“Zyro,” I answered, tossing the rag over my shoulder.
“Name’s Greg Jackson. My daughter’s car is here. We’re here to see if we can get it towed to a car lot to see about trading it in.”
Eriss shifted her feet, avoiding meeting my eyes.
“Yeah, I can have it towed to wherever you need it towed. My man Marco can handle that.”
“How much will that run me?” Mr. Jackson queried, removing his wallet from his back pocket.
Finally, her eye landed on me. I wanted to reach over to yank that patch off, but I remained in my spot.
“It’s on me,” I said, still looking at Eriss, who slightly tilted her head and squinted.
I gave her father my attention again. He was glancing from me to his daughter.
“Do you two know each other?” he questioned.
“He’s Mahlia’s cousin. I told you this in the car,” she said.
He nodded. “Right…Right.” I could tell he felt there was more to it.
It wasn’t.
Greg tucked his wallet back in slowly, still watching his daughter and I.
“You sure you don’t mind covering that tow?” he pressed.
I shrugged, leaning into my stance. “It’s on me. Consider it a courtesy.”
The patch over Eriss’ eye was driving me crazy.
Greg nodded, lips in a tight line. “Well, I appreciate that, son. Your shop…You run a clean shop here.”
“Always,” I replied.
Marco came ambling over with a clipboard, giving me aYou want me to handle this now?look. I jerked my chin toward the Camry. He got the message and disappeared through the bay doors.
“Shouldn’t take him long. He’ll just follow the two of you to your destination,” I let them know.
“Thank you,” they said in unison, and I dipped my head in a nod.
“No problem,” I replied. “You two have a great day.”
“You too, son,” Mr. Jackson called out over his shoulder as they began walking away.
I removed my phone from my pocket and sent a text.
Take that damn patch off. You’re too beautiful for that shit.
I killed the lights one by one, bright LED lights over each bay snapping off. The sounds of the machines faded and were replaced by the steady clink of tools as Marco was putting things back in place. I tugged the big bay door chain, the metal screeching as it rolled down. The faint scent of oil was in the air.
The shop had gotten busy later on in the day. The next few days, we had to work to get all the vehicles we had to work on out of here and back to their rightful owners. I’d be back before sunrise; therefore, I made sure everything was set right before leaving.
Outside, the night hit me. A slight breeze was blowing, but it was the middle of June, so that lil’ breeze wasn’t shit. I slid in my truck and turned the air on full blast, and let my engine rumble to life. For some reason, my mind kept circling back to Eriss. There was his heavy pull to her that I couldn’t explain. It was so heavy that when I went home, I showered and headed back out to Heartville to check on her.
By the time I pulled onto her street, it was after eight. The neighborhood was quiet with dim porch lights on. Her place was at the end of the street, and there sat a black Jeep Cherokee in her driveway with a paper license plate.
I cut my headlights and killed the ignition. I sat there for a moment trying to figure out what the fuck I was doing.
