Scarred: A New Adult Romance (The Anderson Brothers Series Book 1) (23 page)

Chris exits the kitchen. “All right, man, the bus’ll be here
any minute. See you later.”

“Later.”

I pour myself a glass while I try to plan out the day. At
the rate I’m going, I’ll end up missing my physics final. Doesn’t Denise have
finals, too? I shouldn’t miss work, though. We’re still short-staffed. I chug
my milk and head back upstairs.

Denise is still sleeping, and I don’t want to wake her, but
I must. Kneeling at her bedside, I gently nudge her arm. She moans and shifts
but doesn’t wake up. Amused, I resort to kissing her closed eyelids and soft
lips again.

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” I whisper in her ear.

Her eyelids flutter open. She stares at me sleepily.

“Hey,” I say, taking her hand in mine. I bring her hand up
to my lips and gently kiss it.

“Hey,” she mumbles.

Not taking my eyes off her, I rub my stubbly cheek against
her hands. “It’s Monday, you know.”

Her brow wrinkles slightly, as though it’s taking her time
to process this, then her eyes widen. “Oh no.” She rips her hand away and sits
up in bed, wrapping the blanket around her.

“Yeah.” I frown when I can no longer touch her. “I missed
the two finals I have today so I’m just going to go straight to work.”

She bites her bottom lip and fidgets with a loose thread on
the blanket. “I’m sorry.”

I stare at her. “For what? It’s not your fault. I
overslept.”

“Yeah, but last night, we—”

“—had the most wonderful night ever. And I wouldn’t trade it
for the world. I love you, Denise.”

She smiles, but it’s brief. She slides out of bed, letting
the blanket and sheets fall away from her naked body, and retrieves the
discarded shirt from the floor near the foot of the bed. “I need to get to
campus. I told Lauren yesterday that I would catch a ride with you today, and
she’ll pick me up around twelve thirty after my world literature final.”

I
nod. Of course, I don’t want her to leave, but she has a life, too. Maybe one
day when I get my own place, I can convince her to live with me. “Let me hop in
the shower.”

* * *

By eleven o’clock, I’m zipping through the busy
streets on my bike with Denise on the back, hugging my midsection so tightly I
have to gasp for air. But I don’t complain. I’ll never complain about anything
she does.

I park in the lot near Padelford, and Denise gets off. Remaining
mounted on the bike, I slip off the helmet. I don’t want my voice to be muffled
when I say goodbye to her this time.

“Thanks for the ride,” she says.

“No problem. Good luck on your test.”

She smiles. “Thanks.”

I trace my finger around the chrome trim of the speedometer.
“You wanna do something tonight?”

She tilts her head to the side, her gaze fixed somewhere on
my bike. “I do, but I promised Lauren we’d have a girls’ night out tonight.
Maybe tomorrow?”

I nod, frowning. I can’t be mad about that. After all, Denise
has known Lauren way longer than me.

I glance at the passing students, who pay us no mind. My
stomach twists from a strange feeling I have—fear of the rumors about the Xi
party that might still be floating around. But then I see Trinity running our
way, and I relax. The two of them meet each other halfway in an embrace.

Denise breaks their hug and walks over to me. “Go to work.
I’ll call you later, okay?”

She leans in and kisses me deeply. But as quick as the kiss
comes it’s over, and I exhale.

“Get going,” she says.

I cast a glance at Trinity, who smiles at us both. I look
back at Denise. “I love you,” I say, then slip on my helmet. From now on, that
is what I will say to her instead of “goodbye.”

“I love you too,” she says, and my heart flutters.

I
rev the engine and leave campus. But the farther I get from Denise, the more
dread I feel rising in the pit of my stomach.

* * *

Arriving at Frank’s nearly an hour earlier than usual
garners me surprised looks from Paul and Nate. Larry, however, continues
tinkering under a car that’s up on a lift and doesn’t so much as acknowledge
me. I wave to Nate and Paul, who resume working under the hoods of two cars
parked outside, and make my way to the whiteboard. The office side door creaks
open, and Frank pokes his head out.

I give Frank a small salute. “’Sup.”

“The hell you doing here, kid?” he asks.

“I got out of class early.”

He scowls. “Well, don’t expect to be getting paid overtime
for it.”

I shrug, scowling back. “Never expected to be.”
Though it’d be nice for a change, asshole.

Frank slams the office door shut, causing the whiteboard on
the wall to shake. Glancing at the tasks, I can immediately recognize Larry’s
handwriting, but the job he has assigned to me isn’t small and simple. I have
to do a timing gear and chain replacement. And the truck he has me working on
is the very same one
he’s
working on.
Wow, that’s a first,
I think, heading
over to him. We almost never work on the same vehicle together. The truck is
tireless in the front, and its radiator has been taken out and set aside.
Larry’s at the front of the car on the driver’s side, repairing the ball joint
suspensions.

“So are you gonna just stand there and admire my ass all day
or are you gonna get to work?” Larry lowers his hands from inside the chassis
and grins. A small towel is draped around the back of his neck.

I laugh. “Yeah, yeah. What the hell’s wrong with you, man?
This shit’s gonna take all night.”

“Good.” Larry pulls a wrench from his pocket and tosses it
to me. “More time to talk.”

I catch the wrench with one hand, look at it briefly and
then back at him. “Talk? About what?”

“You know,” he says in a low tone, his expression hardening.

It takes me a moment to process this, and then I frown.
He must mean that talk we had about Denise
weeks ago.
I didn’t think he’d given it another thought. He acted so nonchalant
about it at the time. Maybe Larry just needed time to process everything about
that night. But after all that, I’d neglected to tell him about my own demons.

Larry comes out from under the truck and presses a green
button on the wall. The truck slowly lowers to the ground.

“You finished the ball joints already?” I ask, furrowing my
brow.

“Nope,” he says, rounding the front of the truck.

I follow and peer under the hood. Much of the engine has
been stripped away, allowing me to easily spot the timing cover. Only one of
the bolts has been removed. “Holy shit, Larry. How long have you been at this?”

“All fucking morning.” Larry points to the cover. “The air
wrench was too big to get to the bolts, so they’ll need to come out manually.”

I nod and begin unhinging the first bolt while Larry inspects
the camshaft and valves.

“Glad someone around here has hands and arms small enough to
get to some of those hard-to-reach places.” Larry’s eyes cut to mine, and he
lowers his voice. “How are you two doing?”

I pause and look up at him. The concern in his voice makes
me smile a little. The man actually cares. “Denise is doing much better. She
talks to a counselor twice a week, and I think it’s helping. As for me, well …
I’m just taking it one day at a time, making sure she’s safe and all that.”

“It’s all you can do.”

I swallow a lump in my throat. “I still worry about Denise,
though. I still get scared about leaving her alone. Like, she might need me
again and this time I might not be around.”

“You can’t be with her all the time. It’s not healthy to
smother her like that. She’s not a kid.”

“I know, man, but it’s hard.” I sigh. “I love her.”

A hint of a smile brushes over his lips, and he refocuses on
one of the valves. “Ah, young love,” he mumbles, reaching for a can of
lubricant. He sprays a small amount around the valve stem. “Just be there for
her when you can.”

“I try, but I feel like I can do more.” I remove another
bolt from the cover and set it in a growing pile with several others. These
things are as tough as shit to unhinge, as they’ve probably never been removed
from this decades-old truck.

“I’ve said all I can say on the matter, Dominick, but if you
really insist on always keeping her around, well … I guess you could bring
her to work.”

My hand slips from the wrench. “Wait, can I do that?”

He shrugs. “Why couldn’t you?”

“No. I won’t do that. I don’t want the guys harassing her
and making her uncomfortable.”

Larry grunts. “If anyone here does that shit, you let me
know, and I’ll kick their asses.”

“What about Frank?”

“What
about
Frank?
I’ll kick his ass, too, and not look back if he fires me afterward.”

I gawk at him. “You’d risk your job?”

“I won’t work for any asshole who mistreats women,” he says
flatly.

My smile returns. Larry’s one of the few people in my life
who can make me genuinely smile. “Hey, Larry, why don’t you join me tonight for
some drinks at Chauncey’s?” I ask, removing the last remaining bolts.

Larry whips the towel from around his neck and slings it
over his shoulder. “Sorry, kid. I gotta work. These cars won’t fix themselves.”

“Take a break, man.”

“Can’t afford to take a break. Not when there’s so much to
do—especially now that William’s gone.”

I meet his eyes briefly, then shift my attention back to the
timing chain cover, which I remove and set aside. “You’re a workaholic, Larry,
but you’re also human. Even
you
need
a break sometime. Just take one night off. That’s all I ask. If Frank gives you
any flack, well, then blame me.”

“I’m the senior employee. If I slack off, we’ll have an even
longer backlog of work to do—more than what just the four of us can deal with.”

“But it’s only a few hours tonight. That’s all. Not like
you’re taking the whole day off. What’re a few hours going to hurt?”

He sighs and grumbles under his breath. “I’ll think about
it. Now finish changing that damn chain.”

I remove the filthy, damaged chain from the gears and set it
aside. Larry hands me a new chain, and I meticulously line it up in the gears.
My dirt-smeared hands start to sweat from focusing so hard.

It feels like it’s taken hours when I finally finish
aligning the chain properly, matching up the timing notches. I lift up from the
hood and sigh, my fingers cramped and hurting from handling the small parts.

Larry tosses me the towel. I take it and wipe my hands. The
more I notice the way he looks out for me, the more I think he knows when
something’s up.
I should tell him.
He
has a right to know, putting up with me for this long. Being concerned about me
when he doesn’t need to be. I’ll tell him, but not here.

“Hey, Larry, it would really mean a lot to me if you joined
me for a drink. It would just be my way of saying thanks for always having my
back. You’ve been a good friend.”
And I
wish you could’ve been my father instead.

Larry turns back to the hood, staring idly at the stripped
engine. “Nothing special about me, kid.”

“Whatever, man. Sometimes I wish you were my father.” I freeze.
Oh shit. Did I just say that aloud?

With an eyebrow arched, he stares. “What?”

I purse my lips. Damn it. He knows. I guess I have no choice
now. But not here. “Nothing, man. I’m sorry. That was way outta line.”

“No shit. You have a father.”

That statement hurts. If only he knew. “Trust me, Larry. You
are a much better father than that sick son of a bitch could ever have been.” I
clench my jaw. I don’t want to talk about it here.

Larry sighs. “Look, I’m gonna finish those ball joints.
Thanks for the help here. Now go give Nate and Paul a hand outside, eh?” He
thumbs over his shoulder.

Pursing my lips, I step back from the truck and watch as
Larry pushes the button on the wall again and lifts the truck high off the
ground. He remains silent, and I head out the open bay door.

“I’ll see you tonight,” Larry says.

Chapter 24

God must really be in a good mood, because today just
keeps getting better. I can’t believe I’m actually going to manage to drag
Larry to Chauncey’s for the first time in … well, since I first started
working at the shop.

Refreshed
after a long shower, I step out the bathroom, steam billowing out into the
hall. Chris went over to Adrienne’s tonight, so I have the place to myself.
With a towel wrapped around my waist, I head upstairs. My phone is on the bed,
the green notification light blinking.

It’s
a missed call—from Denise.

Shit!
I redial her number, hoping
and praying that she answers.

“Hello?”

I
plop down on the bed, consumed by her beautiful voice. “Hey. Sorry I missed
your call before. I was in the shower.”

“It’s
okay. You’re not in trouble.
This
time.”

I
suppress a grin. “Oh yeah? Well I don’t mind being in trouble with you.”

She
chuckles. “You’re crazy.”

“So
whatcha doing tonight?”

“Lauren
and I are just leaving the movies. I think we’re going to get some food next.”

“That’s
good. I hope you’re having fun.”

“I
am.” She pauses. “I gotta go now. Lauren says hi.”

I
raise my eyebrows. “Really?”

She
laughs. “Yeah. She doesn’t think you’re such a deadbeat anymore.”

I
laugh at that.

“I’ll
see you tomorrow, okay? Bye, Dominick. I love you.”

Those
three words uttered from her lips send a wave of happiness all the way to my
groin. “I love you too, Denise.” I leave it at that.

She
hangs up first, and I sigh, missing her already.

My
phone rings again and Larry’s number appears on the screen.
Larry?
I have to do a double take. He almost never calls me.
He better not be canceling tonight.
I
answer it with a frown. “’Sup, Larry?”