“I’m not lying,” I insist. “Look, there was a woman, last night, but it was literally just a one-night thing. I don’t even have her number.”
Brooks is silent and I think I’ve won. Then something hard whacks me around the ankles.
“Ow!” I yelp, and slide out from under the car again. Brooks is holding a metal pipe. “What was that for?”
“For being a fucking idiot,” Brooks says bluntly. “If you’re that interested in her, why didn’t you at least leave your number?”
“Well…” I clear my throat. “She… Look, she wasn’t in her right mind, exactly, she was fucking throwing herself at me to try and forget her ex…and I figured she’d probably regret it, so I left before she woke up.”
“Not in her right mind?” Brooks asks with narrowed eyes.
“I didn’t take advantage!” I assure him quickly. “I even tried to push her away and tell her to stop but…”
It had been really fucking hard, alright? How was I was supposed to resist when she was wriggling against me like that, doing everything in her power to make me lose control? It wasn’t that I hadn’t wanted her, I did, so much, and I definitely tried to make her reconsider, but eventually I just gave it up as a lost cause and went with the flow. As such, we had an amazing night.
An amazing night that wouldn’t be getting a repeat.
“It’s fine,” I say as Brooks thinks about my words. “I told her where I work and I know where she lives. If either of us wants to find each other, we know how to. But…” I shrug. “It was just one night, old man. Nothing special.”
“Right,” Brooks snorts. “And I’m a cucumber.”
He turns to wander away. I watch his retreating back, confused. I really shouldn’t ask. I know the old man is setting a trap for me. But…
“What do you mean?” I ask.
It’s impossible not to fall for it, sometimes, especially when I’m too curious for my own good.
“You have to ask?” Brooks asks. “Then you’re stupider than you look, boy.”
I scowl. It’s a familiar insult. Brooks and I spend half our days trading insults back and forth, trying to get the better of each other. This one, however, feels real.
“I’m not stupid,” I snap.
“So, you’re going to sit there and say that this girl means nothing when you’ve spent the entire day thinking about her?” Brooks demands.
Well… When he puts it like that...
“I don’t even know her,” I tell him. “If I’m smitten with anything, it’s just with her body. It’s just fucking lust, it’ll go away.”
Brooks rolls his eyes at me.
“Fine, fine,” he says, clearly not believing me. “Just finish up that car and go home; your work today has been all over the place, so clear your head and come back for the next shift ready to think only about cars. When are you back?”
“After the weekend,” I say, remembering my calendar.
“Good, you have a few days to get it off your system,” Brooks says.
He wanders off, muttering to himself. I shake my head and roll back under the car. I don’t really know exactly what Brooks was getting at but, if it has anything to do with having feelings for Allison, then he’s completely wrong.
It’s just lust for a beautiful stranger. That’s all.
Having gotten off work early, it’s still mid-afternoon when I wander into the Anchor Bar. Only one person is there, standing behind the bar as he sorts bottles and hums along to the music playing on the radio. He stares as I approach, blinking at me in confusion before he smiles.
“Kyle!” Grant Johnson says. “What are you doing here so early?”
“Old Man Brooks told me to take the rest of the afternoon off,” I say, sitting on one of the stools. “You working tonight?”
“Yeah, I’ve only just clocked on,” Grant says, glancing at the clock. “It’ll be a long night, that’s for sure.” He smiles. There’s something giddy about his expression and it takes me a moment longer than I want to admit to remember that we all have something to celebrate. “But that’s fine.”