Amin looks at me with that calm, older-brother smirk. “That’s what I like to hear. We could use a little pressure around here.”
“Yeah,” Solace scoffs, “if we survive his ego.”
I glance up, deadpan. “If I had an ego, I wouldn’t still be in this room with you.”
The team howls. Solace’s mouth drops open, then he laughs and tosses a water bottle at me. “You hear that, Amin? Man thinks he’s too good for the rest of us!”
Amin chuckles. “He is too good. But I like that. Keeps you humble, Light.”
“Bruv, I’m already humble!” Solace throws his arms out. “I’m the humblest man alive. Ask anybody!”
One message from Zaza:
Big head lil’ sis: Here’s the address, Flat 3C. I’m still at rehearsals, but Frankie should be home.
I stareat the text for a second too long.
Frankie.
I wipe my face with a towel, grin to myself, and reply:
Me: I see. Just me and her then.
The three dotspop up right away.
Big head lil’ sis: Behave. Abegi.
I type back a halo emoji.
“Anybody got a toolbox?”
What the hellam I even doing?
I don’t help.
I don’t fix tables.
I don’t fix anything.
I hire people for that. I send a text to my agent, money leaves my account, and the problem disappears. That’s how life works.
And yet here I am, sitting in Solace’s surprisingly well-kept car with his borrowed toolbox in the passenger seat, listening to him explain how things work like I’m some toddler.
He gestures at the drill I’m holding as he drives. “So, this bit—no, this thing here—you just twist it?—”
“I know how a drill works,” I mutter.
He side-eyes me. “Do you?”
“I have preconceived notions of how a drill functions. For instance, if I press the bit to your temple and squeeze the throttle while you’re driving, it’ll kill us both and helpfully take us out of our shared misery.”
He nods along, “Yeah, but then traffic’s gonna be backed up. I don’t wanna go out as an inconvenience to other people. I don’t wanna be an inconsiderate prick.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, I’ve been an inconsiderate prick most of my life, and I’ve never had any issues. If anything, it’s made my life easier because I’m getting a free ride and a toolbox after embarrassing you at practice.”
He laughs like I’m joking, though I am 100%not.
He is an interesting guy, though.
