She took a step closer, to be sure it was actually him. Not some figment of her imagination. Her mind playing tricks. He tossed a wrench, letting it clatter into a bucket of tools as he reached for a rag. He paused, as if he sensed her watching.
Tattoos ghosted through the thin fabric of his shirt. There were more of them now, ones she’d never seen before. They wound down from his sleeves in dizzying patterns. Hints of dark tendrils peeked out of his collar, tangling with the shining locks of his raven-black hair. She could still feel it, if she let herself, the feathery strands falling like a veil around her face, threading between her fingers when she used to run her hands through it as they—
She clenched them into fists. “What are you doing here?”
“I was getting ready for bed until you and your boyfriend showed up.” The subtle, sharp edge to his voice did strange things to her insides.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said curtly. “We just met.”
Javi let out a joyless laugh. He turned, leaning casually back against the workbench as he cleaned his knuckles on a filthy shop rag. “You bring all your casual hookups to your cousin’s garage for late-night make-out sessions?”
“That stopped being any of your business a long time ago. And what do you mean,going to bed?”
“Exactly what it sounds like.”
“You’re sleeping on Ramón’s couch?”
“Would you prefer I sleep somewhere else?” His dark eyes bored into her. She was certain he could see the answer in the hot flush creeping up her cheeks. He dropped his gaze, sparing her the embarrassment. “Didn’t exactly have much of a choice since someone else is sleeping on mine.”
“You’rethe person who’s been sleeping over at Ramón’s apartment?” She shouldn’t have been surprised. Ramón’s mother had practically adopted Javi when they were kids. His own mother wasn’t much of a presence, and he’d probably spent more nights sleeping on Ramón’s floor than in his own bed. Ramón and Aunt Gloria were the closest thing Javi had had to a real family growing up, and yet, Vero had never paused to consider that this piece of Javi’s life had never changed. It irked her for reasons she didn’t want to admit. “So you just followed him to Virginia?”
“He asked me to come. He needed someone who can do body work, and he offered me a job,” he said defensively. “I’m not freeloading off your cousin, if that’s what you’re suggesting. I pay rent.”
He paid rent to sleep on her cousin’s couch. And he’d given up his bed for her because Ramón had asked him to. She bit her lip, but it was too late to take it back. “Where’s Darren?”
“The asshole with the boner? He had to go.” Javi looked down at his hands, working the rag over his knuckles. They left dark red smears on the fabric.
“Javi! What did you do to him?”
“Nothing he won’t recover from.”
“You beat him up?”
“Yourfriendneeded a little help finding the door.”
“Shit!” She rubbed her eyes. How was she going to explain the fact that she had Darren’s cell phone when she was forced to return it to him at work on Monday?
“Don’t look so upset about it,” Javi deadpanned. “It’s not like you were actually enjoying it or anything.”
“I was enjoying it just fine!”
He took a bold step closer, until they were close enough for her to see theVon his right pectoral through his shirt. Until the warm, familiar smell of his skin hit her square in the throat and his low voice rumbled in her own chest. “I know when you’re enjoying yourself, Veronica. The way you move. The way you breathe. If I really thought you were having fun with that prick, I would have walked out that door and closed it behind me.”
She swallowed, conflicting urges threatening to take over her body. He did know all those things. For an entire summer, he’d been her whole damn world—her first everything. Then right before she was supposed to leave for college, he’d ghosted her overnight. No explanations. No apologies. No goodbyes. “Maybe you should have left. That’s what you do best, isn’t it?”
It was Javi’s turn to flinch. Like he had the nerve to regret what he’d done to her. She turned on her heels for the office. “Where are you going?” he called after her.
“To find a ride home. Tell Ramón I borrowed a loaner.” She stormed into her cousin’s office and threw open his desk drawer where he kept spare keys. Javi was right behind her. He took the keys from her hand and tossed them back into the drawer.
“You can’t drive that one. It’s missing a timing belt.”
“Fine, I’ll take another one.”
“I’ll take you.” His hand closed around hers as she reached for another key—any key. Hell, she’d walk the twelve miles home if it meant she didn’t have to be this close to him. His hand lingered around hers before he finally let go. He reached for his hoodie. “Where’s your coat?”
“In Darren’s car.”
Javi dropped his sweatshirt into her arms. It was two sizes too big. Too soft. Too easy to put on. He pulled a set of keys off a hook on the wall and switched off the desk lamp, and for a moment, it was just the two of them, standing too close to each other in the dark, neither one taking the first step out the door. “My van’s out front,” he said, leading the way out.
