Rule 13

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Rule 13 - not proofread so please ignore any mistakes. 

                       

                 "I'm not totally comfortable with this," I said and Dev raised his eyebrows.

                    "For once, I'll have to agree with you, Al," he replied, giving Ash a look. Ash, on the other hand, looked pretty satisfied with his work.                          

                          Because we had absolutely no ideas about who had cut Ash's brakes, we needed to conduct some investigations. Unfortunately, that meant involving me in a plan. I'd been down the garage that Dev worked at, but he knew all the people in there, so he could talk to them himself.                 But, and it was a big but, there was another garage on the other side of town that nobody knew anybody from. A few people came to the races from there so we were going to check it out. Unfortunately, they knew Ash and Dev but they didn't know me.

                     Sid had leant me some tight black skinny jeans and a top with a low neck line. According to both Sid, Ash and Matt, they'd be more interested to talk to me if I showed some skin. I, on the other hand, wanted to send Sid instead of me as I couldn't flirt or investigate for my life.                

                 "I really don't think I can do this," I argued and Ash sighed, running his hand down his face.                

                  "Al, you need to go in there, ask for a bike repair on the brake line specifically, okay?" he said. I shook my head, gesturing at my attire.

                "I understand that. I just don't understand why I have to do it in this. Why can't I go in with my hoodie and baggy jeans?" I asked. Dev let out a breath and turned to his lodger.                

                "Because they're more likely to tell a hot girl stuff!" Ash said and Dev raised an eyebrow. "You know what I mean," Ash dismissed. My cousin just rolled his eyes.

                "I see where you're coming from but why can't you recruit the girls you bring back here?" I asked and Ash blew through his nose deeply, as though dealing with me was the most stressful thing he'd ever had to do.

                "Because they'd be about as useful as a cup of water in a forest fire," Ash countered and I raised an eyebrow.

                "A cup of water might save a squirrel's life," I said and Ash gave me a blank look, pursing his lips. Dev let out a chuckle and  patted my back.

                "Can't argue with that," he added and Ash groaned, grabbing his jacket.

                "I'm off, have fun," Ash chided as he walked out the door and on his way to the bar. He was going to be going over the list of riders with Matt and crossing off who he didn't think was a suspect.               Dev twirled his keys around his finger and grinned.

                "Come on, little cuz. Time to do some acting," he teased. I grumbled as I trailed behind him on the way down to the car.

              The drive went excruciatingly slowly and Dev was tapping his fingers on the wheel to the sound of a tune. His eyes flitted over in my direction and he grunted.

                "I don't know what I'm supposed to say," I countered and he blew through his lips, checking the road.

                "Yes, you do. We've been over this," he said. I let out a nervous huff and glanced out of the window. What if I had to pay for something? What if I said something wrong, or they recognised me? I worried far too much, but I was still nervous.

                When Dev pulled up outside the garage, it didn't look like I'd expected. Granted, I had been imagining my worst nightmare with buff guys that towered above you with tattoos and missing teeth. Instead, I was greeted with a clean looking garage door and a man outside in some overalls, leaning into a car bonnet.

                "Break a leg," my cousin taunted as I got out of the car. I shot him a look and headed towards the door that led inside.

                There were three men in there and two women, most of them just sitting around. Unfortunately, it wasn't too busy so they wouldn't be distracted.

                "Alright, can I help?" one of the guys pushed himself from the desk, his blue overalls around his waist. I nodded.

                "Hi. I've just popped in here for my brother, there's something wrong with the brakes on his motorbike," I started to explain and the man looked over his shoulder.

                "Del," he called and a blonde haired woman looked up. "Brake problem," he said. She nodded and got to her feet. As she made her way over, I tried to remember the lines I'd been rehearsing.

                "What's the problem?" she asked in a friendly tone, offering me a smile.

                "It's my brother's bike. He had a problem with the brakes a few weeks ago so after looking through a manual, he unplugged one of the brake lines and now he can't get it back without the exhaust cutting out," I replied. Her brows scrunched up as she leaned on the desk next to us.                

                 "What brand?"

                "I think he said a zephyr." She nodded and reached  behind her.

                "Is his name Asher Toms?" she enquired. I frowned and shook my head, immediately panicking.

                "Asher's his friend," I replied slowly and she chewed the inside of her lip.

                "We had a call to a zephyr the other week, brakes needed altering," she informed me and picked up a clipboard.

                          "It isn't fixed so whoever came out couldn't have done it right," I added. Her eyes flickered up to mine, a tint of annoyance in them, before she looked back down.

                "It wasn't me that went out there," she snipped before continuing. "It was our call out guy, Mark." I raised an eyebrow.

                "Mark....?" she shrugged.

                "I don't know him, he works from home on the other side of town." I frowned at her words.                          

                 "Can I have his number to ask what happened?" I pushed. She pursed her lips before nodding and reaching around me to the desk again. She handed me a business card before asking me if that was all.

                When I came outside, Dev was parked on the other side of the road, slumped down in the front seat. He jumped when I opened the door and slipped inside.

                "This is the guy that worked on a zephyr for 'Asher Toms'," I informed him. He raised an eyebrow and took the card from my waiting hand. After seemingly thinking for a moment, he told me to get out my phone.

                In the end, it was me that ended up attempting to ring him to make an appointment. Our luck was cut short when nobody picked up.

                "This is a wild goose chase," I said when I hung up. Dev leaned back in his seat and sighed, running his hand down his face.

                "It seems so. We'll try this guy again later and see where it leads. Ash is planning on racing again as soon as he feels better so we need to sort this out," he said through ground teeth. I nodded. As annoying as the lodger was, I didn't want to see him hurt anymore. Mainly because he kept picking on me to carry out his daily routines.

                "Because I did you a favour, can you help me with something?" I asked. Dev raised an eyebrow at my tone before chewing on his lip.

                "Depends what it is."

                "Where is Ash at the moment?"  I enquired and Dev checked the clock.

                "He went over to help his mum with something. Probably won't be back until late this evening. Why?" I grinned at the information.

                "We need to stop by the cheap shop," I said.

                Two hours later, Dev and I were halfway through absolutely trashing Ash's room. I'd gone into the cheap shop and bought ten packs of little plastic cups and we'd filled them water and completely covered the floor of Ash's bedroom with them. It was a bit tedious, but he'd dyed my hair blue and I was definitely working on taking this to the next level.

                "You seriously owe me,"  Dev exclaimed when we'd finished and closed the door.                

                 "His face when he gets home will be payment enough," I countered, which was rewarded with a shrug and a smile.

                Ash's face when he got home was tired to say the least. He'd come into the living room with food that he'd taken away from the meeting that he'd been at. I felt a tiny bit of guilt but quickly brushed it off. My hair had been blue.

                When he went into the bedroom to change his clothes, we heard the door open, the door close and then footsteps come into the living room. Dev and I were sitting and staring at the wall, attempting to look innocent.

                "Alex," he said sweetly.

                "Yes, Asher?" I responded, turning my head to give him a small smile.

                "I've got another little regulation for you to stick in that rulebook of yours," he replied, leaning on the doorframe.

                "And what is that?" I asked.

                "Stay out of my room," he responded simply and turned to go back to his room.                 He'd tried to keep his cool but about ten minutes after, we heard curses and spillages coming from his bedroom. Dev kept in a snigger and dismissed himself to have a shower. I, on the other hand, was waiting nervously in case Ash returned and tried to do something to me.

                I got up and strolled to his doorway, peering in. He'd given up on putting them all away , but there were four stacks of cups in the corner and a path cleared from the door, to the bed, to the chest of drawers and a few wet patches along the way.

                "You, girl, are going to have to sleep with one eye open," he warned and I grinned, leaning on the doorframe.

                "So are you if we don't find out who this biker guy is," I argued and  he shrugged, putting his arms behind his head.

                  "So are you if your family finds out what you're doing," he replied and I narrowed my eyes.                

                 "If you're insinuating this is some kind of competition, then I win," I chided. He grinned, patting the foot of his bed. I weaved my way through the cups and dropped onto his bed. He looked over my shoulder at the door and I sighed.

                "We still haven't been able to get hold of the guy who did your bike," I said. Ash shrugged, not seeming fussed.

                "Are we gonna talk about the other night?" he asked. I answered with a shrug of my own and he shimmied down the bed to be sitting near me.

                "Is there anything to talk about?" I pushed and Ash smirked, looking down at me before cupping my cheek.

                "No, but we should finish where we left off," he whispered, leaning in until I could feel his breath on my face. Before I could even consider kissing him or not kissing him, he moved me back until I was hanging off the edge of the bed, right above the water.

                His hands dug into my hips and I kicked.

                "Ash!" I yelped. As soon as I moved, his hands loosened and I grabbed his shoulders.                

                 "Let me go!" I added and he leaned over me, the air from his movements tickling my stomach.

                "Let you go?" he questioned, loosening his hold.

                "No, no, no, no," I argued but he let go off my hips and I went tumbling backwards, falling into about twenty cups. I felt the wet hit my lower back immediately and I sprawled out on the floor.

                 As I struggled to my feet, I picked up a cup and threw it at Ash. He didn't dodge quick enough and it got him square in the chest. I tried to ignore as the shirt clung to his chest, turning from light grey to black.

                "I like the wet look on you," he commented and I narrowed my eyes.

                "I shotgun the shower as soon as Dev comes out," I stated and started to go out of the room.

                "I'll join you!" he shouted after me, but I ignored him and continued making my way to my bedroom. I needed a plan that wouldn't backfire in my face.

Something has happened to the indents, spacing or whatever. I've tried to fix it but if it's still a bit dodgy, I apologise!

  A.N: I know this took a while and I'm sorry. I've had a lot of college work to do and I had a nightmarish case of writer's block. I am going to warn you all, my exam timetable has just come through and I will always put my work above my updating. I will try to update as soon as I can, but please don't harass me about it too much as the amount of revision I have is unreal, thank you. :)

        

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