A World Without Trust

Chapter Seven

Trying to support Ashton’s weight as we walked through the bush proved to be bloody hard. Harry offered to take over, but my stubbornness got the better of me, leaving me to take the weight of a six foot tall guy made of muscle.

We finally made it to the vehicle which looked like an old farm Ute left to rot in the middle of this dirt road.

“Does it work?” I ask Harry as he opens the door to the driver’s seat. A loud screeching noise filled the air and I flinched at the echo of bird wings in the tree tops above us.

“Should do, it has a full tank of gas and the keys are still in the ignition!” Harry replies as he hauls himself into the seat. “Oh crap.” He adds moments later.

“What?”

“It’s a manual.”

“So?” I ask letting go of Ashton and making my way around to the passenger’s seat. I open the door and take a seat next to Harry who is staring at me. I repeat myself again before he answers.

“I can’t drive a manual.” I could hear his ego deflating in every syllable of the sentence he just voiced to me. I stifle a laugh and reassure him that I can drive a manual and that if he is lucky I might teach him one day.

“Swap places with me then?” I ask Harry, he nods in agreement. I shuffle my body towards him and lift my hips so I could get over the top of him. It was hard to move in the small space and before I knew it I was sitting in his lap with his hands gripping my waist. I slowly turn my head around to apologise when our lips lightly brush together. We kind of just sit there for a while looking in each other’s eyes.

“Um, hello?” Ashton says knocking on the side of the Ute. I quickly slide off Harry and slip out the drives door onto the dirt road. Thankfully Ashton had decided to sit down during Harry and I’s awkward in counter which meant he didn’t see anything.

“Sorry, give me your hands.” I say bracing myself to pull Ashton up. He flinched as he rose up quickly grasping his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah it’s fine, still a bit tender. So where am I sitting?” Ashton questions looking back at the Ute. I look back too and see Harry leaning out of the door with one of his dimply smirks spread across his face.

“Guess it’s in the back of the Ute for you, buddy!” Harry says jokingly. The look on Ashton’s face obviously made Harry realise he didn’t get the joke causing the smirk to disappear off his face. “There’s a seat in the middle.” He adds monotonously.

“Sweet!” Ashton responds. He doesn’t end up in the middle though due to Harry already taking up residency there. I jump back into the driver’s seat and realise how close Harry is to me. His thigh is right up against my own and his arm is almost draped around my shoulders.

“I can’t drive if you are that close to me Harry.”

“Sorry.” He replies quickly scooting over towards Ashton a bit. I put my foot down on the clutch and start the Ute up. To my surprise it starts up without a fuss and I look over at the guys who are both smiling at me. I feel a pang of lust as those two dimpled smiles stare right at me and I don’t realise that my foot is slowly releasing the clutch, when all of a sudden the car lurches forward and I react by slamming my foot back down on it. I let out a nervous laugh and restart the car again.

“Are you sure you know how to drive a manual?” Harry teases poking me in the side of my arm. I roll my eyes and put it in first gear before heading off down the road.

 

We had been driving non-stop for eight hours now and the Ute need petrol. We were in the state of Arkansas already and decided to park the car out of sight of anything and travel by foot to a gas station to get some petrol for the Ute, also some food if we were lucky. I managed to find an empty petrol canister in the back of the Ute along with a first aid kit and a shovel.

“Ashton, I can change your bandage now that we have found extra medical supplies.”

“I’ll scope the place out, see if I can see any signs of a gas station.” Harry says hauling his rifle over his shoulder. I give him a small smile before turning to Ashton who has now removed his shirt.

“So what’s up with the two of you?” Ashton asks after Harry has gone.

“What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean Essie! You two have this weird little ‘thing’ going on. It’s cool you know, you can tell me.” Ashton says. I stop what I am doing and look up at his face. His eyes are locked on mine and they look sad.

“Nothing is going on between us Ashton, why? Are you jealous?” I tease, giving him a small nudge.

“Yeah…”

“What?” I say startled.

“I mean yeah I am a little bit.” I look up at Ashton who is still giving me the sad eyes.

“I…um…well…what? Sorry I’m a little bit confused here.” I stutter which causes Ashton to smile.

“I like you Essie. I think you’re gorgeous, brave, smart and all-round amazing. I know I haven’t known you long, but you know what they say about first impressions.” I truly am gobsmacked by what he has just announced to me. I find myself looking around in case Harry has decided to come back early before turning my attention back to Ashton who is still staring at me. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have told you.”

“No, no, no, it’s fine! I mean I’m just not used to good looking guys telling me they like me!”

 

“That surprises me.” Ashton comments and I feel my cheeks burning up. I smile at him and proceed to change his bandage feeling all giddy inside.