Page 99 of Frisco

A beat later, it started again.

Shane waited for me.

I gave him a nod, and he reached over giving me the phone.

I hit accept. “Hey, I’ll meet you at Manny’s. I want to meet this man of yours in a more official capacity.”

I hit call on my phone.

“Daughter! It’s been forever. Felt like a year. You alive? Married? Pregnant? You better not be any of those, by the way. Not without your pop’s blessing. So. Tell the haps. What’s going on out in Cal-i-for-nia?”

“Aly’s got a man.”

“Aly’s got a whattie?”

“A man.”

“His name isn’t JustinBanana, is it?”

“His name is Brandon.”

“Whooee. A Brandon. I don’t think I’ve ever met a Brandon. Stevie’s here. Hold on…. STEVIE!”

From his end, “WHAT?!”

“YOU EVER MET A BRANDON IN YOUR LIFE?”

“WHO?”

“BRAN-DON. BRANDON. LIKE LONDON, BUT WITH A BRA INSTEAD. LIKE THE FEMALES WEAR.”

Silence. Then, “Nah. I’ve never met a Brandon. Met a Caden one time. It was the most hipster name I’d ever met in my life. I thought he was going to challenge me to a smoke-off, on the account that I like my cigarettes and he was smoking one too, but not what I was smoking. You get my drift?” He dissolved into laughter. “Oh, and he was a white boy too. I kinda wished I’d hung out with him more. He seemed real cool.”

My dad coughed into the phone. “Nope. He never met a Brandon either.”

33

KALI

We were leaving the room when another Harley pulled into the lot, coming to park on the end by Corvette’s bike. It was the guy who’d come to our room back at the barn, and as he got off his bike and came over to greet Shane, I noticed that they were close.

I hadn’t paid much attention back at the apartment. I went into the bathroom to try to do some damage control on my hair. But now was different. So different.

First off, this guy was gorgeous. Beautiful long, dark hair that hung free, past his shoulders. High forehead and cheekbones that were kinda set low, but rounded out his face. His jawline was strong, prominent, and those eyes were dark, intense. He was tall, maybe an inch shorter than Shane, and wiry.

He went straight to Shane and the two hugged. Not a manly hug, just a full-on hug.

The guy was smiling when he stepped back, and that transformed his face, making him a little blinding to look at.

Corvette was good-looking in a rough and gruff manner. Roadie had a pretty boy feel to him, mixed with a flirty and sly vibe, but this guy was almost on Shane’s level. Almost.

He stepped back, taking me in, and his eyes warmed. “Your woman is checking me out, Ghost.”

Shane snorted and stepped over, sweeping an arm around my waist. He pulled me to his side. “Kali, this is Boise.”

“Hi.” I felt shy. Gah. This was not me. Then again, this whole experience wasn’t me either.

He stepped toward me, his hand out. He watched me intently as we shook hands. “Kali. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He gave Shane a nod. “This one here hasn’t said a word about you, makes me even more intrigued.”

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