CROSS (A Gentry Boys Novella)(10)

I finished up, double checking to make sure everything was tight and good to go. Booster was grinning at me when I rolled out from under the vehicle. Since he was missing a few prominent teeth the result wasn’t too pretty. Booster wagged a finger and clucked like an old grandmother.

“You ain’t being paid to hang out and think about girls.”

I wiped a greasy palm on the front of my jumpsuit and accepted the hand that offered to yank me to my feet.

“I wasn’t,” I argued, “thinking about girls.”

Booster bobbed his head. “Just one girl, eh?”

I cracked a grin. “The best one.”

He chuckled, shaking his head, and tossed me an oily rag to wipe my hands with.

Even when my thoughts weren’t about her specifically, Erin was always on my mind. And I wasn’t just bragging. She really was the best. She was beautiful and smart and so damn sexy it burned me up. I didn’t like a day to go by without seeing her and I was proud to walk around with her at my side. Sometimes she would get kind of quiet, almost sad, and when that happened I didn’t know what she was thinking, but that was fine. I knew she loved me like crazy and she didn’t need to tell me every thought that crossed her mind. I was lucky. How many guys get to really fall for the perfect girl next door? It’s like a sappy fairy tale or one of those Woman’s Network movies that my mom’s always weeping over.

Since I was only supposed to work until four and it was already a quarter after, I started cleaning up. When I got to my phone there were was a text from Stone, all full of profanity and telling me to get my ass home so we could go have some fun. Erin on the other hand sent a love message full of hearts and ‘miss you’ promises, asking when I was going to pick her up. Both messages made me smile, for different reasons.

The smile faded a little when I remembered that Erin’s obnoxious friend Roe was still in town. She’d been okay back when she lived in Emblem, maybe a shade on the stuck-up side but nothing too annoying. But ever since her dad had struck it rich and moved the family up to some glittering palace in north Scottsdale, she strutted around with a my-shit-don’t-stink kind of attitude, muttering in some fancy private school French about who the f*ck knew what. I got it; the girl thought her money and her looks made her too good to breathe the air in some gritty small town. But even worse was the way she’d decided Erin was too good for it too. More to the point, it seemed she figured Erin was too good for me.

But I’d promised Erin I’d be nice and so far I had been. I didn’t want to give Erin any reason to be uptight so I wouldn’t be telling the snotty best friend to go to sit on a stiff one and rotate. Anyway, she must have given Roe the same warning because last night when we were all hanging out down by the canal Roe stuck quietly by Erin’s side and didn’t give anyone any shit. I told Stone that he ought to make it a mission to keep the damn girl busy until she piloted her Prius back to f*cking Scottsdale but Roe steadily ignored him until he got bored and wandered off to score some action from Courtney Galicki.

Dario, one of the other mechanics, was heading toward my neighborhood so he gave me a ride. It wasn’t far, only about a mile, but in this hellacious heat I was always happy to have a way to stay out of the sun. Dario blasted heavy metal music for the quick ride and gave me a friendly wave when he paused in front of my house.

Sure enough, Roe’s silver Prius was still parked next door. At least she was supposed to leave tonight. Maybe she wouldn’t find her way back down here for a while. It was bad enough I had to deal with Erin and Stone rolling their eyes at each other every five minutes. The last thing I wanted was even more tension added into the mix.

I was all greasy and dusty from spending the day at the garage so I decided to go home and shower before heading over to Erin’s. My mom’s car wasn’t in the driveway but the front door was unlocked. I searched around the kitchen for some food but the pickings were slim. The cheese was moldy, the milk carton was empty and a lonely box of corn flakes had expired nine months ago. There was a fresh carton of eggs in the fridge but I wasn’t desperate enough to eat them raw, or to turn on the stove. I finally stuffed a piece of white bread in my mouth because it was better than nothing.

My back was to the doorway that led from the kitchen to the living room. That was why I was caught off guard when an elephant tackled me.

“Stone! Shit, get the f*ck off.”

We collided with the fridge and I reared back to try and dislodge my brother, who’d hopped on like he was expecting a f*cking piggyback ride. Stone had been working out hard these past six months and I felt every pound of his obnoxious muscles. I could hold my own though. I gritted my teeth and elbowed his six pack until he fell off.

When I whirled around Stone was there shirtless and grinning, already back on his feet.

“About time you showed up,” he announced before opening the fridge and removing the block of cheese I’d rejected a moment ago.

“Some of us work,” I said pointedly.

He tossed the cheese from one hand to another. “I work.”

“Hustling isn’t working.”

He stopped tossing the cheese and threw me a look. “You come by that little slice of piety from Mom or from Erin?”

I ignored the question. “You’re not gonna eat that.”

“Sure I am.”

“Bad idea.”