I maneuvered my car through the empty garage and slowly eased down to the road. I had to go around the block to get to the front of the apartment building. The idiot I was going to collect lived up to his name, and I was able to slide into a space right in front.
Gage was standing in the open bay door. I climbed out of Lucille and waved him over.
“So, about that help.”
He put on a baseball cap against the sun. “What’s up?”
I sighed and aimed for the door to the apartments.
Gage followed me and peered in the doorway. He had to cup his hands around his eyes to see in. “Fuck.”
“Yep.”
“Is he okay?”
“Define okay.”
His light eyed danced. “That looks sauced to me. Or did you knock him out?”
“Tempting. But I would have left him there if I knocked him out.”
“Taking him home? That’s big of you.”
“Yeah, well, his best friend is just as drunk. They decided to take a twelve-pack of micro brew for a test drive.”
Gage laughed. “Yeah, they sneak up on you. Especially if you drink like Lucky does. Some of the guys from the garage play pool with him down at The Spinning Wheel. He usually has quite the tolerance.”
“He helped me out yesterday so looks like I’m returning the favor.”
Gage folded his arms. “Huh.”
“Shut up and help me get him in the backseat.”
“What would you have done if I wasn’t here?”
“He’d have a lot more bruises.” I held the door open. “Now help me get him up.”
Gage and I stood side by side in the small hallway.
“He’s really big.”
“Yep.” I sighed. My lady taco could attest to that on a personal level. “One arm and one arm to start? Maybe we can drag him like we did Dare that one time.”
Gage snorted. “Pretty sure Lucky has a good fifty pounds on my brother.”
“You’re a strapping guy.”
“Yeah, but—”
“I can handle it.”
“If you say so.” He crouched down. “Hey, buddy. How are you feeling?”
Lucky just mumbled something about Ruby aka me. Good grief. All I needed was a drunk Lucky telling all our drama to my business partner.
And yes, Gage was one of my best friends on the planet. I still didn’t want all the crap I’d confessed to Lucky over the last few days to come spilling out of his loose lips.
I stepped over Lucky and gripped under his arm. “All right, we’re gonna get up now.”