arm around her shoulders and walked her out to the driveway of the shop. They had to take the shop car because Vince's was up in the air on a hoist in the garage. They headed to the store and Torrie got her tires and put them in the backseat of the car. They headed back to the garage.
Dom heard them coming and met them at the door. "She says she didn't do it, but she did. I could always tell when she lied. I'm sorry about this Torrie. I told her if anything else mysteriously happened to your car I would put her out."
"It's ok baby, she's an adult and you don't control what she does. I just wish she had somewhere else to stay. I don't think it is good for her to be around you all the time. It is not helping her get over her obsession you know?"
"Well hopefully she will make some money at racewars and be able to find her own place. I would love to have her stay with us cause she is like family but you're right, she can't handle it. She only thinks she wants me cause it is familiar. Neither of us was happy. She will realize eventually that we are better off not dating. Besides I'm not such a great catch anyway. I can be a bit of an ass." They laughed. Dom pulled her to him and kissed her collarbone.
"I hope she realizes soon Dom cause I don't know how much longer I can live with the tension of having her in the house."
"Well I can't put her on the street Torrie!"
"No one asked you to Dom," the look she gave him clearly said she figured that Letty could go the hell back where ever she had been staying before she confronted Torrie, "I am just saying that living with her is not fun for me either. I mean she seems like someone I could really like under different circumstances but not while she is constantly trying to take you from me."
"Well it's not like she's gonna succeed ya know."
"I should hope not. I don't like to share what's mine."
"Should I take you home and show you just how devoted I am?"
"Dom, cut it out. No we have a lot of work to do. Remember, racewars, race night tomorrow?" He pulled her to him and grabbed her butt to pull her flat against him. She put her arms around his neck and blushed at his obvious desire to do just what he said he wanted to. Letty was staring daggers at them.
"Ya but I can't think of a way I would rather spend lunch."
"Oh Dom, I'm hungry but you are tempting me to drag you into the office and lock the door."
"With everyone right here?" He looked intrigued by this idea.
"Well, ok, not with everyone here."
"You're no fun!"
"Well if we were really loud maybe Letty would take a hint."
"Or try to get through the door and kill you."
"I think I already proved I can take her."
"Ya that was priceless really. She's never had a girl beat her in a fight before. It was a first for her. She was very shocked."
"Ya well I hurt my hand punching her. But it was worth it."
"I wish you two could get along."
"I don't see that happening unless she does realize she needs to get her own man."
"No me neither but it would be nice."
"Ya the guys and Mia obviously love her and must have missed her."
"Yes they all missed her. And it is nice for us all to know she's safe. But she is going to try to make your life hell for the foreseeable future."
"Oh well she is not going to succeed. I won't give her the satisfaction."
"That's my girl. How bout we go to lunch, just the two of us?"
"Sounds great. Let's go now and we can mount my tires when we come back."
"Ok let's go then." Dom turned to the rest of the team. "We'll be back this afternoon guys we're heading out to get some lunch." He put his arm around Torrie and they walked to his car. They had to take the crappy loaner car from the shop since the Mazda had no engine and Torrie's car had no tires. They got into the car and headed out to Vito's, Dom's favourite Italian restaurant. They ate, Dom telling Torrie the best things to order, and they had red wine to drink. Torrie leaned back from the table.
"Oh man am I full. And if I didn't know better I would think you're trying to get me drunk."
"Well it had crossed my mind that you'd be more mellow this afternoon if you had a slight buzz on." He laughed.
"Oh that's fair. Miss thang makes trouble and I need to mellow out?"
"I'm kidding, for real. I have other reasons for wanting you intoxicated."
"I don't need to be drunk for that Dom." She blushed.
He laughed. "Ok, I guess we should head back."
"If we have to. It's so nice to just be here alone with nothing to worry about and no one to impress or deal with you know? Besides everyone deserves a nice lunch on their birthday."
"I know but we can't run away from it forever."
"I know," She sighed. "lets head back."
They walked into the garage and everyone seemed to be gone. They guys must have done her tires for her cause her car was in the garage and the new tires were on it.
"V must have done my car for me. I owe him big. I hate mounting tires. And taking them off one at a time by hand can't have been fun."
"No kidding. Wonder why they did that?"
"Cause they love me of course. What's not to love?"
"Nothing, but they had their own work to do."
"Seems like they finished up ok. Now I need to finish my stuff and so do you."
It didn't take Torrie long to finish cause she didn't have a lot to do. Then she went and started to help Dom. The others came back about an hour after Torrie and Dom. They had all gone out to lunch.
"Hey V did you do my tires for me man?"
"Ya, I finished up right after you guys left so I thought I would get a start on it but it didn't take as long as I thought it would so I got it all done."
Torrie hugged him. "You are too good to me V. I hated the thoughts of doing that. I hate mounting tires."
"Nothing is too good for my princess!" He pulled on her braid.
"Ok in that case the car needs to be washed too."
"That is too good for my princess, you found something."
"I guess since you don't shower yourself you can't see the point in washing a car eh?" She started to run around her car as he growled and chased her.
"I shower. I'll show you if I catch you cause I'll get in a cold shower with you!"
Torrie screamed and tried to out run him.
"Children, the garage is full and there is no way that is safe to be doing here. Stop."
"Yes Dom." They said in unison. Even Dom laughed.
Letty was confused. Torrie played with Vince and Vince called her pet names but Dom was ok with it? Well that was a good thing right? Meant he was not that attached to Torrie. If he was he would be mad that Torrie and Vince acted like that. Wouldn't he? All she knew was Dom had been hers since she was 16 and that was a lot of years. She never should have left him but she never thought he would hook up with someone. Sure mess around with skanks but not get a new girlfriend. And Mia had told her that the girl had never had a boyfriend before Dom. In short she was not really Dom's type. Dom had never been into the sweet and innocent type. Even when he cheated on her it had been with their own kind of people. Never the sweet schoolgirl type. But they seemed happy together. But that was going to change. Letty had plans for them. She would see them broken up yet. She thought the relationship between Vince and Torrie would help her to that end.
Speak of Torrie and Dom were bent over the engine of Dom's car putting it back together. They were talking a mile a minute. She wondered what they had to talk about all the time. Torrie never shut up. But she was always smiling and Mia and the guys all loved her. Too bad she had to mess with Dom, Letty thought. We might have been friends under different circumstances. Letty had to respect a girl that could fight like Torrie could. She was good. But Letty was going to get her at racewars. Once she had done that and showed Dom she belonged more then Torrie she would put her plans to break them up into motion.
"Dom is this mess going to be an engine by tonight or are you going to be trying to borrow Nero to race tomorrow?"
"That's not even funny Torrie."
"Really, I thought it was. I would love to see that. You driving my car in a race would be priceless. But really Dom are we close to done with this car? It is 4pm already."
"Yes we are close to done. 5 should see it put back together then you and I can take it on a test run to the beach and back."
"I think that sounds wonderful. But I need to shower after this hot day and if Mia and Letty and the guys want to as well that is a lot of time." But the beach run would give Mia some time to get the house ready. Then Torrie was going to have to 'forget' she needed something and send Dom to the mall for it to give them time to get all the surprise guests in the house.
"You are the only racer chick who worries about showering before running race cars."
"Well, I was in a garage sweating all day and I can't stand being all sweaty."
"Well we could take a really short drive and save some time by sharing the shower." He grinned down at her with a suggestive look.
"We'll see." She had enjoyed the last shower they shared but she knew he would be gone on her errand by the time she hit the shower. They worked on the car steady till nearly 5pm.
"Hey Dom, it looks like we're done."
"Yep we are. Let's take her for a run."
They climbed in and fired up the Mazda. It roared to life and purred its pleasure at being whole again. It was running like a dream. They headed out and went for a drive all around. The car was running great and was blindingly fast. Torrie was worried that in the end the two cars were now evenly matched and the experience Dom had might be the deciding factor in who bet who at racewars. She was going to enter every race tomorrow night and get all the experience she could before racewars. She was also worried about beating Letty. She knew that Letty would challenge her at racewars. She had to win or Letty would use it against her. She could feel it.
They came back to the house. Jesse was waiting for them because he was anxious to know how the car did.
"Man Jesse. You did good. It's crazy fast." Dom slapped him on the back. "I don't think there is a car around that can touch her now. I think we are going to clean up at racewars this year. And no one throws down a slip this year. We race for cash or not at all. We should have enough in the bank to join any races you want anyway." They all agreed. Throwing down slips was never a good idea. Three of them had learned that the hard way. Although in Torrie's case it had all worked out for the best.
Mia announced that supper was ready and they headed in to dinner. Letty took Torrie's seat on Dom's left again. Torrie went and got a chair from the kitchen and set it down right next to Dom.
"Good place for you baby girl, By my side where you belong."
"Ya, you know I like it here. Maybe we don't need the bigger table."
"Here, have more chicken."
"Ya you need to eat for sure, you have no boobs." Everyone looked at Letty like she was nuts for saying that.
Torrie laughed. "No I don't really. Never really did though so gaining back a few pounds isn't going to help me there."
Letty was surprised that Torrie found that funny. It was meant to be insulting. Dom knew that's how she meant it cause he gave her a dirty look.
"Your perfect the way you are." Dom leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I'm not complaining."
"Dom, we're at the supper table in front of everyone." Torrie was bright red. For some reason it was one thing to talk about herself. It was quite another to have Dom say those things.
"Well I'm just saying." He laughed.
"Ok now you'll just be shutting up." She was bright red. The team thought this was great.
They finished eating. It was time to get Dom out of the house.
Vince put his arm around her shoulders and walked her out to the driveway of the shop. They had to take the shop car because Vince's was up in the air on a hoist in the garage. They headed to the store and Torrie got her tires and put them in the backseat of the car. They headed back to the garage.
Dom heard them coming and met them at the door. "She says she didn't do it, but she did. I could always tell when she lied. I'm sorry about this Torrie. I told her if anything else mysteriously happened to your car I would put her out."
"It's ok baby, she's an adult and you don't control what she does. I just wish she had somewhere else to stay. I don't think it is good for her to be around you all the time. It is not helping her get over her obsession you know?"
"Well hopefully she will make some money at racewars and be able to find her own place. I would love to have her stay with us cause she is like family but you're right, she can't handle it. She only thinks she wants me cause it is familiar. Neither of us was happy. She will realize eventually that we are better off not dating. Besides I'm not such a great catch anyway. I can be a bit of an ass." They laughed. Dom pulled her to him and kissed her collarbone.
"I hope she realizes soon Dom cause I don't know how much longer I can live with the tension of having her in the house."
"Well I can't put her on the street Torrie!"
"No one asked you to Dom," the look she gave him clearly said she figured that Letty could go the hell back where ever she had been staying before she confronted Torrie, "I am just saying that living with her is not fun for me either. I mean she seems like someone I could really like under different circumstances but not while she is constantly trying to take you from me."
"Well it's not like she's gonna succeed ya know."
"I should hope not. I don't like to share what's mine."
"Should I take you home and show you just how devoted I am?"
"Dom, cut it out. No we have a lot of work to do. Remember, racewars, race night tomorrow?" He pulled her to him and grabbed her butt to pull her flat against him. She put her arms around his neck and blushed at his obvious desire to do just what he said he wanted to. Letty was staring daggers at them.
"Ya but I can't think of a way I would rather spend lunch."
"Oh Dom, I'm hungry but you are tempting me to drag you into the office and lock the door."
"With everyone right here?" He looked intrigued by this idea.
"Well, ok, not with everyone here."
"You're no fun!"
"Well if we were really loud maybe Letty would take a hint."
"Or try to get through the door and kill you."
"I think I already proved I can take her."
"Ya that was priceless really. She's never had a girl beat her in a fight before. It was a first for her. She was very shocked."
"Ya well I hurt my hand punching her. But it was worth it."
"I wish you two could get along."
"I don't see that happening unless she does realize she needs to get her own man."
"No me neither but it would be nice."
"Ya the guys and Mia obviously love her and must have missed her."
"Yes they all missed her. And it is nice for us all to know she's safe. But she is going to try to make your life hell for the foreseeable future."
"Oh well she is not going to succeed. I won't give her the satisfaction."
"That's my girl. How bout we go to lunch, just the two of us?"
"Sounds great. Let's go now and we can mount my tires when we come back."
"Ok let's go then." Dom turned to the rest of the team. "We'll be back this afternoon guys we're heading out to get some lunch." He put his arm around Torrie and they walked to his car. They had to take the crappy loaner car from the shop since the Mazda had no engine and Torrie's car had no tires. They got into the car and headed out to Vito's, Dom's favourite Italian restaurant. They ate, Dom telling Torrie the best things to order, and they had red wine to drink. Torrie leaned back from the table.
"Oh man am I full. And if I didn't know better I would think you're trying to get me drunk."
"Well it had crossed my mind that you'd be more mellow this afternoon if you had a slight buzz on." He laughed.
"Oh that's fair. Miss thang makes trouble and I need to mellow out?"
"I'm kidding, for real. I have other reasons for wanting you intoxicated."
"I don't need to be drunk for that Dom." She blushed.
He laughed. "Ok, I guess we should head back."
"If we have to. It's so nice to just be here alone with nothing to worry about and no one to impress or deal with you know? Besides everyone deserves a nice lunch on their birthday."
"I know but we can't run away from it forever."
"I know," She sighed. "lets head back."
They walked into the garage and everyone seemed to be gone. They guys must have done her tires for her cause her car was in the garage and the new tires were on it.
"V must have done my car for me. I owe him big. I hate mounting tires. And taking them off one at a time by hand can't have been fun."
"No kidding. Wonder why they did that?"
"Cause they love me of course. What's not to love?"
"Nothing, but they had their own work to do."
"Seems like they finished up ok. Now I need to finish my stuff and so do you."
It didn't take Torrie long to finish cause she didn't have a lot to do. Then she went and started to help Dom. The others came back about an hour after Torrie and Dom. They had all gone out to lunch.
"Hey V did you do my tires for me man?"
"Ya, I finished up right after you guys left so I thought I would get a start on it but it didn't take as long as I thought it would so I got it all done."
Torrie hugged him. "You are too good to me V. I hated the thoughts of doing that. I hate mounting tires."
"Nothing is too good for my princess!" He pulled on her braid.
"Ok in that case the car needs to be washed too."
"That is too good for my princess, you found something."
"I guess since you don't shower yourself you can't see the point in washing a car eh?" She started to run around her car as he growled and chased her.
"I shower. I'll show you if I catch you cause I'll get in a cold shower with you!"
Torrie screamed and tried to out run him.
"Children, the garage is full and there is no way that is safe to be doing here. Stop."
"Yes Dom." They said in unison. Even Dom laughed.
Letty was confused. Torrie played with Vince and Vince called her pet names but Dom was ok with it? Well that was a good thing right? Meant he was not that attached to Torrie. If he was he would be mad that Torrie and Vince acted like that. Wouldn't he? All she knew was Dom had been hers since she was 16 and that was a lot of years. She never should have left him but she never thought he would hook up with someone. Sure mess around with skanks but not get a new girlfriend. And Mia had told her that the girl had never had a boyfriend before Dom. In short she was not really Dom's type. Dom had never been into the sweet and innocent type. Even when he cheated on her it had been with their own kind of people. Never the sweet schoolgirl type. But they seemed happy together. But that was going to change. Letty had plans for them. She would see them broken up yet. She thought the relationship between Vince and Torrie would help her to that end.
Speak of Torrie and Dom were bent over the engine of Dom's car putting it back together. They were talking a mile a minute. She wondered what they had to talk about all the time. Torrie never shut up. But she was always smiling and Mia and the guys all loved her. Too bad she had to mess with Dom, Letty thought. We might have been friends under different circumstances. Letty had to respect a girl that could fight like Torrie could. She was good. But Letty was going to get her at racewars. Once she had done that and showed Dom she belonged more then Torrie she would put her plans to break them up into motion.
"Dom is this mess going to be an engine by tonight or are you going to be trying to borrow Nero to race tomorrow?"
"That's not even funny Torrie."
"Really, I thought it was. I would love to see that. You driving my car in a race would be priceless. But really Dom are we close to done with this car? It is 4pm already."
"Yes we are close to done. 5 should see it put back together then you and I can take it on a test run to the beach and back."
"I think that sounds wonderful. But I need to shower after this hot day and if Mia and Letty and the guys want to as well that is a lot of time." But the beach run would give Mia some time to get the house ready. Then Torrie was going to have to 'forget' she needed something and send Dom to the mall for it to give them time to get all the surprise guests in the house.
"You are the only racer chick who worries about showering before running race cars."
"Well, I was in a garage sweating all day and I can't stand being all sweaty."
"Well we could take a really short drive and save some time by sharing the shower." He grinned down at her with a suggestive look.
"We'll see." She had enjoyed the last shower they shared but she knew he would be gone on her errand by the time she hit the shower. They worked on the car steady till nearly 5pm.
"Hey Dom, it looks like we're done."
"Yep we are. Let's take her for a run."
They climbed in and fired up the Mazda. It roared to life and purred its pleasure at being whole again. It was running like a dream. They headed out and went for a drive all around. The car was running great and was blindingly fast. Torrie was worried that in the end the two cars were now evenly matched and the experience Dom had might be the deciding factor in who bet who at racewars. She was going to enter every race tomorrow night and get all the experience she could before racewars. She was also worried about beating Letty. She knew that Letty would challenge her at racewars. She had to win or Letty would use it against her. She could feel it.
They came back to the house. Jesse was waiting for them because he was anxious to know how the car did.
"Man Jesse. You did good. It's crazy fast." Dom slapped him on the back. "I don't think there is a car around that can touch her now. I think we are going to clean up at racewars this year. And no one throws down a slip this year. We race for cash or not at all. We should have enough in the bank to join any races you want anyway." They all agreed. Throwing down slips was never a good idea. Three of them had learned that the hard way. Although in Torrie's case it had all worked out for the best.
Mia announced that supper was ready and they headed in to dinner. Letty took Torrie's seat on Dom's left again. Torrie went and got a chair from the kitchen and set it down right next to Dom.
"Good place for you baby girl, By my side where you belong."
"Ya, you know I like it here. Maybe we don't need the bigger table."
"Here, have more chicken."
"Ya you need to eat for sure, you have no boobs." Everyone looked at Letty like she was nuts for saying that.
Torrie laughed. "No I don't really. Never really did though so gaining back a few pounds isn't going to help me there."
Letty was surprised that Torrie found that funny. It was meant to be insulting. Dom knew that's how she meant it cause he gave her a dirty look.
"Your perfect the way you are." Dom leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I'm not complaining."
"Dom, we're at the supper table in front of everyone." Torrie was bright red. For some reason it was one thing to talk about herself. It was quite another to have Dom say those things.
"Well I'm just saying." He laughed.
"Ok now you'll just be shutting up." She was bright red. The team thought this was great.
They finished eating. It was time to get Dom out of the house.