“Try me.”
“In the offseason, I work at our family’s auto body shop. I want to do it full-time and eventually take over the business and stay in Santa Cruz. I love this town. I want to have a home and…raise a family. Somehow.”
Holden stared at me for long moments, then he downed the rest of his martini in one go and held the glass against his shirt, eyes closed.
My ears burned. “I told you it was cheesy.”
“It’s not. It’s just…different. My ideal life is light-years from yours.”
“Oh yeah? Well, it’s your turn now. What’s the title to your life story?”
“Misery,” Holden said. “It. The Dead Zone. Desperation…Goddamn, that Stephen King hogged the best ones.”
“What a bastard,” I said with a grin.
Holden peeked open one eye and heaved a sigh. “If I’m going to tell this dark and depressing tragedy, I’m going to need more alcohol. You probably should too.”
“I’m good.”
“You sure? My story is R-rated. Borderline NC-17.”
“And I suppose mine was PG?”
“I’ll give you PG-13.”
I laughed. “Fuck off.”
“Have you ever given a blow job to a married psychiatrist in a sanitarium?”
I coughed. “Um…no.”
“See? NC-17.”
“I’ll take another beer.”
***
Holden mixed another martini and then filled a silver flask from his coat pocket with more vodka.
“For backup,” he said.
I wrinkled my brow, watching him pocket the flask. “How old are you?”
“Eighteen in February. But I’m an overachiever in the booze department. Ahead of my class. Vodka valedictorian…”
“I’m eighteen in February too,” I said. “The fifth. You?”
“The twenty-ninth.”
“No shit? Leap year.”
Holden nodded. “Three years out of four, my birthday doesn’t exist.” He gave me a pointed look. “Make of that what you will.”
“I think it’s kind of cool.”
“I think it’s the universe trying to remedy a cosmic mistake.” His voice lowered. “God knows my parents would agree.”
I started to ask what he meant by that, but he’d been poking at the state-of-the-art sound system next to the minibar. Cage the Elephant’s “Night Running” filled the space, and instead of heading back out to the patio, Holden beckoned me into the dark of the house.
