But in fairness to him, I’d met his gaze from my seat next to my wife.
That about sums up our relationship. We were star-crossed, but not in a romantic way. We were more like two collapsing suns trying to drag each other into the same black hole.
Against all odds, we’d managed not to tear each other to shreds, but even now, we were still orbiting one another. Still answering each other’s calls.
“I bought a car,” I said.
Silence.
Not the good kind, where Lai might be patient with me. The disappointed kind.
“Oh.” He spat the word out, his interest withering on the vine. “You called me after midnight because you bought a car?”
“Look. It’s not that simple,” I groaned, baiting him, hoping to draw him back in. I needed his help. “Can you meet me in the garage at the manor? I’ll explain it then.”
“Now?” He sighed, bored.
I nodded instinctively, even though he couldn’t see me. “Yeah. Please. I’ll be there in, like, ten minutes.”
“Five.” Fox’s voice slid into the space between us, low and amused, and the car surged forward.
“Who is that–?” Lai started, sounding outraged.
I hung up.
Lai would take that very personally.
Good.
***
Fox hadn’t lied; we made it to the academy in less than five minutes.
My hands were trembling from the adrenaline of the drive as I took the wheel, veering the car towards the hidden forest path leading to the manor. The trees blurred past, shadows stretching long under the headlights; Fox was reluctant to give up the speed.
“Whoa—hey. Easy.” I tightened my grip. “I’m not wrapping you around a tree on day one.”
“Where are you taking me?” Fox asked, voice threaded with apprehension. “I’ve connected to your GPS. This is not home. This is work.”
I frowned, clenching my phone protectively. “How does a ‘92 model even know what a GPS is?”
“I have Car Play; I’m vintage, not antique. See that adapter plugged into the cigarette lighter?” Fox huffed, then backfired, the gunshot sound making me jump.
“I’m taking you to work because it has a large, underground, secured garage,” I explained. “I live downtown. We have a building that once housed my tattoo studio. It’s not exactly safe.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie; more of an omission. Fox didn’t need to know that I had a big garage at home too, not until I could trust him not to pick fights with Sparrow’s Ford Ranger or Candy’s Volkswagen Beetle. Bad enough that he already knew about my Honda Odyssey.
“You don’t want to wake up with no tires, do you?” I pressed, sensing his skepticism.
That seemed to have the desired effect; Fox slowed down, carefully approaching the manor. His tires hit the gravel court, stone crunching as he followed the signs leading to the underground parking lot.
Weird; I never paid attention to the other cars there before, but now I felt like their headlights were following us. Aris’s Lexus looked at Fox with a snobby smirk, the grill curled up in a smile. Robyn’s Toyota Supra looked excited as a new challenger rolled past, and Lai’s ancient, battered Corolla, her road legality a distant memory, let us pass with a cautious glance.
“Okay,” I muttered under my breath. “That’s new.”
We turned into the last spot at the back of the parking garage, and I groaned.
Lai was already there, leaning into his gold-handled cane, looking like he’d been waiting his entire life for this exact moment. His red silk robe hung open, tied just loosely enough to kiss the line of indecency. His long lavender hair was pulled into a messy bun that looked intentional in the way only he could manage.
