He let the grin escape. “Not bad is a pretty damning review of your first kiss, man.”
“Fuck you.” I asked for that though. I told him to say it, didn’t I?
“Henley, look, can I tell you what I think?”
“You’re going to anyway.”
He laughed, tucking his arms into his pits as he folded them.
“Okay, yeah, I can be a prick here, but oddly I want to be real. Call it me growing or some shit. You’ve loved her forever, and-”
“Not true.”
“-and that’s okay. It’s cute, but it doesn’t mean she feels the same way. She left, man. She picked another guy.” Ouch. Right to the centre of my heart with that sharp blade.
“It doesn’t mean she’s not choosing you now, but she’s healing. She’s dealing with a ton of shit. Take it slow, but let her know you’re open to it. Be there for her, but be fucking clear. If she’s yours, she’s yours. Better she knows that now than later.”
I scratched my jaw, watching as Simon tripped over the broom, and quickly glanced around to see if he’d been spotted as he landed on one knee.
“You started out well, Rocket, but it kinda went to shit there.”
He laughed, slapping one knee as he caught Simon’s attention.
“While you’re down there…”
“Fuck you.”Simon scrambled back up and brushed dust from his jeans.
“Anyway, I think my meaning was bang on, even if my words let me down. You’re into her, and she’s clearly not against being with you, so you know… baby steps it. Dinners, favourite movies, teach her to play darts, take her shooting. Whatever. Just spend time with her.”
Fuck me. He wasn’t exactly wrong. It was all good advice, except that she probably still wanted to take Sean on, and that meant me teaching her to fight. I’d been holding off, making excuses, but it’d happen. I wouldn’t leave her defenceless, but helping her learn to defend herself was like encouraging her to put herself in danger. Something I’d do anything to prevent.
I saw Micro crossing the yard to his temporary office, one of those temporary huts they use on building sites, so I headed over there. I didn’t really have anything to say, but I needed a break from Rocket’s savvy gaze, and this was a good excuse.
“Yes, prospect?” I realised I’d stepped into his office without even knocking.
“Shit. I mean, hey Pres, can I have a word?”
“Well, you clearly just let yourself in, so why the hell not.” He gestured to the seat that had previously been in his old office before they reduced it to rubble.
“Sorry. I’m up in my head a bit right now.”
“Coffee?” He had his old machine set up in here, and running from the generator outside. It was a noisy ass way to make a coffee, but I nodded, waiting to speak until we both held drinks.
“Henley, you’re worrying me, brother. What’s going on?”
I avoided his eyes, because I was still trying to work out exactly why I’d even come in here. Running from Rocket wasn’t really a good reason to bug the poor man. He was busy enough.
“I uh… what can I do to shave more time off my sentence?”
He chuckled, and when I finally looked at him, he shook his head.
“You’re doing a couple of months, man. Why’s that such a hardship? I get that you were patched in elsewhere, but Phoenix is different. We don’t want who other groups deem suitable for their club. We need to ascertain who people are for ourselves. That’s how we keep bad seeds out.”
I couldn’t fault their logic, even though I knew it could fail because some people were better at hiding that stuff. Too many people had the ability to show one face to the many, and save the other for a poor defenceless… Jesus, concentrate, man.
“I’m an open book, Pres. Ask me anything.”
He smirked suddenly, and I realised I should have just kept quiet, or not even turned up here.
