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Breaking the silence, I say, “Admit you like me.”
She shrugs. “Maybe a little. You’re growing on me.”
That’s my girl.
“I’ll take that too.”
…
“Have you ever reconnected a starter before?”
Brinley stands next to me with a wrench in hand, wearing a pair of coveralls she should be comfortable in considering they’re three sizes too big for her.
I’d always thought she was adorable, but this image is one I’ll dedicate to memory. There’s just something about a woman who’s willing to work on a car with me without worry of getting dirty.
Her brows scrunch up. “What do you meanreconnecta starter? I thought it needed to be replaced.”
Well … fuck.
I’d forgotten about that.
She searches my expression, her mind running a mile a minute. “You didn’t just steal my car, did you? You caused it to fuck up in the first place.”
Busted.
Giving her a charming smile, I lower my head and scratch at the back of my neck. “That’s not the point.”
“Oh, I think that’s very much the point,” she counters, her fingers gripping the wrench a little too tight for my liking.
My life flashes before my eyes, and I gently take the wrench from her before she beats me senseless.
Once I’ve secured the weapon, I answer, “Technically, I didn’t mess with your car.”
She jumps ahead of me again. “Priest did.”
Poor man. I already owe him two years of free help in the shop for Luca finally figuring out he totaled her car on purpose, but for this? I might as well consider myself an indentured servant.
“Also not the point. We’re here today to teach you how to fix it.”
After leaving the lake, I didn’t want to go back to my place and get pissed off again over the vandalism to my house, and I also didn’t feel like being around anybody in the group because I know they’ll want to talk about stressful shit.
Normally, I’d drive around. Think about nothing. Just enjoy the road under my tires as I speed along. But that’s a little difficult to do while my car is still out of state.
After giving it some thought, I remembered there was one more thing I had to make up to Brinley. So we ended up here with the auto shop lit up and only our two shadows cast over the ground while I teach her a few things about wrenching.
Or at least, I was trying to teach her, until that nerdy mind of hers picked up on my deception.
Brinley eyes me like she’s about to lay into me for it, but a door slamming shut at the back of the shop catches our attention.
I’m thankful for the distraction but also irritated by the company. This is a conversation I’d run to the shop to avoid. But no. They brought it to me.
Tanner and Luca stand in front of the door, both staring my direction like they’re afraid to come closer.
Might as well get it over with. I wave them to come in, my hand finding and taking hold of Brinley’s because this woman is becoming the only person who can calm me down.
Luca’s eyes are red and puffy. She’s obviously been crying for hours. Tanner isn’t looking any better, his mouth a stern line and his hair a mess where he’d been running his frustrated hands through it like he always does.
Already knowing this is about Luca’s dad, I wonder if they’re here to tell me I’m no longer welcome around them. That I need to sell my share of the firm and fuck off entirely from the Inferno.
