Page 33
I stopped dead in my tracks. “They were not hooking up.”
“That’s not how Fiero tells it. He said her ass is so tight, you could bounce a nickel off it.”
“I’m gonna fuckin’ kill him.” I turned back around ready to do just that when Gonzo grabbed my arm.
“Jazz, man, calm down. What’s the deal with this girl anyway? She got some kind of magic pussy or somethin’?” He laughed, and when I didn’t laugh with him, he held his palms up. “Just joking’”
I glared at him one last time and took off again, kicking up dust on the dirt path.
“I get it,” he said, finally, as we continued down the hill. “You’re in love with her. You ain’t just playin’ at bein’ her fiancé.”
“I’m not in love with her. Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“’Cause you’re awful protective. Like she’s yours or something.”
“No, she’s not. She’s not mine. She’s just . . . just Indy.” I swiped at the sweat trickling down my forehead.
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“It means she’s Josh’s little sister.”
This time Gonzales came to a dead stop. He and Josh had served together briefly. “Ah, fuck. Sorry.”
We continued on wordlessly and I figured he’d dropped the subject. It was a chilly day, fall in the air. A fine mist hung over the hills and each of my labored exhalations turned into a tiny white cloud. The leaves beneath our feet were all the shades of gold and red. Like Indy’s hair.
“I get it though now. The little sister,” Gonzales said out of the blue. “You always had a thing for her, but she was off-limits.”
“Jesus Christ, no! I did not always have a thing for her.”
“Never like, accidentally fingered her on a camping trip?”
“Gonzo, am I gonna have to murder you too?” I shoulder-butted him off the path. “Will you please stop!”
“Oh come on, Jazz. Why else would you be giving dancing lessons to old ladies for her?” I grit my teeth, wishing to god I’d stuck to the conversation about my upcoming hearing. “I think you’ve always had a thing for her, and you didn’t want to admit it. But what’s stopping you now? You’re both adults. Josh isn’t around anymore . . . sorry, that sounded insensitive. What I meant was you don’t have to worry about pissing off her big brother.”
“Yeah, even if what you’re saying was true—which it isn’t”—I glared at him—“it’s a shitty idea.”
He stared at me expectantly. “First of all, I’m a mess right now. You know it. Might not have a job after next week. Don’t know what the hell I’m doing with myself.”
“NASA, man. What’s up with your application?” Besides Olivia and Callie, Gonzo was the only other person I’d told about my dream of going to space.
“Don’t you start on that too. Anyway, the main thing is Indy deserves a hell of a lot better than someone like me—I’m allergic to long-term relationships. There’s no way in hell I’m ever getting married or having kids.”
“That’s what you say because you haven’t met the right woman, and don’t give me any crap about that girl you had when you were a teenager. She wasn’t the one.”
“Didn’t peg you for such a romantic, Gonzo.” We turned off the road toward my apartment, dodging cars parked on the narrow lane.
“I am a total romantic,” he laughed. “Just haven’t found the right girl yet. But, unlike you, I’m not automatically writing off every girl I meet.”
“That’s not what I’m doing. But this is just . . . Indy.”
“Just Indy,” he repeated, and then in his best Inigo Montoya voice added, “you keep saying that, but I do not think you know what that means.”
“Keep quoting The Princess Bride. That’ll win over your girl when you finally meet her.”
“Damn right it will.” He shoved me toward my door. “Wanna go over your mea culpa speech for Anderson?”
I looked down at my watch. “Nah, I gotta get a move on if I’m going to make it to Venice on time.”
