Boyfriend For Rent

28. And It All Came Crashing Down

"Come on Aurelia!" Lake smacked her car in frustration, but the car did not respond. Instead it continued to rattle as if it was about to die.

       "Having trouble?" Lake turned to the car that had pulled up next to her. Owen sat inside with a friendly smile.

The purple-haired girl quickly turned her gaze her car as she tried to shield her reddened cheeks. She had avoided Owen at all costs for the past week. She could not believe she had allowed herself to break down like that in front of him.

       "I'm fine," Lake assured.

       Owen turned to the rattling car. "It does not look like Aurelia is fine though."

       "We're fine!" Lake answered sharply. She immediately regretted her tone. "I'm sorry, but could you just leave us alone?"

       Owen heaved a sigh and rolled up his window. Lake was grateful she had listened, but she was shocked when her parked his hard in front of hers and stepped out.

       "I know you still hate my guts, but let me help you. I cannot just leave you here stranded."

       Lake knew the boy well. He was stubborn when he wanted to and this was one of those times.

       "Owen, I told you I got it. I just have to twist a few things here and there," Lake argued as she leaned down and began tweaking the parts inside her car. It was not long before the car let out a loud rumble and splashed the little oil it had left on Lake's uniform shirt.

       Owen covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing. Lake frowned as she stepped back from the car.

       "Don't you dare say a word," Lake threatened.

       "I wasn't going to." Owen put his hands up in surrender but his lips still quivered from the laugh he was trying hard to hold back. "How about I call my mechanic and have him pick Aurelia up while I drive you to school?"

        Lake wanted to refuse his offer, but she knew that she had no other option.

        "Fine."

        Owen smiled as the purple-haired girl accepted his help. He grabbed his phone from inside his truck along with a small towel for Lake.

       "Here, you can use this to clean yourself up." Owen handed the towel to her before slipping off his hoodie. "And put this on so that stain doesn't show."

        "Thank you." Lake awkwardly took the hoodie from his hands.

       While Owen called his mechanic, Lake cleaned up the oil to the best of her ability. She then placed the hoodie on. It held Owen's strong cedar wood scent.

       They waited until the tow truck came and picked up the car. Owen took care of everything before walking back into his truck to join Lake.

       "How much was the damage?" Lake asked.

        "Don't worry about it," Owen replied. "I took care of it."

       Lake perked up shocked. "No, you have to let me pay. Now, how much was it?"

       "Lake, it's fine. It's the least I could do," Owen assured. "Now, let's head to school before we are even more late."

       "But—" Lake's sentence was cut short by Owen as he turned up the radio.

       "I'm good, yeah I'm feeling alright!" Owen sang along with the female voice and Lake could not help but snort at his behavior.

       She had forgotten how much fun he could be when he wasn't acting like an asshole.