Page 76 of Ice Mechanic

At the last second, Gunner turns back and looks at me with his cold stare.

I tilt my chin up, waiting.

“I’m dumping your gift in the trash,” he says. “Unless you want it back.”

I make a disgusted face. “You can keep it as a souvenir.”

He narrows his eyes and moves toward the shower. Then he stops and looks at me again. “We usually head over to The Tipsy Tunaon the weekends. Just to let off some steam.”

My eyes widen in shock. That was definitely an invitation to join them, but do I have to? I wanted to go see April after this.

As the silence lengthens, Gunner’s face hardens. “If you have something better to do…”

Gunner strikes me as the petty type. He will never make another offer if I reject this one. “I could use a drink. Who’s buying?”

“If you want us to pretend tonight never happened…”

I chuckle. “I guess I am.”

CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

APRIL

Rebel stretchesher arms over her head and then rotates her neck to the left and right. She mindlessly reaches for her granola bowl and somehow picks out only the m&ms to toss into her mouth.

“This isexhausting,” she says.

I resurface from the engine I’d been half-buried in and glare over my shoulder. “Quilting is tiring you out?” I point between me and the stubborn engine. “Really?”

“First of all, this isn’t quilting. It’s embroidery. Second of all, don’t start huffing at me. You’re the one who wants to work until eight p.m. on a Friday night. I’m only here for best friend moral support.”

“You’re here because you don’t want to go grocery shopping.” I wiggle my wrench at her.

She throws her hands up as if to say ‘guilty’. “Being an adult is over-rated. Why do I have to buy my own groceries? Why aren’t my cupboards magically re-stocked without me doing anything?”

“You know there’s an app that hires someone to grocery shop for you?”

“It’s cheaper if I just get in the car and do it myself.”

“So do it yourself.”

She sinks lower into the chair, groaning, “Noooo.”

I smirk at her dramatics and remove my gloves.

“What are you sewing anyway?” I wonder.

“Can’t you tell?” She holds the stitching up.

I scrunch my nose. “Is it… a dog?”

“No, it’s a polar bear. Where do you see a dog in this?” She shakes the embroidery close to my face.

“I guess… if I twist my head to the side and close one eye, it does kind of look like a dog.”

Rebel tucks the bowl to her stomach. “That’s it. No granola for you.”

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