“You’re not gonna believe it…”
“What’s going on?” Adam asks, easing into the space beside me.
I grin, savoring every second of the cliff-hanger. “You guys sitting comfortably?”
Don raises an eyebrow. “Looks that way.”
Lois appears in front of us, balancing a tray of smoothies in her hands.
“That looks amazing,” Lane says unconvincingly.
I roll my eyes. “Are you guys ready for this, or are we gonna spend the night talking fruit?”
“You’re unstable, dude,” Lois mutters, sucking on her straw.
“I’ve found my trainee,” I start.
Don splutters on his smoothie. I shoot Lois a meaningful look.
“You’ve found a trainee?” he repeats.
“Yessir.”
Lane cocks an eyebrow. “I didn’t even know he was looking for one. I thought it was gonna be Firebird.”
“Did she say no?” Adam asks.
I shrug. “No idea. The point is, I found the perfect student for us. His name’s Amir, and get this—he drives a Dodge, too!”
This would be the perfect time for confetti, but we’re all out of toilet paper.
“I’m gonna check back in with him in January. Isn’t that great?” I beam.
I was expecting a round of applause and a group hug at the very least, but the silence is deafening.
“This is the part where you guys clap,” I prompt.
Lane frowns. “What about the girl, though?”
“Adam can take her.”
Adam shakes his head. “Adam already has a trainee.”
“And you need to finish what you started,” Don says.
“I didn’t start shit.”
“You spoke to her.”
“Because you forced me to. Shit, guys. I tell you I’ve found an amazing driver, and your response is to just carry on breaking my balls over some girl?” I suck my teeth. “She’s not interested, anyway. I’d bet money on it.”
“How’d you figure that, with your face smooshed into her car?”
“Dude! She got me in an armlock,” I protest. “A fuckingarmlock. Does that scream ‘I’d love to work with you’ to you?”
“At least get a straight-up no out of her first. You can’t just bait and switch like that. It’s bad for optics, Lewis.”
“She got me in an armlock,” I repeat, slower this time. “How’d you likethosefor optics?”
