With that, Oliver shook his head and hung up. He pulled on the jeans, shirt and boots combination—which he had to admit, looked damned good—and worked a comb through his messy hair. Nervous energy curled in his stomach as he looked at himself in the mirror. He hadn’t gotten dressed up, or been to dinner with someone that wasn’t Matteus or his parents in so long. But this wasn’t a date.Absolutely not a fucking date.
Keys in hand, he flicked on the lights to the underground garage. His eyes took a moment to adjust, but when they did, his gaze fell upon the sunset yellow Citroen C2 parked in the corner of the lot. The Yellow Peril.
“Evening princess,” he said, running his fingers over the slightly rusted wheel-arch and faded roof. She was old, but she was his, and the fact she’d passed her last emissions test was an actual miracle.
Pulling open the door, he plopped into the driver’s seat and ran his hands around the steering wheel. He glanced over at the passenger side, a grin curling his lips at the thought of Lucas squeezing himself into the horribly uncomfortable grey seat.
“Now, YP,” he said, tapping the dashboard. “We have a passenger tonight, so none of your usual nonsense, got it?” The car, of course, said nothing. “Good. Glad we’re on the same page.”
Turning the key in the ignition, he grimaced at how long it took the engine to turn over. However, after a few moments of revving and sputtering, the Yellow Peril shuddered into life.
“That-a-girl!” He said, patting the steering wheel.
It took exactlyfour minutes and twenty-eight seconds to drive to The Cherry Tree Hotel, and the sun was already beginning to set. It cast an amber glow across the horizon, and as Oliver’s eye followed it, he caught sight of Lucas leaning against the wall. He wore a pale pink shirt, dark brown chinos and tan loafers. His presence alone exuded class, making Oliver begin to feel a little self-conscious as he pulled up in his ancient yellow car.
He felt significantlylessself-conscious when he noticed two very pretty omegas practically hanging off Lucas’ arms. The alpha looked mildly annoyed as they pressed themselves against him, their tight dresses and roaming hands making their intentions clear.
Oliver gave an impish grin as he pulled the car under the hotel awning, revving and beeping the horn as the concierge gave him a horrified look. Lucas glanced over, raising a hand, andOh God, he was wearing his hair in the way Oliver liked. The alpha smiled as he waved the women and concierge away, assuring them that,yes, the raggamuffin-in-an-ancient-yellow-Citroen was there for him.
He leant down, braced a hand on the roof bar and hung over Oliver’s open window. “What a beauty,” he said, looking into the car.
“Thanks,” Oliver replied, “She’s almost considered vintage.”
Lucas grinned. “The car’s nice too.”
Oliver scowled and wound up the window. “Get in.”
He could hear Lucas chuckling all the way round to the passenger side, and the two women glared at Oliver as the alphagot into his car. Oliver had to seriously restrain himself from sticking out his tongue.
Lucas clipped his seatbelt into place. “Is this thing road legal, Reed?”
“Oh yes,” he replied, putting the car into gear. “The passenger side window doesn’t work, and she has a weird tapping noise coming from the boot, but I assure you, DS White, she is quite road legal.”
“She?” Lucas said, shifting in the seat.
“Yeah. Her name is Yolanda. Well, actually her full name is Yolanda the Yellow Peril mark two.”
“What happened to mark one?”
“Matteus crashed her into a lamppost outside the supermarket. Did I tell you it took himsixattempts to pass his test?”
Lucas laughed. It was a lovely, warm sound that made Oliver feel a bit fuzzy inside. “You did. Right after lecturing me about broken biscuits.”
Oliver smiled, then blushed as he remembered what had occurred mere moments before. And holy shit, Lucas smelled good, like seriously, mouth-wateringly good. Oliver subtly licked his lip before cracking open the only working window.
“Yes, well… I hope you took my lesson to heart.”
“I did,” Lucas replied, casually propping his ankle on his knee. The alpha’s thigh brushed Oliver’s hand as it rested on the gear stick.
“R-Right… well, this evening is more of a test than a lesson.” He moved his hand to the steering wheel.
Lucas’ brow flicked up. “A test?”
“Yeah. A test of friendship. If you can survive a ride in the Yellow Peril, then our friendship can survive anything.”
“And if we crash?”
“Then please don’t revive me, because Matty wouldnotlet me live it down.”
