I press my thumbs into my temples and breathe deep. “Just tired. Can’t concentrate.”
“Right. Well, I’ve finished the Dodge, gonna move onto the Chevvy.”
“Okay, man. I’ll call the owner of the Dodge and let them know it’s ready.”
“Awesome.” He turns to leave.
“Oh, Ty,” I call and he turns back. “Could you put together some paint samples for a ’65 GTO?”
“Sure. Is this the car Vinnie was telling me about? The one you’re helping that girl fix up?”
“That’s the one.”
“Yeah, no problem. Any preferences?”
“She was thinking forest green,” I tell him.
“I’m on it!” He winks before walking away but a couple of seconds later, he reappears at the door, “there’s a guy out here to see you.”
“Send him in,” I say, and a minute later, in walks David. “You’re the last person I expected to see today.”
“I wanna talk to you,” he says, talking a seat opposite me. “About Amy.”
“About how you don’t want me telling her that you’re part of the gang who had her dad killed, you mean?” His face pales and his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows hard. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“I guess you’re not gonna mention your own little deal with Donovan either, right?”
“From where I’m sitting, you have a lot more to lose at her learning the truth than I do,” I point out.
“You’re no good for her.”
“Really? Well if I’m not good for her, then why did I have her screaming my name last night? I’d say I was pretty damngoodfor her.” I smirk. I hate myself for talking this way about her, but it’s worth it to twist the knife just a little.
He sneers in disgust. “She deserves better.”
“Is that all you came here to tell me? That she deserves better? Couldn’t you have told me this over the phone? ‘Cause as you’ve probably noticed, I’m a little busy.” I gesture to the mountains of paperwork on my desk.
“Amy can’t find out I’m with them. She can’t.” He grows agitated, and he runs a shaky hand through his hair.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t tell her the truth.”
“Because you don’t want her to know that you’re in over your head in debt.” My stomach drops at hearing it out loud.
“So what you’re saying is, if I keep quiet, you’ll do the same?” I ask.
“Yeah.”
I release a deep sigh. “Fine, but I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing this for her. Telling her would only hurt her anyway.”
“Then I guess we agree on something,” he says as he stands to leave.
“It’d be interesting to hear what your dad would have to say about being one of Donovan James’ bitches.” His eyes widen. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep your little secret.”
He glares at me one more time before he turns to leave and once he’s gone, I try to get my head back in the game and actually get some work done but it’s useless. I lean back in my seat, accepting the fact that I’m not gonna get anywhere with the paperwork today, so I shove it all into a pile and leave it for another day. Instead, I pull up Amy’s number in my phone and call her. She answers on the fourth ring.
“Hey.”
I can’t stop the smile on my face at the sound of her voice. “Hey there, babygirl. You okay?”
