Page 49 of Indigo Sky

“Yeah.”

I uncapped the water and looked into the crystal liquid before replying, “I dunno. Maybe.”

“Aha!” He snapped his fingers, then clapped his palms together. “I knew it. I told your mother that’s what it was. So, who is she? You know her at work? Is she, uh … one of the, uh …”

He didn’t want to ask if she was a stripper. He didn’t know how to refer to them without sounding disrespectful, and I didn’t know why, but I appreciated him for it.

“Dancers,” I inserted for him. “Yeah. I knew her, um … a long time ago. Nate and I had gone down to Midnight Lotus years ago, and I had met her then. I had no idea she still worked there, but she does, so …”

“So,” he replied, his voice teasing, “you got a crush on her?”

I might’ve been thirty-one years old, but I swore my dad would never see me as any older than ten. Sometimes, it annoyed me, but right now, it made me smile.

“Yeah, maybe,” I said, peering up at the bright sun overhead.

He clapped a hand against my arm. “Then, she must be a pretty special girl,” he said. “She’d be lucky to go out with you.”

I snorted and turned back to the car, putting the water bottle on the roof. “Gee, thanks, Dad.”

“I mean it, kiddo. You’re a real catch.”

“Sure,” I said, shaking my head as I went back to work.

But, you know, as I changed the oil, I started thinking that maybe he was right. Iwasa decent guy. Polite. Respectful. Hardworking. I could’ve ended up way worse—that was for damn sure—and while I didn’t think I was really the greatest-looking guy on the planet, I sure as fuck wasn’t the ugliest.

I remembered what Scott had said about dating coworkers, and I started thinking,Hell, why not?

Maybe I wouldn’t ask her out right away; maybe I would test the waters a bit more before jumping in, but after some time, there was no reason I couldn’t ask her to get a drink with me or—

“Hey, Rev.”

The sound of Nate’s voice startled me, and I smacked my head on the hood of Dad’s car.

“Fuck.” I rubbed my forehead, knowing that would be sore for a couple of days. “Warn someone before you sneak up on them next time, okay?” I said, turning to look at my old friend.

He was dressed in a ratty gray T-shirt and torn baggy jeans. His hair was still in his usual buzz cut, leaving only a layer of stubble dotting over his scalp. He looked about the same as he had since we’d been kids, but now, he had let his facial hair grow into a cropped beard. It made him look somehow meaner, more… like someone to avoid, I guessed, and I couldn’t put my finger on why. He wasn’t the only one of us to grow a beard, but while mine made me look older, his just made him look more like a thug.

But he smiled at me in a warm kinda way, and I almost regretted feeling unsettled by his appearance or the fact that he’d shown up at all.

“Sorry about that,” he said and gestured loosely toward my head. “You good?”

“Yeah, I’ll live.”

“Good. Wouldn’t want you going unconscious on my account.”

I forced a half smile. “How’ve you been?”

Nate stuffed his hands into his pockets and shrugged, glancing over his shoulder at his beat-up, old truck, parked across the street. “All right, I guess. I was driving by and saw you out here, so I thought I’d stop by. You know, see how you’re doing.” He looked back at me and offered an unsure sort of smile. “It’s been a while.”

Ithadbeen a while. A couple of months, give or take. I never went out of my way to see him or even shoot him a text, and I could say the same for him. Which led me to believe he was busy—and that was good. Whether he was staying out of trouble or not was no longer my concern. I was just glad our paths had finally seemed to go in separate directions. Even if those paths crossed briefly in passing, I could deal … just as long as I didn’t feel like he was my responsibility.

"I'm good," I replied, awkward. Unsure of what to do with my hands, apparently. I tucked them into my pockets, pulled them back out, and placed them on my hips. What the hell was wrong with me? "You know, keeping busy."

"Yeah, same here," Nate said, looking beyond me at the house. "How's your mom and dad?"

"Good. Everyone's good. My, uh … my dad's looking to retire soon. Maybe in the next couple of years or so."

He crossed his arms, shifted his stance. "Oh, that's cool."

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