“Jesus, you smell good.”
“Behave,” I bossed, grinning as I closed his door and moved to the back seat.
Katie pulled up to the restaurant, one of my favorites down by the waterfront, and while she pulled out the wheelchair, I unbuckled Gio and helped him slide to the edge of the seat.
“You ready?” I asked.
He nodded and I cupped his chin.
“Did you bring pain meds?”
“Yeah. Kate has them.”
I sighed. “You need to take them, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.”
Katie rolled up with the chair and we helped him into it, and then she grabbed water from the side of her door and handed him some painkillers.
“We can do this another time,” I said.
“Like hell,” he hissed. “I’m fine, Fizzy. It’s all good.”
“What if you need to pee?” Katie asked.
“I can help him,” I said. “That’s no biggie.”
“Jesus, Kate,” he growled, then turned to me. “And you are not helping me piss. I’ll fuckin’ hold it.”
“Grumpo el dente, indeed,” I said.
“What does that mean?” he demanded.
“Nothing,” Katie and I said in stereo then bust out laughing.
“Text me when you’re ready and I’ll pick you up,” Katie said.
“Thanks for everything,” I said, then wheeled Gio into the restaurant.
“Did you always want to be a mechanic?” I asked once our food arrived.
“That’s a loaded question,” Gio said. “My dad died when I was ten, and as much as my mom tried, I kind of went off the rails when I was about twelve. Enter Connor. I was in school with his son Flash and Connor took me under his wing. Anytime I wasn’t at school, I was at his shop learning how to work oncars and staying out of my mother’s hair and probably jail.”
I cocked my head. “You were that bad?”
“I could have been if it wasn’t for him.”
“Are you close with your mom and sisters?”
“Yeah. They drive me up a fuckin’ wall, but we’re close.”
“But not enough to stay with her while you rehab?”
He shook his head. “Her house has four million stairs, so Maisie suggested I come to theirs. And when Maisie suggests anything, it’s more of a command.”
I chuckled. “Oh, so the quiet, sweet, British thing is a ruse?”
“No, that’s all real, but you don’t argue with her. I don’t know how to describe it.”
