Fries Before Guys (SWAT Generation 2.0 2)

Which had hurt my heart so bad that I’d cried myself to sleep each night after I’d left.

I looked around the room, allowing my eyes to focus on my furniture that was crammed into the small space.

Derek had helped me move. Derek had unpacked for me. Derek had done everything for me over the last six weeks.

And… I realized he was tired of it. Tired of me.

I was a burden to him. A pain in the ass that he hadn’t realized he was getting.

First, I’d lost my mom. Then my dad. Then my house. I’d gotten bullied at school. Then I’d nearly broken my neck. I couldn’t move myself out of my house. Couldn’t pack or unpack. Still couldn’t drive.

And that was a lot of fucking stuff to put on one man’s shoulders.

“Hey, don’t you get that off today?” Rowen asked excitedly.

I touched the halo for one of the last times.

“Yes, actually,” I answered. “I do.”

Rowen’s grin widened.

“That’s great news,” she said.

It was.

“Is Derek taking you?” she asked.

Luckily I was saved from having to answer that question by the arrival of Dax.

“Oh, that must be Dax,” she said, standing up. “We’re going to dinner and a movie.”

I looked at my watch.

“At two in the afternoon?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I had today off for a few doctor appointments, and he got off at two, but has to be back in by four tomorrow morning. So, we’re doing it early.”

Made sense.

“Well, have fun!” I chirped, hoping that she didn’t follow up with the question she’d asked before Dax had arrived.

Rowen opened the door, and we all stepped out, just in time to see Katy barreling down on us from the yard.

“Avery!” Katy cried. “Can I buy that mom car from you?”

I looked at my mom’s mom car and grinned.

“I guess,” I said. “Why?”

She looked at her own vehicle, then at me.

“I’ve just spent all morning trying to get a third car seat in my car. Do you know that I have virtually no leg room when a car seat is in there?” she asked. “Either I have no leg room, or Logan doesn’t. And we both have long legs. I need a mom car. That car. An SUV. Can I buy it?”

I looked at the ‘for sale’ sign I’d slapped on it after printing it off at school, then shrugged.

“How much?” she asked.

I opened my mouth, then closed it, unable to come up with a number.

I had no idea how much the car was worth.

More so, the person I would’ve asked was Derek, and he wouldn’t want to lowball me or scam his sister.

I looked over at Dax.

Dax looked at the car.

“What year is it?” he asked.

“A 2016,” I answered.

He pulled out his phone then did some clicking and swiping.

“Kelley Blue Book gives it a thirty-two-thousand-dollar trade-in,” he said. “I don’t know how much…”

“Thirty,” I said. “Sound okay?”

Katy practically bounced on her toes.

“I’ll give you the trade-in, and…” she began.

“Listen, Katy.” I laughed. “You could probably go get a new one. I know that you’re just doing me a favor. Thirty. Which, I might add, seems like a lot.”

“Actually,” Dax said. “That car of your mom’s has less than ten thousand miles. Is top-of-the-line and is a fuckin’ Volvo. You could probably get a whole lot more than trade-in value.”

Katy clapped her hands. “Then that’s perfect!”

A car rolled up moments later, and I waved at the car.

“I have a doctor’s appointment to get this off.” I touched the metal contraption around my head. “I’ll have to look for the title when I get home.” I paused. “I have the keys right…” I opened my purse and found my mom’s set of keys. “Here. Why don’t you drive it around a little bit and see how you like it?”

Katy snatched the keys up, then did a small dance. “I can’t believe I haven’t thought about this sooner. I was coming by to pick up a t-shirt for Derek when I saw it and thought… that’s it!”

“Why did you get a t-shirt for Derek?” Rowen wondered.

I wondered the same myself, but I didn’t want to seem like a crazy stalker chick.

“Because apparently there was a fight, and he got blood all over his.” Katy shrugged, her smile still solidly in place. “You better go, Avery. I’m excited to hear that you’re getting that off.”

I smiled weakly. “Thanks, y’all.”

With that, I walked toward my car and away from Derek’s family.

***

Derek

“Thanks, Katy,” I said as I shrugged my old shirt off and pulled on the new one. “Do you still want to go grab lunch?”

Katy shrugged. “Sure. But I was going to drive Avery’s mother’s car around a bit to see how I liked it. I told her that I’m buying it. I’m going to give her thirty-two thousand for it.”

I blinked, staring at my sister.

“When did this happen?” I asked.