“Not unless your mechanic is fleecing you,” he said. “If you need the number of one you can trust, let me know and I’ll hook you up when we get home.”
“I guess I do need that. My ex inherited his family car dealerships and he used to take it into his mechanics for me.”
“Hmm.”
I was learning that Nick’s “hmms” carried a lot of meaning. “What are you thinking?”
“Just wondering...” He shrugged. “It’s not my business, but in my experience, car dealers drive their own stock a lot, and of course they get everything wholesale. I would’ve thought your ex would’ve set you up with something newer.”
“We didn’t have that kind of relationship. I mean, I never wanted him to think I was taking advantage of him.”
“Hmm.”
I glared at him.
He took the hint. “Were those his words or yours?”
I scowled, not because I was annoyed at Nick, but because he was right. “He was definitely the one to introduce the concept to the relationship.”
“Hence his reputation as a dirtbag.”
“Mason filled you in?” I smiled because I couldn’t be mad at my friend for having strong opinions about the man who had dumped me.
“On some of it,” Nick admitted. “I did some internet searching to fill in more details.” He glanced at me. “I hope that doesn’t make you uncomfortable. Hazard of my profession.”
I waited for him to say more about his work, but he didn’t, so after a minute, I said, “No problem. I researched you, too. Impressive military record, by the way. At least, the parts available for public consumption.”
He sped up and blended into traffic on the highway, then patted my car’s dashboard. “She has a lot more pep now, so you’ll be safer when you have to pull out into traffic.”
He sounded like someone’s dad, but I didn’t mention it because he wasn’t my dad and there was no need to point out our age difference yet again. I also didn’t mention that he’d changed the subject when I’d touched on the topic of his professional life. I chewed my lip and pondered whether his secrecy should concern me.
“You okay?” he asked. “I didn’t mean to upset you by bringing up your ex.”
“Technically, I brought him up. And I’m fine talking about him. And not talking about him or thinking about him, finally.” As I said the words, I knew they were true.
“Finally. You want to talk about that? I’m a good listener.” He was using the trick parents employ by bringing up a serious topic while driving so we didn’t have to make uncomfortable eye contact.
Although I was on to the technique, it still worked. I leaned back in my seat and stared out the windshield, then spoke. “We were together for seven years. I was a sophomore in college when we started dating, and he had just graduated and was taking MBA classes and starting to take over for his dad at the family business. I moved into his apartment after I graduated. I was earning my MFA. And then he proceeded to complain about how much time I spent studying and working to pay my share of the bills. Which wouldn’t have been so difficult if we’d lived down to my means instead of up to his.”
“Wait.” Nick furrowed his brow. “Are you saying you were splitting the bills fifty-fifty, even though he was working at a lucrative family job and you were still a student?” He used the same incredulous tone Gabi and Summer had when they’d found out about the financial arrangement. He pressed his lips together like he was stopping himself from saying more.
“What?” I asked. “You can say what you’re thinking.”
“Sorry, Cara, but I don’t like this frigging guy. I’m sure I’m being unfair, but?—”
“It’s okay, he’s an asshole. Even if I didn’t realize it when he kicked me out in July with a week’s notice to vacate the premises.”
“I don’t understand. He kicked you out of your own home?”
“After four years of living there.” I slid down in my seat. “It was my own stupid fault. I never made him put my name on the lease.”
“Even so, you should have had?—”
“Tenancy rights. I know. Gabi’s a lawyer and was ready to sue him for me. But I didn’t want to stay there with a man who no longer loved me, and I couldn’t afford the place on my own. It made sense that I should leave. And I actually love my new apartment. It has great light.”
He smiled. “Always important for an artist.”
“And I like my roommate, and I love her cat.”
