Between Boyfriends (Book 1 in the Between Boyfriends Series)

Chapter 10

The black pickup truck dragged itself to the spot in front of Jan's feet like a dog who'd found its place to die. It wheezed and sputtered with its last breath before becoming peacefully still. Jan was too horrified to be grateful for the silence. If she'd known Prince Charming was coming to her rescue in an '86 Nissan XE, she'd have saved him the trouble and saved herself. There was no way she was going to be seen in a old, beat-up truck like the one from which Juan was grinning at her through his open passenger window, no matter how nicely he cleaned up.

He does look pretty good though, Jan thought to herself. For a guy who drives a piece of shit, she added snobbishly.

Juan hopped out of the truck and came around to open the door for her. He must have seen her displeasure because his face fell as soon as he got close enough to see her expression.

"Everything all right?" he asked her politely. "I hope you weren't waiting long. You said to meet you outside at 6:30, right?"

He was right. Jan had asked Juan to pick her up outside so Lisa and her new Siamese twin, Becki, wouldn't have the chance to "accidentally" bump into him in the hall. After helping Jan with her hair and makeup as promised, Becki had gone over to Lisa's to get into their Halloween costumes together. They were presumably still there, too close for comfort.

But neither Juan's arrival time nor the place he arrived was the issue. It was his method that pissed her off. Jan wanted to scream that she'd have rather waited an hour in a blizzard for him to show up in a luxury vehicle than have him arrive at exactly the right moment but in the wrong car. How could she make him understand that the people they were dining with tonight would take one look at his truck and decide he wasn't good enough to pass the salt to?

"I'm fine," Jan replied coldly and moved to get into the truck.

Juan slammed the door shut before she could get in.

"No, you're not," he said angrily. "What's wrong now, and don't say 'nothing' — if I didn't want to know, I wouldn't have asked."

Jan was so taken aback by Juan's forcefulness that she froze and surveyed her date. With his hair gelled back and his tuxedo lending some much-needed width to his shoulders, Jan thought Juan looked pretty okay. The fact that he was doing her a favor and had obviously gone to a lot of trouble to borrow a tux to make himself presentable finally penetrated Jan's brain and pushed aside her selfish concerns with image.

"I'm sorry," she said sheepishly. "I'm really nervous about the party, I guess."

She couldn't help offering to drive though, preferring to be seen in her Jeep than Juan's P.O.S. He wouldn't hear of it.

"What would your parents think of a guy who makes his date drive?" he asked.

Better than whatever they're going to think when they see your car.

She didn't say anything aloud though. She just smiled tightly and turned away.

Juan pretended not to notice and reopened the door for her.

After performing necromancy on his mostly dead vehicle, Juan drove them out of Jan's parking lot and headed toward the freeway. Once they reached the Coronado Bridge and Juan still hadn't said a word, Jan decided to fill the silence and ask him where he was from.

"I was born in Chula Vista, believe it or not."

Jan believed it. Chula Vista was San Diego's border city, sometimes referred to as North Tijuana, or North TJ by the younger generation.

"My parents immigrated when they were children, before the border became so strictly guarded. Their families were neighbors back in Mexico and they all came over together. It was a lot easier to sneak a family across back then. What about you?"