“Honey, hmm?”
She looks up and nods. My girl hasa new nickname for me, and I fucking love it. Grabbing her waist, I pull her into me for a searing kiss. “I like it,” I mumble against her lips, feeling her smile.
Kissing her softly again, I let her go before ducking into my car. “I’ll text you later.”
June 26
I make good on my promise to MJ, busting my ass the rest of Monday and Tuesday. Except for breaking to eat, sleep, and text with MJ here and there, I don’t stop. The four jobs that have been at the shop since Friday are finally complete. I wipe my brow, sweat and motor oil covering my hands and clothes. Grabbing water from the fridge, I sip it while I send out text messages to the customers to let them know their vehicles are ready for pickup. At least the books are about to get a boost with some income this week.
Taking a seat on the couch, finally feeling like I can take a breath, I scroll through my phone. A text from MJ letting me know she’s at lunch with Shannon makes me smile. Already checking in, she’s so cute. Opening the BAMF chat with Austin and Blake, I type out a quick text. Blake replies almost instantly that they’re both chilling at their place, so I hit the call button.
Blake picks up after two rings. “Who the fuck calls people anymore?”
“I do, asshole.” I chuckle.
“You’re old!” Austinyells from nearby.
“Yeah, only by two months, so you can shove it.” The phone crackles with laughter on the other end.
“What’s up? Haven’t heard from you since you disappeared after the credits rolled on Friday.” I take a deep breath, preparing myself for this conversation. As prepared as I can be, I share with my two best friends all about Friday night with MJ.
Austin chuckles in the background and I hear a thud before an “Ouch, asshole!”
“So what does this mean?” Blake, always level-headed, asks.
“I don’t know, man. I want to be with her. But I can tell her dad is not about it.” I rub my hand down my face, thinking about the meeting on Monday. He was nice enough, like usual. But there was tension in the air, and I haven’t asked MJ about it yet.
“You could always, oh, I don’t know. Tell the truth about—” I roll my eyes before cutting Blake off again.
“No, dude, I can’t do that. Besides, the trial is just a few weeks away.”
“It’s never too late,” Austin adds.
“It is, though. I can’t do that to Jake. My decision is final. It is what it is.”
“Alright, alright. We hear you. So, what are you going to do?” Blake asks.
“I guess I’ll talk to MJ. She’s supposed to come over in a bit and we’ll see what she thinks. If she doesn’t want this, then I guess that’s it.” I blow out a breath.
“Mac, come on. That girlhas loved you since she was seven years old.”
Blake and Austin have both had this story in their heads that MJ has had it bad for me since we were just kids.
I breathe out a laugh. “If you guys say so. But we’ll see what she says.” I hear the crunch of gravel under tires signaling my break is about to be over. “Customer coming in, gotta go. Thanks for the chat.”
I’m pleasantly surprised to see that it’s MJ in her red Jeep pulling up into the garage driveway when I step outside. The day has turned cloudy, and I guarantee it’s going to pour any minute. I jog out to meet her and hustle her inside just as the clouds open up.
“Perfect timing, I guess.” MJ laughs as I guide her over to the couch to sit down.
“Seriously. Do you want something to drink? I stocked some Dr. Pepper in the mini-fridge for you.” She smiles wide but shakes her head and I head to the garage doors to close them so we don’t get water in the shop. The nice thing about the storm is I get to close shop. Summer storms in Oakridge are a little wild sometimes, so most of the town will head inside to wait it out.
I rejoin MJ on the couch. “How was lunch with Shannon?”
“It was good. She was bitching about Blake. I guess he’s been asking her to help with the menu for the restaurant.”
I nod, remembering Blake mentioning that a while back.
“And I told her about . . .” she pauses, and I look over at her. She blows out a breath. “About us?” she finishes like she’s unsure.
