“No. I know that.” Bristling at the idea that he though Mini was a dumbass, he growled a little.
“Lord, what? You’re just twitchy. You not get your morning lay or something?”
Oh, he was gonna kick Coke’s ass.
“You got room to talk about that, Mister.” Sighing, he rolled his head on his neck. “Damn it, Coke, I’m scared.”
“I know. Shit, Andy. This was my idea. I’m in it, deep as you or Jase both, and I ain’t got sponsors to worry on.”
He looked over, surprised to see Coke’s cheeks flushed.
Oh.
Oh, he hadn’t thought of that, of how Coke could be putting a whole career on the line.
“Jesus, Coke. I’m…” He stopped. Coke didn’t need apologies. That wasn’t what the man was about. “Hell, I believe in him, too. Thank you.”
“Anytime.” Coke tilted his head, pursed his lip. “You reckon they make pool tables for blind folks?”
“I don’t know.” That was part of the problem. He didn’t know what they did do for blind folks, and they couldn’t let on that Jase was one for them to do this.
“Me either. We got to find us someone to do research on the computer.”
“We do.” That wasn’t his thing, even if his gnarled up hands were worth a damn for typing, which they weren’t, Bax wouldn’t know how to use them to surf the web.
“I’ll talk to Dillon. He’s all technical and shit.”
Bax hid a groan. Dillon was a great guy, but he couldjabber like nothing going. “He has to know he can’t talk on it.”
“Andy Baxter, don’t you think for a second I’m stupid.”
Oh, man. Coke sounded damn near affronted.
“I don’t!” He smacked his hand against the dashboard, jostling everything and feeling like a fool for it. “I just don’t know what todo.”
“Well, I don’t either, but Jesus Christ, we got friends, you and me. We got lots of real friends and we got to cowboy up and make this work or admit we can’t and put Jason in some fucking state home so they can teach him.”
“No. No fucking homes.” Bax nodded, his mouth thinning down to a tight line. “We’ll do this. I just got to adjust my thinking. More folks will just have to know.”
“I’m sorry, Andy. God knows I am, but I don’t know how else to do it, ‘cept by going to our people.”
Bax reached over and patted Coke’s leg. “No. No, I just get ornery and protective.”
Coke nodded to him, both of them taking a deep breath for a second. “You want to stop at the beer store, get some?”
“Yeah. That sounds good. Something better than that shit AJ keeps.”
They both laughed at that. AJ had terrible taste in beer.
“You got it, buddy.”
He finished his burger, feeling like he might just make it.
And if he didn’t, well, who was he gonna tell? Jason was what mattered right now. They’d just have to suck it up and find their way.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Okay.
