“Yeah, but—”
I lean back against a pile of tires. “What happened to me not being good enough for you?”
“Let’s just say, I see things differently now.” He shrugs. “What I saw in Brooklyn made me want to give you another chance. But I’m warning you—it’ll be your last. I’ve still got my eye on you, Hitman. No more races. No more weekend getaways to New York…”
He’s counting them off on his fingers, and with each new item, I feel a little of the initial shine rubbing off. I’m overcome with the sudden urge to snap his hands right off—which is something Idoknow how to do. Call it lived experience.
“The only reason I went back to New York was to help you out. You get that, right?” It’s taking every drop of my self-control not to lunge for him. “Guess you don’t mind my extracurriculars when they work to your advantage, huh?”
“You really want to discuss your ‘extracurriculars’ again?”
“Say the word ‘crochet’ one more time, and I’m taking you behind the barn.”
He throws up his hands. “I get it, okay? That’s exactly why I changed my mind. But I’m hoping you get why I had to make sure things were crystal clear between us. I am so,sograteful for how you went back on the promise you made yourself… all just to dig me out of that shit. But it can never happen again—I still care about our reputation. I care about how our business looks.”
Yet again, Lewis has the shittiest way of making things “crystal clear” between us.What were you expecting? Did you really think that Brooklyn would be enough for him to onboard you without being a little bitch about it?
“What do the others say?”
“They’re cool with it.”
“What about Amir?”
“I’m keeping him as my plan B—just a backup, in case you fuck up.”
Or so you think. Maybe Amir and I need a little quality time together…
I nod slowly. “Hit me with the rules.”
“No illegal stuff. Which shouldn’t be too hard, since you’ve put all that behind you and you have this to help you unwind now.” He waves the pass at me. “Take it or leave it, baby.”
This gig makes sense, but there are so many other little parts tomy life that don’t tie neatly in with it all—the jobs I do for RJ, some of my bad, bad habits…
I thought I’d screwed up my chances with the Campus Drivers, and I’d even started thinking that maybe I just wasn’t the right fit, after all. Can I really see myself doing this? Doing more driving isn’t the issue; the issue is following somebody else’s rules. That could be a major problem—I can sense it. On the other hand, maybe this is the final nudge I need to move on from my whole New York chapter. Part of me feels like I’m turning my back on myself, or worse still, turning my back on Dad—on everything he was and loved. But the other part of me understands that he’s dead, and that he won’t be coming back.I’m sorry, old man!My life would be so very different if he were still around. Raven and I would never have been kicked out of our home, I would never have ended up so lost, looking for the fresh start I still haven’t quite found. What if today could be the first day of the rest of my life?
“I’ll do it,” I hear myself say.
“Then you’ve got yourself a deal.”
He holds out an arm, and this time, I don’t freeze—I don’t think twice. I slip my hand into his, the heat of his skin sending electricity coursing through me, my nipples stiffening in response. Looks like my body really likes this deal.
When he drops his hand, I swallow hard.
“When do we start?”
Say “right away.” Say “right away”…
“Early January. I’m heading to West Virginia; I’ll be back in time for New Year’s Eve.”
“Sure.”
Okay, maybe that’s for the best…
I’m doing my best to talk myself down—shrug off the disappointment. That gives me a whole two weeks to ditch all the parts of my life that won’t work with the new job.When he said “no illegal stuff”… does that include the hacked Prime Video account?
“Got plans for New Year’s Eve?”
My heart starts racing.
