“You did not break into a mansion,” I said, trying to sound casual.
“Sure did. They had a great pool, too. Pro tip from Maddox. Next time you’re trying to impress someone, choose a house with a pool.”
I fumbled around in the crate, pulling out a little bottle of bar and chain oil as well as the gasoline. “Or at least a place where we could get a little privacy,” I said.
Maddox rose back up to his feet, chuckling to himself. “Damn, you sure are a feisty one. I get it, though. You got your special guy here, and you thought you were going to have a long evening to yourselves. You’re just lucky it was me who busted in on you. Any of the other residents here would have been calling the police and pressing charges so fast your head would spin. I’m just making you clean my chainsaw.”
I sighed again and then poured a little gasoline into the machine. I hated being lectured by him, but as he towered above me, I couldn’t deny there was something that felt good about it, too. I’d always been defiant when someone tried to tell me what to do, whether that was my asshole father ordering me around or the teachers at my school, trying to embarrass me and make me feel bad just because I struggled with the math homework or some shit.
Maddox, though, didn’t seem one bit thrown by me. It didn’t matter how many times I argued with him or tried to push back against his orders. He just kept the same calm tone in his voice and kept asking me questions. Weirdly, it made me want to please him just as much as it made me want to pick another fight.
“If you’re so good at breaking into places,” I said, rising to my feet, “give me some tips.”
“What? You want me to be your crime mentor or some shit?”
“Why not?”
He stretched his arm behind his shoulder again, pulling on his elbow until I heard the bones pop. “All right, Gunner, I got a lesson for you, but you’re not going to like it.”
I wiped my hands off on the rag again, tossing it back in the crate. “I’m sure I won’t.”
“You seem like you care about Malcolm and that you’re really eager to impress him. I get that. He’s cute as all hell, and he’s got a smile that lights up the room. But taking stupid risks and getting arrested isn’t going to help you one bit, and it’s not going to help him, either. So do yourself a favor. Act smart and stay out of trouble, and he might actually stick around for a minute.”
I remembered how sexy Malcolm had looked, creeping down the path with me last night and how exciting it had felt to break into Maddox’s house together. There was no way I was giving up on memories like that one. “You’re right,” I said, “I don’t like the advice.”
Maddox chuckled again. “You ready to warm up the chainsaw? Did you check the tension of the chain and add oil—”
“I got it!” I said, cutting him off and still feeling flustered by his advice about Malcolm.
He shrugged. “Warm it up, then.”
I lifted the chainsaw and yanked the cord a few times, giving it all I had until the engine sputtered to life. A little cloud of gray smoke coughed out of it, and I held the machine to my side, resting the base of it on my hip.
Maddox reached into the toolshed, then handed me a pair of safety goggles. “Can’t have you losing those pretty eyes,” he hollered above the noise.
I reached out to take the goggles with my free hand, and when I did, the engine shook abruptly, and the machine chugged and clunked a few times before going dead. I tried to pull on the cord again, but it wouldn’t even budge.
Maddox sighed. “You did add oil to the gasoline?”
My gut clenched when I looked down at the crate. The small bottle of oil was still lying where I had left it, unopened.
“Fuck,” I muttered. “I must have been distracted by those damn stories.”
Maddox grabbed the goggles out of my hand, shaking his head. “I tried to tell you,” he said, pointing his finger straight at me and making me tremble in a way that felt weirdly good.
“I know!” I said quickly. After a second of silence, I sighed. “And—I’m sorry.” Forgetting to put oil in the engine meant that the machine was totally broken. Most of the men I knew would lose their shit over something like that, but Maddox just kept pointing, showing way more patience than I expected.
He sighed. “I hope you like canned beans because you and your boyfriend are going to be stuck here for a while.”
