AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Max
August25,2018,3:30p.m.
I turn the wrench, muscles straining before the bolt finally gives. Glancing at the clock on the garage wall, I release a sigh.Another thirty minutes until my shift ends.Then I’m heading to campus to get my textbooks and home to take a shower.
Scratching my cheek, the smell of grease wafts into my nostrils.Great.I grab a towel, wiping at my face. Of course, it really shouldn’t matter. Darin Freeman could give two shits if I look like a mess when working on motorcycles in his garage. And it’s not like I’m trying to impress anyone on campus. I’m going to college for one thing—an education.
The motorcycle I’m fixing is supported on the center stand inside the garage. Sweat rolls down my body from exertion and the humid August air drifting through the open garage doors. Rock music blares from the speakers, drowning out the noise of our tools and the occasional swear words that leave our mouths from frustration or because we bust open a knuckle.
I jump as Darin yells in my ear. “What are you doing after work?”
Standing up, I spin around to face him, my hand over my pounding heart. “Damn, dude! You nearly gave me a heart attack! I didn’t hear you come up behind me.”
Laughing, Darin snaps his gum, the wintergreen scent overwhelming the smell of the garage for a brief second before the smell of the grease replaces it. “Sorry, man. I thought you knew I was there. Why are you so distracted?”
Shrugging, I grab a rag. “Nothing. Just anxious that classes start in a couple of days. I’m planning to run to campus and pick up my textbooks after work.”
“Dude, it’s the weekend. What’s the rush?”
Finished wiping my hands, I toss the rag onto a worktable and give him an annoyed look. “I want to start preparing. It’s been about four years since I’ve been in college.” My hand rubs my taut neck muscles. “You remember I had to medically withdraw at the beginning of my junior year at Florida State University? I was only twenty-one, and now, here I am, twenty-five years old, going to Maple Valley University to finish my last two years of schooling.”
Darin nods, his green eyes assessing me. “I’m sure you’ll do great, man. Relax.”
“I’ll do even better if I prepare in advance. I’ve already been looking over my class syllabus—”
He cuts me off. “What the hell is a syllabus?”
I explain what it is, and Darin nods robotically, his eyes glazing over. I can tell I’m boring the hell out of him. Darin never went to college. While I went to FSU after graduating high school, he got a job working in a garage as an apprentice. He’s doing well for himself, owning the motorcycle shop where I’m currently employed.
“Why do you ask if I have plans tonight?” Crossing my arms, I stare at him, waiting for an answer.
It takes Darin a second to realize I’ve asked him a question since he has tuned me out. “Sorry, man, I was balls deep in boredom from your nerd college talk. Anyway, I thought you could come over and hang out. Watch the game.”
“Yeah, I don’t have anything else going on. Sounds like a plan. I’ll get my books, then home to shower, and I’ll stop over after.”
Darin nods. “That works.” He regards me for a minute before saying, “Are you going to let me tag along with you to the college parties? I can be your wingman and help you pick up some hot chicks. Though I’m sure you won’t have any trouble, pretty boy.” He lightly punches me on my shoulder, a shitty-ass grin on his face.
“Not if you keep calling me pretty boy.” I glare at him, causing Darin to throw his head back and release a loud laugh. He loves busting my balls. He has ever since we became friends my senior year of high school.
Darin lived with his parents in Pennsylvania until they divorced when he was sixteen. His mom was originally from Florida, so she moved there with Darin and his sister to be close to her family. My dad got hired as a pharmaceutical executive and with no warning, moved my mom, brother, and me the summer before my senior year of high school. To say that my brother and I had chips on our shoulders about leaving Pennsylvania was an understatement, mostly because we didn’t want to leave our grandparents behind. We’d lived three miles from them since we were toddlers, and they were more like parental figures than our parents had ever been.
The only good thing that happened when I moved to Florida was meeting Darin.
Darin’s voice brings me back to the present. “I can’t wait to see all the hot chicks falling all over you. Send the ones you don’t want to me.” He winks at me, a smirk on his face.
I roll my eyes. “Darin, I’m going to college to get an education. Not romance women.”
“Why the hell not? You can multitask. I’ve seen it.” He gives me an amused grin.
I shrug, swinging the wrench in my hand, but I choose not to say anything. He’s right, of course. I can multi-task, but I’ve had a series of bad luck when it’s comes to women. My ex-fiancée left my heart in pieces.
Grabbing his pack of wintergreen gum from his toolbox, I pop a piece in my mouth. “Sorry to disappoint, asshole, but my focus will be on classes.”
Darin crosses his arms and tilts his head, regarding me. I groan inwardly.Here we go. A fucking lecture.My muscles tense in anticipation. My defenses are high, my features tight, as I cross my arms and glare at him.
“Listen, Max Devlin. You need to stop moping and get the hell back on the horse. I know Brianna broke your heart, but not all women—”
I interrupt, my voice stern and angry. “You know what she did! She fuckingdestroyedme.”
