I looked around along the circle of Logan’s employees as I took a sip of my tequila. It was smooth, lightly burning my throat as I swallowed it down. I felt the warmth of it in my belly.
Manny was poking the wood that was burning in the fire with what looked like a tire iron. He seemed to be swaying from his seat on the ground, the two beers from his earlier grip long gone now. Cameron, whose face was mostly hidden in the shadow of the hood from his sweatshirt, was picking black nail polish off of his fingernails as he watched Manny’s assault on the firewood. The older mechanic who was helping Logan earlier, Ernesto, sat quietly and unmoving in a chair closest to the back wall of the yard. I thought for a moment that he might be sleeping, but his eyes were open and watchful.
Neither Jessica nor Camila had come—both of them citing prior commitments—and a few of the other mechanics had migrated to the beer pong table along the far wall of the yard to play with Andre’s other friends.
Our small group by the fire was quiet, a rather far cry from the rest of those in attendance at this party. Between the dancing, keg stands, and drinking games, everyone had definitely come here to let loose and celebrate.
I took another long sip from my glass of tequila, relishing in the way Logan’s thumb slid up and down my ribcage. I could get used to this . . . this electricity. This vibrancy. The color and sounds. Logan had, through his shop, cultivated a little corner of the world for himself, and I felt incredibly lucky to be a part of it with the people around me.
I turned around to tell Logan that I was going to the bathroom. “Are you okay on your own?” he asked, visibly contemplating if he should get up too.
I nodded my head. “Yeah, Manny showed us where it is. I’ll be fine, promise.” I handed Logan my drink and bounded toward the back door to the house, eager to get into the warmth.
Inside, things were much quieter. There were a couple of girls talking quietly in the living room, and a man in the kitchen who seemed to be looking through the cabinets for something, but otherwise the house was empty. I made my way down the short hallway to where Manny pointed out the bathroom earlier.
After I was done and washed up I retraced my steps, heading back through the house when the sound of a woman’s voice stopped me in the kitchen.
“Who the hell invited a white girl here?”
I hesitated, wondering if I’d heard her correctly. Turning to look in the direction of the voice, I saw three girls standing at the kitchen counter. One of them, the taller one in the middle, was glaring at me. She looked to be about my age if not slightly younger, wearing a black thermal long-sleeved shirt with a red flannel wrapped around her waist. Dramatic eyeliner lined her narrowed eyes.
“I’m sorry?” I responded, confused at her hostility. A shorter woman to her left pretended to make herself busy by opening a bottle of wine, looking uncomfortable with the situation. The other girl standing on her right simply looked back and forth between the two of us with a perplexed expression.
“You heard me. Who invited you?”
I looked around me to find another source of her obvious frustration, because it couldn’t have possibly been me. I didn’t even know this person and she was looking at me like I’d knocked her down in the middle of a supermarket. When I didn’t see anyone else lurking behind me, eager to take responsibility for the attitude being thrown in my direction, I turned back to face the woman who was still glaring at me. “Andre invited me. Why?”
A heated look of pure hatred flashed through her eyes before I heard someone approach from behind me. “For someone so concerned about Andre’s guest list, I’m having a hard time rememberingyourname being on it, Leticia.” I turned to find Andre’s sister, Marisela, behind me with her arms crossed over her chest as she shot the woman—Leticia—a stern look.
Leticia grumbled and flipped her hair behind her shoulder as she turned on her heels to make her way out the door and into the yard.
I stood awkwardly frozen in place, having absolutely no idea what had just happened. “Um . . .” I’m so sorry, I don’t know who she is or why that happened . . .”
Marisela’s face transformed into a softer expression as she unfolded her arms and waved a hand out in front of her. “That had nothing to do with you, that was all her. Leticia and Andre used to be a thing but they’ve been broken up for almost a year now and she still tries to piss all over his life. She was probably worried that you were here as his date because you’re new and she doesn’t recognize you.”
“Oh. . . I see.” I nodded my head in understanding.
“Hey, you’re here with Logan, right?” she asked, tilting her head as if she was just now really looking at me.
“Yeah, Logan brought me,” I repeated rather lamely. “I was just on my way back out to him.”
Marisela smiled, bright white teeth flashing against her dark mauve lipstick. “He’s a good man. Andre was really struggling before Logan hired him.” A look of anguish crossed over her eyes. “We lost our oldest brother, Gabriel, three years ago and . . . Andre took it really hard. Lost his direction in life. But when Logan hired him, things seemed to start turning around. Andre is focused again . . . driven. I feel like I have my brother back.
“Anyway, I’m so grateful to Logan for coming into his life. I know working at his auto shop has given him purpose, and words could never express how thankful I am.” She smiled. “It’s nice to see Logan with a girl—a pretty one at that. Enjoy yourself tonight.” She pressed her hand to my shoulder and walked away, leaving me standing alone in the kitchen with tears threatening to escape from my eyes.
I wasn’t at all surprised to hear that Logan was making a positive impact in someone’s life, but hearing Marisela’s words made my heart squeeze. Logan was truly one of the best people on the entire planet, and having come from pain and heartache like he had, I was so proud he’d turned out to be such an amazing man.
He’d made it. He’d truly made it.
Finding myself back outside, my skin felt warm despite the frigid night air. It might have been the buzz of tequila, or the way Logan was looking at me as I approached him, but I felt like I was floating, gently falling back into his lap like a snowflake.
The warmth of his arms wrapped around me again. It felt like home. “Everything good?” he murmured into my hair.
I thought about telling him about Leticia’s wrath, or about Marisela’s kind words, but decided to save it for another time. Right now, I just wanted to sink into him. “Everything is perfect,” I whispered back to him. I took my drink back from his hand and took another sip, watching as the flames in front of us danced. I noticed Manny and Cameron were gone, only Ernesto still sitting in his chair across the fire. “Where’d the others go?”
“Andre came and grabbed them for the beer pong tournament. I think they’re playing.”
“Oh. Should we go watch?”
