“I don’t know about that,” Aunt Callie said, sliding onto a chair near the pool table. “How many beers have you had, handsome?”
“Two,” Uncle Grease said, holding up five fingers.
I laughed and leaned against one of the tables against the wall. I glanced around the room, ignoring the spot where I’d last seen Leo. He’d made his point, bringing that woman.
He might have been the first guy I’d ever kissed, but I promised myself he wouldn’t be the last. I was young, as he was so fond of pointing out, and there would be others. Of course there would. I had one more year of high school and then I’d be off to college, away from Leo and any reminders of him.
I just had to get through one more year.
Reaching up, I pushed a fist against my churning stomach, the soda I’d drank threatening to come up at any second. Unconsciously, my eyes moved toward the bar and met Leo’s. Our eyes held for a long time until he tilted his head down in apology and turned away.
Just like that, it was over.
Chapter 9
Leo
“The motherfucker is back in Oregon?” Will asked in disbelief, leaning forward in his chair.
Even though Will’s road name was Moose, I never called him that in my head. I’d grown up with the fucker, had seen him piss himself and pick his nose. It was hard for me to see him as anything but Will.
“Word is, he’s in Portland at the moment,” my Gramps verified darkly.
“How’d you hear that?” Hulk asked, glancing around. “You sure?”
My dad shook his head. “Poet’s contacts up there are trustworthy—haven’t ever given us bad info. Had Nix check it out, he verified.”
My Uncle Nix wasn’t a part of the club, but was considered an honorary member, if there was such a thing. He was my Grandma Amy’s son and lived up north. Clean cut, mostly, but he was always willing to help out when he could. Because his life was so different than ours and he’d gone to great lengths to keep it that way, we kept him as far away from the business as we could out of respect.
“It can’t stand,” Grease said quietly, staring at the tabletop. “Only one reason he’d come back here.”
“Don’t know his plans, yet,” Gramps said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Tommy replied. “Don’t need to know the plans to stop them.”
Casper looked at the door and Will reached behind him, making sure it was latched tightly.
“Need to send someone up,” Casper said, locking eyes with my dad. “Got no other choice that I can see.”
“I’ll go,” I said, before anyone else could get a word in edgewise. “Crash with Uncle Nix for a few days and take care of it.”
The old timers’ eyes widened in surprise, but they didn’t contradict me the way I was expecting. Instead, they watched me closely, until I felt the urge to squirm in my seat. Finally, after one of the most uncomfortable silences I could remember, my dad spoke.
“You can do it?” he asked. “Got one shot. He sees us comin’, the man’s gone.”
“I can do it,” I replied with a nod.
“We sendin’ anyone with him?” Casper asked.
“Don’t want a presence up north if we can help it,” my dad replied. “Leo goin’ up to spend a few days with his uncle ain’t anythin’ new—add a couple more Aces and things start lookin’ squirrelly.”
“We really want to send the sprout on his maiden voyage to deal with Sokolov?” Grease asked seriously.
“The boy can do it,” Gramps replied gravely. “Of that I have no doubt.”
After that, church went by quickly as we decided when I’d leave, and how long I’d stay in Portland before heading south again. Everything had to look like I was on the up-and-up.
As soon as we spoke to my uncle, everything was planned. I’d take one of the trucks up that night, stay with my uncle for a few days, then load his bike into the bed of my truck and bring it to the garage for some work. If anyone was watching, it gave me a reason to be in Portland.
As soon as plans were made, we went back to work.
October was always rainy as hell, and I threw my hood up as I went out back to get the truck I’d be taking to Portland. I bumped into someone as I stepped outside, and as I lifted my head to apologize, the words died on my tongue.
“I wasn’t watching where I was going,” Lily mumbled, trying to step around me.
“You okay?” I asked, sidestepping to stop her. “Why aren’t you at school?”
“In-service day,” she replied. She wasn’t looking at me, and I wasn’t surprised.
Since the night of her party, Lily had gone out of her way to stay as far from me as she could. I’d known she’d be pissed, but I’d seriously underestimated how far she’d go to punish me. It had been months since she’d said one word to me. I was pretty sure we’d never gone that long without talking before—it was almost impossible to do when our lives were completely intertwined.