“Great. I’ll introduce you to Tad. He’s probably at the barn. Or maybe it’s Julio today. They’ll know what needs doing. First though, do folks call you Skyler?”
“Sky.”
“I’m Rock.” The kid gave a chuckle. “Rock and Sky. We’re going to get some shit about that.”
“Probably.” I held out my hand but he left me hanging so I let it fall back into my lap. “Pleased to meet you, Rock.”
His lips curved up like I’d said something funny.
“What?”
“Sky’s a much nicer name than Rock. Rock sounds dumb.”
“Nah. Look at Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. He’s super badass.”
“When I tell people my name, they laugh.”
“Don’t see why. It’s solid. It fits you.”
“Right.” He flushed. “’Cause I look like a big, dumb rock.”
“Wait a minute. There ain’t nothing dumb about rocks.” I wanted that half-moon of a smile back on his face. At least, I didn’t want to be the guy who turned it off. “You could say diamonds are just rocks too.”
“That’s true, isn’t it?” Those lips curved up again and damn if I wasn’t right, everything seemed better when Rock was happy.
“And I’ll tell you what.”Might as well work the subject into the ground, as long as he’s buying it.“When you find a diamond, it doesn’t look like nothing. It’s a hunk of twisted crystal junk. You gotta know how to coax the beauty out of it. Find it the right setting to make it sparkle. A diamond is only a rock until someone takes care of it, because then it’s a precious gemstone.”
“I don’t suppose I ever thought of it that way.” He tipped his hat back and delivered a gut-punching smile.
It doesn’t cost shit to be nice. That’s what ’Nando always said. He also said to keep your eyes on what a dude can do for you. Big is useful. Smart is useful. Small and sneaky can get things done. You have to form alliances in prison. Nobody goes it alone. You gotta know where to put your back in a fight, and I was betting Rock would be a good guy to have on my side.
I watched his muscled forearms ripple like a sack of snakes as he turned the mini-truck along the rutted track.
I like big guys. That’s a proven fact. Just looking at his arms made my dick tingle.
Hm...I watched him and waited for him to notice. Finally, he turned and our eyes met. He eyed me just a little... Too. Long. His color deepened.
I got butterflies in my stomach, because I knew I’d found my new best friend.
It was a little mercenary, but I’d learned that nobody survives on their own.
He looked away. “Still. Rock’s a dorky name.”
“Jesus called SimonPeter—which means ‘rock’—because he was solid. He said, ‘And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church— ’”
“ ‘— and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.’ I know the scripture.” His eyes lost their shine for real this time. Bitterness brimmed over in their blue, blue depths. “I was named after a football coach and I don’t really live my life around a two-thousand-year-old book.”
“Okay.”Wow.
Massive misstep there. Had to backtrack. Usually the Jesus gig worked with the type of guys who blush. I held both hands up, surrender style, afraid I was losing with him.
“’Nuff said. Not everybody believes.”
He sighed. “It’s not like I’m gonna tellyouwhat to believe, it’s just... I don’t anymore.”
“Okay.”
“It’s because I died. Twice. Once on the football field and once in the ER. I can tell you from personal experience”—he gestured out over the horizon—“this life here? This is all we get.”
I wanted to argue but something told me not to. I wasn’t ready to hear the life I had was all there was. “Okay.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I believe you believe.”
“So, no. You don’t believe me.” The mini-truck slowed. “What do you think happens when we die?”
“I don’t know. But I’m going to act like the next five minutes is all we get and if there’s more, I plan to be pleasantly surprised.”
“There you go.” He gave a soft chuckle, and a nod of his head. “In the meantime, let me show you where you’ll bunk during your time here on planet Earth.”
