Page 75 of Pin-up Girl

The rest of the drive home, I waited for Aubrey to call me back, but she hadn’t by the time I pulled into town, and there was a customer car in front of her shop that had been there for hours.

I parked in front of my house and sat in the driveway, engine running. My body twitched with the need to move. To burn off excess energy.

There wasn’t enough room inside to dance. The rain would make it difficult to let loose outside. During the summer I’d been known to use the gym at the high school, but this close to the start of school, it was unlikely the place would be empty.

I headed inside long enough to put on something lightweight and easy to move freely in, pulled sweats on over that, then drove toward the edge of town. All of this nostalgia had me heading to an abandoned factory that sat out here, away from everything and everyone.

When I was younger, I’d come out here to escape. I still did sometimes, but not often.

From the outside, the walls ran about halfway up, and windows stretched the rest of the distance to a tall roof. About a quarter of the glass was broken, and graffiti decorated everything.

Inside, the concrete floor had the slightest slant, so any rain coming in through the broken windows in the roof ran into a drain that stretched the entire span of the building. I moved to the same spot as always, a clear, dry place near the back, and put in my earbuds.

The storm was loud enough, I still heard the patter of drops despite the noise-canceling features. It didn’t matter. The music would be enough of a beat for me to lose myself in.

I stretched, and started slowly. Then I let the music take over, flowing into me, and out again through movement. When I did this, the thoughts stopped. The only thing that mattered was the beat and the tune and the motion, while the rest of the world fell away.

For a few moments, I could forget everything else. It wouldn’t last, but I’d take the peace for as long as I could get it.

21

brodie

I’d been thinking a lot about what Maddox said. About farming. About moving the product. Did I really want to get into trying to sell myself—my wares—again?

As fantastic as it was to be free of the restraints that kept me from inventing, I was going stir crazy not knowing what to do with my time. I’d spent today lingering in shops. Catching up with Deacon and getting to know Adam, while checking out antiques… and the basement full of sexy furniture. Seeing how much Onyx had changed and how much he’d kept the same in the record store, and falling into memories of how much time Clint and I spent there. And browsing Joystick’s. Hot wings plus geek stuff? Brilliant idea.

I ended up at Gage’s Grub in the afternoon, and had been there since, talking to Sawyer. The burgers were good, the beer was good, and the company was fascinating. Sawyer knew a lot about one-off manufacturing, thanks to the work he and Evie did together making parts for combat robots.

Just thinking about it—combat robots—was cool.

“—it has this closed loop, dual extrusion option?—”

“Wait.” I cut Sawyer off, and the words looped in my head. “You said…” I frowned and processed. When he opened his mouth, I held up a finger.

That was the missing piece. “So triple-extrusion is an option too.” I was asking him as much as me.

“Yes.”

“I gotta go.” I stood abruptly, just as Gage approached.

Gage gave us each a confused look. “Something I said?” He joked.

“I’ll be back. Not today. You’re brilliant.” I pointed at Sawyer.

“Of course I am. About what?”

I’d tell them later. I needed to tell Clint first. I’d call, but I didn’t have his number. That was dumb.

It didn’t matter, and I was geeking-out levels of excited. The drive to Clint’s took entirely too long, considering nothing in this town was more than five minutes away. His car wasn’t there. When I’d passed Aubrey’s, her client’s car was still there, but Clint’s wasn’t. If she hadn’t been with a customer, I’d visit her. Get his number. See her…

I sent her a quick text. Let me know when you’re free.

What should I do now?

Drive?

That was my default answer if I needed to think through a problem, but it had been a long time since I had people so close who I could talk things out with.

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