The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things(60)

He comes out looking purposeful, heading for the old woman. “How much for the bike?”

“That belonged to my grandson,” she tells him. “He’s thirty-one now. I can’t even remember what we paid for it, but I’ll let you have it for twenty-five dollars.”

Shane’s about to accept her offer. I can see him reaching for his wallet, but I know he only had eighty-seven from the Coffee Shop on Sunday, he’s bought some groceries, and I don’t know if he’s gotten paid from the P&K yet. I can’t resist haggling.

So I carry my purchases over and point out, “The tires need to be inflated and repaired and there’s some rust on the chain.” Not enough to make the bike unusable, but it’s worth noting. “Fifteen.”

“I could get far more for it on the Internet,” she says, frowning.

“And you’d have to list it on an auction site, give them part of your proceeds, and then figure out how to ship it. It would be simpler to make us a deal.”

“Twenty,” she counters.

I nod at Shane, who’s already got a crumpled bill in his hand. He says, “I’ll take it.”

“Excellent. I hope you enjoy it. Did you find some things?” she asks me.

I nod. The prices on the clothes are so low that I don’t feel right about bargaining. I mean, I’m getting five tops for less than three dollars. “Here you go.”

She hands me fifty cents and then hurries away to scold a kid who’s about to break a cookie jar because his mother is absorbed in a fringed lampshade. I stuff my purchases into my backpack and then kneel to examine his bike. It needs some fixing up, but the repairs are mostly cosmetic.

“I got a bargain, huh?” Shane’s smiling, so I guess he doesn’t mind that I haggled for him.

“Definitely. You can ride it now, if you want. And I can help you fix it up. We have bike stuff left in my shed from when we restored mine.”

“You and your aunt worked on your bike?” He seems impressed.

“Yeah. I mean, it wasn’t a big deal. Come on, let’s see how well yours works.”

He nods, swinging onto the bike. It’s ridiculously fun riding with Shane to my house. I’m used to being the lone geek pedaling away, long after the weather turns. With him behind me, this feels like an adventure, and I take pleasure in the sun shining down and the wind in my face. As I zoom down the hill, I throw up both hands, showing off a little. I can’t count all the times I fell over before I perfected that trick. I’ve never had anyone to show before now.

When we stop in my driveway, I’m laughing so hard, and Shane pulls me off the seat into his arms. “That was crazy.”

“But cool?”

“I should say it was just crazy. But … yeah. Sometimes you strike me as fearless, the way you do whatever the hell you want, and it doesn’t seem to bother you what anyone thinks.”

“I care what you think,” I say softly.

“From where I’m standing, it’s all good,” he answers.

Then he kisses me. Mmm. Shane tastes like mint, and his lips are magical. If our neighbor hadn’t come out of her front door and stood there clearing her throat like she was choking on a corncob, we might’ve gone on all afternoon.

“Hey, Mrs. Darnell. How are you?”

She’s muttering something about in her day when I pull Shane around the side of the house. “I guarantee she’ll mention this to my aunt.”

“Will she mind?”

“Nah. I’m sure she’ll figure it’s better that we do it where we can be interrupted. So this is the bike-parking shed.”

While I’m in there, I take stock of the parts. We’ll need to buy a few things from the hardware store, but I have oil. The paint could use touching up, but that’s wholly cosmetic. My primary concern should be the tires and the chain. I’m mumbling this out loud, as I take inventory, then I give him a short lecture on proper bicycle maintenance. Belatedly, I realize this probably isn’t normal girlfriend behavior. Shane’s looking really bemused. I stash both our bikes, then close the door behind me.

“What time are Ryan and Lila coming over?” he asks, following me into the house.

“Around seven thirty.” I check the time on my phone. “We have almost four hours. Do you want something to eat?”

“You really have no idea, do you?” His voice holds a wondering note.

I’m wary. “Of what?”

“How incredible you are.”

Um. Apparently he likes that I can take care of my sporting equipment? I choke the instinctive protest because I hear Aunt Gabby chiding me: When someone gives you a compliment, you simply say thank you, even if you don’t feel you deserve it. So I murmur an awkward “thanks.”

“No, I don’t want anything to eat.”

“Then what do you—” The question’s cut off by his mouth.

Wow. Me. That’s what he wants.

My back hits the refrigerator door as Shane kisses the hell out of me. I wrap my arms around his neck because I can’t get close enough to him. Countless seconds later, he breaks away, breathless. “I’ll die if we do that for four hours.”

“It might be worth it,” I whisper.

His fingers cling to mine as he tugs me toward the living room. Shane flashes the smile that squeezes my heart: equal parts shyness, innocence, and yearning. God, I’m so into him; it’s a physical pain that won’t go away. He pulls me down onto the couch and we make out for like an hour. It might’ve gone further if my aunt hadn’t come home early to get ready for her date with Joe.