Wyatt is nearby, at least until closing time, so we don’t tend to get into the kind of dangerous territory our flirting likes to drift into when we’re alone. But it’s comfortable, and it’s become routine.
So tonight, when she asked me to text Lexi to come get her for girl’s night, this hopeful look on her face that told me this meant something to her, I couldn’t object. Sure, it doesn’t feel the same, toiling away on the rebuild without her talking to herself on the sidelines—cutest habit ever, by the way—but I’m not complaining.
Being alone is good, it’s what I’m used to. I work well on my own.
So why do my eyes keep flicking to the side, toward the open bays where her short, toned legs are usually in my periphery, bouncing as she sits in a fold-out chair, while I sweat over her engine to the soundtrack of her gushing about this or that.
She’s not there. Of course she isn’t there. She’s down at Suds with the girls. And half of the guys in this town. Including Dallas, the bartender, and the most eligible bachelor in the Heights, last I knew. Pretty sure that hasn’t changed.
One of my eyes twitches at the thought of them hitting it off. Him catching wind of the new arrival with his own eyes for the first time. Her, intrigued by the darkness that swallows that guy whole. The two of them finding a dim corner of the bar.
The back of one wrist—since both hands are filthy—slaps to my eye, effectively stopping the twitch, but possibly blinding myself permanently in the act. A fair trade.
I distract myself by focusingextrahard on assembling these pistons, the assembly lube thick and sticky on my hands as I test each component to make sure it’s working as it should.
Eventually—definitely long enough for a bathroom hookup or three if I were keeping track of time, which I’m totally not—headlights bounce through the gravel lot and into the shop, the sound of tires rolling across the loose rocks echoing through the garage. I make my way to the sink on the cement block wall and use about a pound of that orange, gritty soap to wash my hands as I hear car doors opening and raucous giggling roll in.
I try not to think they’re laughing about something as stupid as, oh, I don’t know, Amelia getting bent over the pool table by the bartender, and make my way over to them, keeping my pace even, like it’s not taking all my effort to hold myself back from sprinting to the car.
Amelia isclearlyinebriated, which makes me wonder how much she’s had to drink, because I’ve seen her pound beers with no issue.
She’s also clearly having the time of her damn life, which calms my revved up insides instantly, and returns my usual, easy smile back to my face. And it’s for real.
Lexi is doubled over in laughter, legs crossed to keep from peeing, if I had to guess, as she helps Amelia out of the car while they scream-laugh together. Neither of them look up as I approach, engrossed in whatever new inside joke is between them that has them hardly able to take breaths between their howls.
After a couple minutes of unintelligible speech that they somehow seem to understand between the two of them, I finally clear my throat loudly.
Lexi, clearly not shitfaced like the girl I’m here for, looks up at me quickly, sobering from her laughing fit and shooting me a knowing smirk. Amelia takes a fraction of a second longer to gather her bearings and bring her bleary gaze to mine, a blithe grin stretched across her small mouth.
“There he is!” she shouts, pointing at me. Except her whole body points with her, and she starts to tip over. Lexi, who has an arm around her, catches her easily, but I take the chance to rush forward anyway and stabilize her with both hands on her slim shoulders.
“You been lookin’ for me, darlin’?” I ask her, lips curved up with the thought that my eyes weren’t the only ones seeking the other out tonight.
“Talkin’ about you,” she says with a slur. Her eyes slide down my body until they come to rest on my groin. “Your giant fucking cock.”
Oh, boy.
My eyes widen and fly to Lexi, who looks amused, and (thankfully) like she doesn’t give a fuck at the same time. My sister-in-law’s sibling can be cool. It’s mine that can’t.
I turn my gaze back to Amelia. “I’d love to hear what you had to say about it, maybe you could tell me over coffee tomorrow?”
“I’ll tell you now,” she drawls, and she’s so damn cute my mouth pulls up at one side. “I said it was beautiful. Massive.”
“And I said maybe I finally understand why all the girls fall in love with you,” Lexi adds, a crooked grin on her face.
Bite back a bigger smirk at that.
“No wonder Wyatt has to threaten you to keep it in your pants. One look and she’s obsessed.”
My stomach falls. She’s not obsessed. She’s just drunk. And maybe a little horny. Hell, who here isn’t?
“I’m not obsessed. I’m fascinated. There’s a difference. And you would be too if you’d seen it,” Amelia says, her nose an inch from Alexis’s face.
“This again,” Lexi says, but she’s laughing. “You, my sister, even my best friend’s husband. I’m surrounded by people who are obsessed with Grady cock. Is this payback from the universe for something I did?”
Amelia gasps. “You believe in cosmic karma too? I knew I liked you.”
“Okay, darlin’. Let’s get you to bed, yeah?”
