"Go ahead and sit where you want," I tell her.
Skye finds a table by the bar and takes a seat. I can't tell if this is her type of place or if she's someone who likes something more upscale. She was driving a Lexus so I'm thinking she'd like a nicer place but then again, she said the car was her uncle's, not hers.
"This place okay?" I ask.
"Yeah." She smiles and hands me a menu. "You said the burgers are good?"
"Best in town, at least to me. You might have a different opinion."
"I'll try one." She sets her menu down.
I set mine down too. The waitress stops over and I order for both Skye and me, then realize she might get mad at me for that but she doesn't.
"I didn't think I was hungry," she says, "but now that we're here I am."
"I'm starving. I missed dinner."
"I haven't eaten all day."
"You haven't? Why not?"
She shrugs. "I just wasn't hungry."
Again, that's concerning. I can tell she's struggling to move on from what happened but it seems more serious than that. She seems really depressed but trying to hide it the best she can. I know because I've been there. I put on a fake happy act for my customers after my brother died so they wouldn't think I'm too fucked up to properly care for their car. I got so good at it I started to convince myself I was fine.
It was Shana who called me on it. Then she drove me out to the intersection where it happened. She didn't tell me that's where we were going and I was pissed when we got there. I couldn't believe she took me there, the place where he died. But being there actually helped. It kicked my denial in the ass and made me finally accept my brother was gone. After that, things got better. It was still a long hard road but I'm a million times better than I was a year ago.
"So tell me about your classes," I say, wanting to get Skye's mind off the accident because it seems like that's where it's been since we got in the truck. She spaced off and wouldn't talk, and she's doing it again now.
"My what?" she asks.
"Your classes. What are you taking?"
She rattles them off, seeming to have no interest in them. I keep asking her questions, trying to find at least one thing that interests her or even just riles her up. I want to get some emotion out of her because she seems kind of lifeless right now.
"When'd the whole goth thing start?" I ask, because that riled her up earlier so I'm guessing it'll do it again.
"For the last time, I am not goth." She sits up straighter and bobs the straw up and down in her water. She's coming to life, showing emotion. It's anger and annoyance but it's better than nothing. "I just like black."
"That's all you wear? You only have black clothes?"
"Mostly. But there's nothing wrong with that. It's a good color."
"Is that what your mom wore?"
"My mom?" She lets out a laugh. "How would I know? I haven't seen her in over ten years."
"Just wondering. I thought maybe it's genetic." I take a swig of my beer.
"Not even close." She rolls her eyes. "My mom dressed like a unicorn. She wore every color in the rainbow and she wore them all at once. She's a hippie. Goes where the wind takes her. We're not at all alike. In fact, once I even asked my aunt if I was adopted. She said I wasn't but I have my doubts."
"Do you look like her?"
"Yeah, so I probably really am her daughter."
I nod. "So the black clothes. You're trying to be the opposite of your mom."
"No. It has nothing to do with that."
"You're pissed at her for leaving. Don't want to be anything like her. Makes total sense why you wouldn't want to look like her. So you dyed your hair and only wear black."
"What are you, my shrink?" She turns away from me. "Let's just stop talking and wait for our food."
"You go from zero to a hundred in a blink of an eye," I say before taking another drink of my beer.
She shifts back to me. "What does that even mean?"
"One minute you're all smiles and the next you shoot up to a 100 on the angry meter."
Her brows rise. "Angry meter? You just make that up?"
"I did. You like it?"
"It's stupid. And so is this conversation." She gets out her phone and ignores me.
"You're being rude. Looking at your phone like that when we're on a date?" I normally wouldn't say that, but again, I'm trying to rile her up. Wake her up from whatever memories she was stuck in earlier and get her mind to the here and now.
She looks up from her phone. "We are not on a date. And I'm not being rude. Everyone checks their phone."
"I'm not. It's in my pocket. I haven't checked it once since we got here."
"Two burgers," the waitress says as she sets down our plates. "Anything else I can get you two?"
"We're good. Thanks, Ann," I tell her.
"Anytime." She winks at me before walking off.
"Let me guess," Skye says as she grabs the ketchup. "You dated her."
"Maybe once or twice," I say with a subtle smile. This is another topic that seems to rile her up—my history with women.
"Did you sleep with her?" she casually asks, squirting ketchup over her fries.
"Why do you care?" I ask, popping a fry in my mouth.
"I don't." She sets the ketchup bottle down and glances over at Ann, the hot redhead waitress that I did indeed sleep with, but only once.
"Good burgers, huh?" I say, changing the subject.
Skye stares at me, then lets out a breath before picking up her burger. It's killing her to not know if I slept with the waitress but I'm just going to keep it a mystery. She doesn't need to know.
"So what time tomorrow?" she asks before biting into her burger.
"What's tomorrow?"
"The car." She wipes her mouth with the napkin. "What time should we be there?"
"Your uncle said ten. Didn't he tell you?"
"Yeah, but you didn't have to agree to ten. You're technically not open so you're doing us a favor. You should pick the time, although it can't be too late. They have to drive back."
"Ten is fine. I didn't have plans." I nod at the ketchup bottle that's next to her. "Mind if I borrow that?"
"Go ahead." She goes to pick it up just as I reach to grab it. Our hands meet on the bottle and she freezes, her eyes going to mine.
"Got it," I say, slowly pulling it away from her.
She quickly looks down at her plate and picks up some fries. "So what do you normally do on Sundays?"
"Catch up on work. Go to the gym. Get groceries. Nothing too exciting."
"What gym do you go to?"
"It's not in town. It's out in the country. In an old barn. It's not much but I like that hardly anyone's there."
"It's in a barn? Doesn't sound like a gym."
"They renovated it. Added weights and a boxing ring. The owner's son used to box. Thought he'd do it for a living but then got hurt and ended up selling insurance. But he had the equipment so he invited some locals to go work out there."
"Do you box?"
"Not in the ring but I hit the bag. They have bags set up but you bring your own gloves. Sometimes you just need to hit something, you know?" I smile, then finish off the last of my beer.
"You like hitting things?" she asks, sounding concerned.
"I'm not violent, if that's what you're thinking. It's just sometimes I need to blow off some steam."
"Why? Because of work?"
"Work. My dad not remembering me. Losing my brother. All that shit gets to me sometimes. Punching the bag seems to help."
She's holding the burger over her plate, staring down at the table, not saying anything.
"You could come with sometime if you want," I tell her.
She glances up. "Where?"
"The gym."
"Oh. No thanks. I don't really work out."
She looks like she does. She's got a kick ass body. Must have good genes.
"You don't have to lift weights. You could just
hit the bag. It really does help."
"Help what?"
I shrug. "Help get your mind off whatever's bothering you."
"Nothing's bothering me." She goes back to eating her burger.
"Everyone has something that pisses them off, and if you don't get rid of that shit, it builds up. It's not good for you."
"So now you're a doctor?" she asks, sounding annoyed.
"I'm just saying it wouldn't hurt to hit the bag now and then. Get out whatever's bothering you."
"Nothing's bothering me." She rolls her eyes. "Now would you drop it?"
"Your classes? Car being broke? Your aunt? None of that bothers you?"
"Nope," she says, popping the 'p'.
I shove my plate aside and lean toward her across the table, my eyes on her. "How about the fact your cousin died and you didn't?"
Her eyes shoot up to mine and she slams her burger on the plate. "How dare you!"
"How dare I what? Say what I know is true?"
"You don't know a damn thing!" She quickly wipes her hands on the napkin and shoves up from the table.
"Skye, wait!" I race after her as she hurries to the door. It swings open and a couple of girls walk in, laughing and not paying attention, almost running right into Skye. I recognize the girls. Ashley and Lena. Two hot blondes. They're roommates. Ashley got her car fixed at my shop.
"Oh, sorry," Lena says to Skye. "Didn't see you there."
"Hey, Trav," Ashley says, shooting me a smile.
"Hey, Ash."
She walks up to me. "What are you doing later?"
"Got plans tonight."
"Too bad," she says, her hand brushing over my crotch as she walks past me into the bar.
We might've had sex. Okay, we did, but it was awhile ago and I don't want Skye finding out. I no longer need to rile her up. She's plenty riled up right now.
"Skye, hold on!" I say, catching up to her outside.
"Let me guess," Skye says, her hands on her hips. "You slept with her too? Is there any girl in town you haven't slept with?"
I don't answer, not sure there's an answer that won't piss her off. I'll admit I've slept with a good number of girls but that's normal for a guy my age. And there isn't a whole lot else to do in this town. To be fair, it's usually the girls who are the aggressors. They come to my garage and as I'm giving them the estimate for the work, they're slipping me their phone number. One girl even left her panties on the engine so I'd find them when I opened the hood.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she demands.
"I'm not—"
"Because you think I'm next? I'm the only girl you haven't slept with so you took me out to dinner and now—"
"Skye, stop. That's not why I took you here. You were hungry and needed to eat. That's it."
She huffs and shakes her head. "I can't believe you."
"Meaning what? What can't you believe?"
Her eyes narrow, her hands still firmly on her hips. "I can't believe I thought you were a nice guy. I was actually starting to like you, but now?" She takes a breath. "Now I see you're just some guy who sleeps around and assumes he knows shit about people when he has absolutely no clue what he's talking about."
She turns and storms off toward the parking lot.
"You mean that comment I made about your cousin?" I ask, catching up to her. "So you're telling me that's not true? You never wished it was you and not her?"
"Just shut up," she yells, weaving between cars and trucks in an attempt to get away from me. It's not working. I'm right behind her.
"If I'm wrong, then tell me."
She whips around to face me. "You don't know shit. You just met me. You know nothing about me. So stop pretending you do and get the fuck away from me."
She turns and walks away, heading to the road.
I grab her arm, stopping her. "I know because I've been there. I may not have been with him that day, but I still wanted it to be me."
"Why?" she snaps, trying to yank her arm back. "Why would you want that? Are you saying you wish you were dead?"
"Now? No. But then? Fuck, yeah. At the time, I would've rather been dead than go through losing my brother."
She stops fighting me, her arm relaxing. "I'm sorry about your brother."
"And I'm sorry about your cousin."
She looks down at the dusty ground, then out at the country road. A full moon is hovering over the fields, a mix of dark orange and yellow.
"Nice, huh?" I say, letting go of her arm.
"What?"
I point to the sky. "The moon."
"Oh," she says, looking up at it. "Yeah. It's nice."
"It's more than nice. It's beautiful. It's the harvest moon. That's why it's colored like that."
She just nods.
"It's like someone's out there telling us everything will be okay."
"What do you mean?" she asks, glancing at me.
"Some days really suck. Some days you don't think you'll make it through. But then at the end, you get this. This bright orange moon. Or a beautiful sunset. It's a reminder the world isn't as bad as you thought. There's darkness but there's also beauty. Light. Color. Kind of makes you want to stick around."
She shivers and looks down.
"You cold?" I put my arm around her.
"No," she says, shaking her head.
I keep my arm around her, pulling her against my side. "Check it out." I nod toward the moon. "Only happens once a year."
Her eyes return to the sky. "It really is beautiful."
It is, but I turn away from it and look at something even more beautiful. Her. The silhouette of her face. The curve of her body. The strands of her hair blowing in the breeze.
A truck speeds past us and I pull her back from the side of the road, not wanting her to get hit by flying rocks or other road debris.
"Let's go inside and you can finish that burger." I turn her around then drop my arm from her shoulder.
"I'm not really hungry."
"You haven't eaten all day. Just have a little more and then we'll go."
When we get back inside, I see Ann starting to clear our table.
"Ann, wait," I say, going up to her. "We're not finished."
"I thought you left," she says.
"No, we just went outside for a minute." I sit back down at the table. "Hey, could you get me a water?"
"Sure thing," she says, giving me a smile that says if I wanted a quickie in the back room, she'd do it. I know because I've been given that smile before. And it was followed by a quickie in the back room. We never did it again because I've seen her give that smile a few too many times to other guys in the bar.
When she's gone, Skye says, "Did you date her or just sleep with her?"
"Why do you keep asking about this?" I ask, stealing one of her fries. "Why do you care?"
"I'm just wondering because she seems to still be interested in you. Like she has feelings for you, in which case I'm going with ex-girlfriend."
"She wasn't a girlfriend," I say, taking another fry.
"So she was a one-night stand," Skye casually says, as if this no longer bothers her. I think it does but she's trying to pretend it doesn't.
"Not sure if I'd call it that. We did it in the afternoon."
She dips her fries in the ketchup, keeping her eyes on them as she asks, "At your apartment?"
"No. Here. In the back room."
"Where they make the food?" she asks in horror. "Gross!" She drops her fries. "I can't eat this now."
"Relax. It was in the office. Her boss was out taking a smoke break."
"Still. She did it with you while she was working? That means her uniform was covered in..." She shoves her plate aside. "I'm done."
"She wasn't wearing her uniform." I push her plate back in front of her. "C'mon. Finish up."
"I'm full."
"Then I'll finish it." I bring her plate to my side of the table and eat the last of her burger in two big bites.
"What abo
ut the other one?" Skye asks.
"Other what?" I say, wiping my hands with the napkin.
"That other girl. Was she a girlfriend? Or another office hookup?"
"Not a girlfriend. And not in an office," I say, getting my wallet out.
"Then where was it?"
I smile. "These are very personal questions. You really shouldn't be asking them."
"Fine," she says, not at all satisfied with my answer. "Can we go now?"
"Sure." I stand up, dropping a couple twenties on the table. "Ready?"
Skye remains seated. "Don't you want to wait for the change?"
"I don't need change. I'm good."
"Your tip is almost as much as the bill."
I lean down to Skye and lower my voice. "Ann's mom is sick and she's having trouble keeping up with the bills. I've been tipping her a little extra until she can get back on her feet."
"Oh. Is that why she..." Skye's voice trails off as Ann walks by, giving me that smile again.
"Wants to have sex with me?" I smile. "No. She'd do that regardless. Now let's go."
I wait for her to get up and we head to the exit.
"Bye, Travis," I hear Ashley say.
"See ya, Ash." I give her a smile as we go out the door.
"I could try to get a ride if you want to stay," Skye says.
"Why would I stay?"
"To be with that girl. She made it pretty clear she wants to continue whatever you two started."
"We didn't start anything. It was one time."
We're at my truck now and I open the door for her.
"You didn't do it with her in here, did you?" Skye asks.
"No." I wait for her to get in. "We did it in that." I nod toward the white Mercedes SUV parked right in front of us.
"That's her car?" Skye asks as I start up the truck. "How does she have the money for that?
"Her family has money. Her dad buys her whatever she wants." I pull out of the parking lot. "You giving me directions or should I put it in the nav system?"
"Just head toward campus and I'll tell you where to go from there."
"You have a roommate?"
"Yeah, but she's never home. She's either at class or at work or with her boyfriend."
"Do you guys get along?"
"For the most part, yeah. We used to be better friends but then...we kind of grew apart."
With Every Breath Page 7
