TAINTED (book II)

XXXV

A/N: made this chapter extra long to make up for the long wait ...

Ashton used the hem of his t-shirt to wipe away the thin coat of sweat collected on his brow. It was exceptionally hot on a Sunday afternoon and it wasn't even summer yet. His knees buckled into a squatting position as he focused on loosening the exhaust connection joint of Cole's second-hand motorcycle.

Noah and Claire were both sitting on the curb, side by side. Both their expressions equally clueless as to what was going on. Noah's opinion on bikes and cars was pretty neutral – he thought they were cool and all but that's where his interest stopped. The technicality behind it was more Ashton's department, Noah was only in for the joy ride.

Cole crouched near his friend, leaving no room for personal space. "You have to undo the brackets that hold the muffler first – "

"I know what I'm doing, Cole," Ashton monotonously mumbled under his breath; his frustration barely suppressed as his concentration fixed on slowly removing the muffler.

"Careful." Cole inched closer until his shoulder brushed with his friend's.

Ashton paused. "Cole. You're too close again."

"Oh, sorry." Cole leaned away, only to gravitate back to his previous stance a few seconds later. "Don't pull too hard. Ash, careful."

Ashton sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. "Cole?"

"Mhm?" The young teen instantly stiffened with alarm. He frantically inspected the muffler, searching for an issue. "What? What? What did you do? Ashton you motherfucker I swear to god if you – "

Ashton's expression was eerily calm as he faced his friend but the tick in his jaw betrayed him – he was on the verge of snapping. "Stop breathing down my fucking neck."

Cole simply raised his hands in surrender, making a whole show of giving his friend some space.

Ashton rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck to melt the built-up tension before going back to work. His tongue darted over his bottom lip as he carefully supported the muffler to avoid damaging any other parts. Cole would have his head on a spike if he so much as left a scratch on his precious baby, that is if Ashton didn't kill him first.

"Careful, Ash," Cole whispered, shifting his feet to keep his legs form going numb.

"If you say that one more time – "Ashton had to cut himself off to keep his cool.

"Sorry," Cole mumbled sheepishly. He watched as Ashton struggled to dislodge the slip-on muffler from the exhaust system. "Is it stuck?"

"Of course it's stuck," he shot back. "Your piece of shit is rusty as fuck, what else did you expect?"

"Dude, don't talk in front of my baby like that." Cole forgot to keep his distance as he once again leaned over Ashton's shoulder. "Don't pull too hard. Watch out for the gasket ... and the cylinder head ... Ashton, careful – "

"Cole!" This time Ashton did snap as he pushed against Cole's thigh to make him topple over onto the ground.

Cole dramatically rolled over, holding his elbow. "Ow ow ow ow, my funny bone."

Noah and Claire exchanged an amused eye roll.

"Get up, Cole, and gimme the WD-40," Ashton ordered, pointing at the blue spray bottle.

Cole dusted off the gravel on his clothes as he shuffled back to his friend like a pouting child. A few moments passed, and Ashton miraculously managed to finally secure the new slip-on muffler without Cole getting in his way again.