The Road That Leads to Us (Us 1)

The monotony of working in the shop every day was wearing on me.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked cars. I liked the shop. I liked the guys. And I even liked working for my dad.

But doing the same thing day in and day out was getting old fast.

And Willow…she was a blazing light.

Even when she was sad she shone brighter than the sun and I wanted nothing more than to get close and feel her warmth.

Well, fuck.

I sounded like I was in love.

I was most definitely not in love with my friend.

I mean, I loved her, sure…but not like that.

Leaving my apartment I headed back down into the shop and to the back office.

I knocked on the door and waited for my dad to say, “Come in,” before opening the door.

“Whatcha need, son?” He asked, looking up from the computer.

His dark hair was longer in the front and shorter on the sides, much the same as mine. We even shared the same green eyes and hollowed cheekbone structure. It was safe to say I was the spitting image of my dad. The only thing that set us apart were the laugh lines by his eyes and mouth.

I didn’t think he would be mad if I asked for time off, but he was still a business owner and needed the help, so there was the chance he could be pissed.

In a rush, the words tumbled out of my mouth. “I’m going on a road trip with Willow and I need a few weeks off. I understand if you can’t give me the time off, because I know that’s a long time, so if you need to fire me that’s okay. No hard feelings.” I kept my hands at my sides, not wanting to seem defensive.

He was quiet, and I feared that meant he was mad.

But then he burst into laughter. “Oh, Dean, you’re so much like your mother sometimes it scares me. You got my looks but you got her personality.”

“Uh…” I crooked my lips, unsure of where he was going with this.

“Of course you can have the time off,” he chortled. “You put in more time here than anyone else. We’ll survive without you for a while. Go have fun and enjoy being twenty-one. You’re only young once and then it’s over.”

I laughed, ducking my head so my hair tumbled over my forehead. I pushed it away with a rough shove of my fingers.

“So, you’re cool with this?” I hesitated in the doorway.

He nodded. “Of course. Just promise to call your mom a lot. You know she’ll worry.”

“I can do that.” I’d probably forget.

“When do you think you’ll leave?” He questioned, his eyes straying back to the computer screen.

“Knowing Willow…as soon as possible.”

My dad chuckled and scratched at his bearded jaw. “Should’ve known. Come over for dinner tonight then. Your mom will want to see you before you leave. Not to mention your brother and sister.”

I tucked my hands in the pockets of my jeans. “Will do.”

I headed out into the shop to finish the car I’d been working on—an old minivan that had seen much better days. But the owner, a single mom in her twenties, couldn’t afford a new car, so I wanted to make sure I had it running as smooth as possible.

It was still light out by the time I headed upstairs to my apartment to shower and get ready.

Since I didn’t have dinner with my family much anymore I opted to dress up a bit—meaning, jeans not covered in grease and a clean white tee.