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Jess had been excited about that review all week. I was damn proud of her, but that hadn’t stopped the apprehension from creeping up on me. If she got the job, her moving away wasn’t optional. Sure, there was a discussion to be had for long-distance, but we didn’t plan to stay in Wickeston either. The entire premise of the five of us splitting up just felt...wrong. Extremely wrong.
“I saw Manson looking too,” he said. “For places in New York. He can’t let her go.” He sighed heavily. “I...I don’t think I can let her go either, Vince.”
Resting my chin on his shoulder as I stared at the screen, I said, “Yeah. I feel the same way. Have you told her?”
“No. I mean, not exactly. Not everything I wanted to tell her.”
I could be a goof about a lot of things, but when it came to love and relationships, I’d had to teach myself to slow down. Obviously, with Jason as my primary partner, being too frivolous with who I “brought in” wouldn’t be fair. After all, just because we weren’t monogamous didn’t mean it was a free-for-all.
So there were things I hadn’t said to Jess. Feelings I hadn’t admitted. Fate had thrown this second chance in my lap, and in some ways, I wondered if I was squandering it. Was I being too cautious? Hesitating too long?
As I held him tight, he turned his head to press his forehead against mine. Our breath mingled, and I closed my eyes.
“Do you still plan on coming with me to stay at Dante’s this weekend?” I said. There was no point in driving back and forth to work every night when I’d picked up double shifts. Luckily, I didn’t really mind the long hours. I enjoyed my nights at the club. But I really hated coming back to an empty bed.
“‘Course I am,” he said, stretching with a groan before he rubbed his eyes. His dark circles were coming back again, an indication that he’d been missing sleep. But I knew why. He always slept worse around this time of year.
“Are you okay?” I said, and he tried and failed to act like my question surprised him.
“Yeah, yeah, totally. Just distracted. Work, and...you know...” He waved his hand vaguely. “Everything.”
“Is iteverythingor something more specific?”
He sighed. “Goddamn it, Vince. You know I hate talking about it.”
“I know. I just hate to see you struggling and not saying anything. Have you thought about calling your brother this year? Seeing if he’ll talk?”
He shook his head. “He’s almost fourteen. I don’t even know his number anymore. My parents would flip if I tried to contact him on Facebook or something. Who knows what they’ve told him about me anyway? He probably doesn’t even want to hear from me.”
His brother’s birthday always hit him hard. He hadn’t seen the kid since his parents kicked him out, and that was five years ago now. They’d been close before that. The thought of being cut off from my own siblings made me sick, and it pissed me off to no end that his parents insisted on keeping them apart.
“Well, I’ll find a way to keep you distracted this weekend,” I said. “Maybe I’ll take you to work with me and just keep you tied up under the bar top.”
“I’m sure your boss wouldlovethat,” he said.
“She wouldn’t mind. It would probably bring in more customers.” He gave me a shove, and I laughed, getting up out of his chair. “I’m pretty sure Dante will be here soon to pick up his car. He’s going to leave us the keys to his place, too. Are you going to come down and say hi?”
“I’ll be down. Gimme a minute to get some real clothes on.”
***
There was a lot onmy mind as I made my way out to the garage. Dante was upstairs in the garage loft, chatting with Manson. Lucas and Jess hadn’t returned yet, but he’d texted the group to say they were on their way.
“Hey, what’s up, my man?” Dante rose from his seat to greet me, grasping my hand and pulling me into a one-armed embrace. “Good news. You and Jason get the place to yourselves this weekend.”
“Oh, fuck yeah.” I grabbed the keys he offered me, slipping them into my pocket. “Where are you going to be?”
“At the sideshow with this dude,” he said, laughing as he clapped Manson on the shoulder and sat back down. “We have to show off the T-Bird, man. Those new headers are fucking sick.”
Dante was a tall guy, although not quite as tall as me. His long dark hair was bleached blond at the ends, and his face was pierced with multiple gold hoops in his lip, nose, and eyebrow. He’d been the shop’s first true client. He’d entrusted his car to Manson and Lucas with permission to go nuts — do whatever it took to make the car a champion.
Dante was well-off; business-savvy parents had led to a business-savvy son, besides having a sizeable trust fund. He had plenty of money to spend and was willing to do it here.
“I guarantee you’ll be the one to beat,” Manson said. “Hell, I wouldn’t race you, not now. I think your car is the best build we’ve ever done.”
“Damn right.” Dante turned in his seat at the rumble of the El Camino’s engine as it pulled up to the garage. Jess got out of the passenger seat, and when he turned back around, his mouth was hanging open. “You have to be shitting me.That’sthe girl y’all are all over?” He whistled long and low. “Goddamn, how the hell did you pull a cute little thing like that?”
“It was our award-winning personalities,” Lucas shouted up to us, raising his middle finger to Dante. Dante flipped him off right back.
