Great.
Climbing back in the car, I turn it on, cranking the heat before sending a text to my team, letting them know I’ll be late coming back from lunch. With nothing else to do but wait, I eat the sandwich I now regret coming here to buy. It’s good. Not good enough to buy a whole new fucking tire, but whatever.
After what feels like an eternity, the truck finally pulls up, so I turn the car off and get out to meet the guy. His door opens, and he hops out, and I swear to God, I’m being punked. There’s no other explanation for it.
“You must be fucking joking,” I grumble under my breath as none other than Mateo, the man I apparently can’t fucking stay away from, stands before me in his oil-stained coveralls, minty-green eyes, watching me with pure amusement.
“Cariño,” he purrs in that annoyingly sexy voice of his. “Fancy meeting you here. Car trouble?”
“You’re a tow truck driver?” I ask stupidly, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I’m a mechanic,” he corrects. “Who just so happened to be driving the tow truck you needed.” Mateo smirks, all his teeth on display. They’re such nice teeth too.
“Can we just get this over with, please? I need to get back to work.”
He glances down at my deflated tire. “What? You don’t know how to drive in the snow?”
I roll my eyes. “Fuck off.”
Mateo chuckles, scribbling something on his clipboard before passing it to me. “Read through here, initial here, here, and here, and then sign at the bottom.”
Instead of waiting for me to do as he asked, he turns and starts working on getting my car loaded onto the truck.
Once I finish signing, I tuck it under my arm and watch him work. It’s annoying how attractive he is. Nobody should look that good in a pair of dingy, oily coveralls. They’re rolled up once at the bottom, showing off his clunky black lace-up boots. The top button is undone, revealing the black shirt he’s got on underneath. A pair of black sunglasses sits on the top of his head, despite there not being a wink of sun anywhere in sight, and his hair is perfectly gelled back, not a stray piece out of place.
“Alright, come on,” he says, rounding the driver’s side of his truck. “Hop in, I’ll drive you back to wherever you need to go.”
Huffing out a laugh, I stay rooted in place. “I’m good.”
He rolls his eyes, backtracking to come stand in front of me. “Get in the fucking truck,pendejo,” he growls. “I’m not about to have you sue my shop for walking in the freezing weather. It won’t kill you to let me drive you back to work.”
This day could not get any fucking worse.
12
MATEO
“Hello?”
“Hey, you busy?” Ally’s voice is chipper in my ear as I’m walking through my apartment door.
Kicking off my shoes, then hanging my keys up, I say, “Just getting home. What’s up?”
“Scottie and I are getting married!”
I choke on my own spit, coughing and quickly clearing my throat, not at all expecting that to come out of her mouth. “Holy shit, sis. When did that happen?”
“Last night. We went out for our anniversary dinner, and he had a whole thing planned.” Her voice cracks.
“Congratulations, Ally. I’m so fucking happy for you.”
“I, uh…” She clears her throat. “I want you to walk me down the aisle.”
My throat fills with emotion. My sister always reserved that for our father, but when he died from a heart attack five years ago, she lost that dream. “Of course, I will, Al.”
It’s a bitter thing, seeing how much Ally cares for and misses our dad. I can’t wrap my head around how the same man who beat me and sent me away as a teenager for being gay is the same man who adored and spoiled her. I’m happy for her, that she got the love she deserves, but it doesn’t make it any less of a tough pill to swallow. It’s like we had completely different childhoods living under the same roof.
“Thank you, Matty. We’re having an engagement party next month. Please come.”
