Page 21 of Under The Meh-stletoe

"Shit." All the stress that had slowly left him returned full force in that single word, as he tightened his grip on the wheel.

"What?!"

"The tire light came on." He slowed down the truck. "What the hell happened? I was worrying about the battery!"

With the vehicle at a full stop now, he pulled his jacket zipper up. "Crap. I'm going to have to keep it idling. I can't risk it with the battery."

He got out of the truck and circled it, checking the tires. The sound of rain was all that kept me company until he returned, his hair completely wet. Drops ran down the fabric of his jacket.

He leaned on the wheel in defeat. "The rear left tire is losing air fast. It has an inch-wide gash."

Night continued to advance, darkness cloaking the open space around us more and more with every passing minute.

I stared down the road, dread cooling me down. "How far are we from town?"

"Let's not worry about that first. The spare tire should help. I hope."

His tone didn't exude a lot of trust in the spare tire.

He got out of the truck again. Restlessness took over me fast; I didn't like being left alone in the truck. I distracted myself by texting my sister.

Ale: I'm going to be late. Everything's fine, just a little hiccup on the road.

Ren: Are you okay? Should I call someone? What's going on?

Ale: Just a problem with a tire. I'm with Daniel. Everything's going to be okay. I just didn't want you to worry that I'm late.

Ren: ok. Let me know if you're running out of phone battery or something and update me as you can

Ale: for sure <3

Daniel returned and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry, Ale. I'm going to need your help. It's getting dark fast. If you can hold the flashlight, I can move faster."

"Of course!"

"We have an umbrella somewhere but there's no point in using it. The wind is too intense. And we'll have to get on the ground. It'll make you wet and dirty. I'm sorry."

"I don't mind. Wet and dirty can be fun." I winked; he smirked and shook his head. I put up my hood and hid as many strands into it as I could. "Show me what I need to do."

He focused first on unscrewing the nuts and pulling the torn tire off, while I held the flashlight. He'd been right; the wind made everything worse. Rain quickly dampened my clothes, and soon the air currents had pulled the hood off my hair.

Daniel threw the old tire into the truck bed and rummaged for cardboard. He only found a small piece. We moved to the back of the vehicle; the spare tire was affixed under the bed. He placed the cardboard on the ground for me, so I could kneel and point the flashlight in the right direction. Daniel full-on lay on the ground and, wrench in hand, he slid in the mud to work on the spare tire. From the sounds and expletives that reached me occasionally, he worked as hard as he could. I soon stopped bothering to clean my glasses from water drops.

Cold water dripped down my back, finding the small space between my skin and my clothes. I helped him get the spare tire out and get off the ground just as I started to shiver.

"Just a bit longer," he said.

But the rain and wind had chilled my bones by the time the spare tire was in place and we were able to hide in the cab again.

"Take off your jacket." He unzipped his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt. "Your sweater too, if it's wet. Water is going to keep you too cold."

He undressed to his undershirt; I peeled off the outer layers of clothing. He threw his jacket and flannel to the back seat and came back forward with a blanket. I threw my jacket and sweater back, to join his muddy clothes.

Shivers ran through me. My nipples hurt, the cold had made them pebble so hard… and his eyes seemed to notice it.

He tore his eyes away from my chest and upped the heated air. "We need to get going soon, if we don't want to worry about gas as well. Here, take it."