Page 6 of Atlas

“She’s going to pay me for my time. I don’t have to ride in her truck either. I can follow behind on my bike. She’s still freaked out about the size of the truck and backing the trailer up and stuff like that, so I should be there to help her.”

“Are you telling me this because you want to drive home just how much you sound like the sweetest couple ever, or because you want me to come with you?”

I treat my sister to a sigh that comes from the very bottom of my exhausted soul. She just grins in response. “I thought you might like to come.”

“Because you’re secretly in love with Willa and looking for family approval?”

Cue sigh number two with a hint of dramatic flair. “Because everyone could always use more friends. She’s a nice person. So passionate about all the old junk. She loves the most horrific things. You should see this devil monkey she has behind the counter in there. It’s going to join her collection of dolls that are always watching.”

Georgia claps her hands. “I’ll have to go back in and ask to see it. I was debating about a few of those paintings for the condo. It’s a travesty that I moved in a year ago and the walls arestill mostly bare. If she has time, which I doubt she will, I would love to see her creepy dolls.”

“Come picking tomorrow and you’ll probably find something a whole lot cheaper, although I’m sure Willa would give you the family discount.” I wince as soon as I say it. I might look like a big dumb jock who only knows endless lists of football stats and walks around reliving high school glory days, but I normally think before I speak. “You could ask to see her collection of weird stuff before we go out. She has the horror show upstairs in her apartment.”

One of Georgia’s light blond brows arches up.

Fuck. Walked straight into a trap again.

“I’m her landlord,” I remind her. “I also renovated the whole place and that included spending hours hanging art and putting up shelves for her collections because I’m a good friend and I can take one for the team like that.”

Georgia never was the kind of older sister who laid into her two poor little brothers. We had an unspoken truce, as well as real affection when we were older. Even as young kids, Clem and I didn’t torment her—much—and she was never bossy. She lets the Willa line of questioning drop.

“Picking sounds kind of fun.”

“There might be raccoons and rats. Mutated ones, she’s got this thing for roadkill taxidermy.”

She shuffles in place like she’s in a hurry to get going right this second. “I grew up here, you know. I’m not technically a city girl. I know the rats and raccoons are just regular ones. And anyway, as long as you offer yourself as a sacrifice first, I thinkit should be alright. It sounds sort of fun to go through piles of treasure.”

“I think you mean junk.”

“I’m sure Willa would have your balls for calling it that.”

“Nah. She hears it often enough. It’s a standing joke now. As for the raccoons, I promise I’ll always be your first line of defense.”

“My realistic stipulation is that you let me ride behind you on your bike. Not because I’m afraid to talk to Willa the whole way, but because I spend my days teaching fifth graders. I want some adventure in my life.” She reads my hesitation wrong. “Don’t say that Mom and Dad would freak. You and Clem shouldn’t gatekeep on the exciting danger.”

“It’s not that. My bike only seats one.”

“No it doesn’t!” She crosses her arms. “Since when?”

“Since I sold the other. Last year.”

“Oh. After…”

“Yeah.”After Jodie. I didn’t like the reminder of it. Too many memories. I’d been toying with getting something classic and restoring it. On one of Willa’s picks, I found an old Harley just sitting under someone’s tarp in a barn. A forty-four Harley WLA. “I’m riding a bike I restored.” I point towards the sidewalk, at the current love of my life. The bike sits proudly parked along the row of others belonging to my club brothers. Her flat green paint doesn’t glisten in the sun. She’s not all chrome and shiny metal. With her camel colored leather seat and saddle bags, she looks like she’s been transplanted straightfrom history. She stands out from all the others because she’s nothing like them. “She’s glorious, isn’t she?”

“Looks uncomfortable,” Georgia deadpans.

“Maybe a little, but her soul makes up for it. She deserves to be ridden.”

“I didn’t know you knew how to do something like that. Sure, you’ve been working at the club’s garage for years, but I thought you just did cars.”

I can’t help but beam with a small amount of pride. “Pretty much. But the internet is great, and there are guys there that have been doing mechanics for decades. They helped me.”

“You should restore another and put it into shows or something. You could make a nice business for yourself that way.”

“Haven’t you heard? I’m now a landlord.” I sweep my hand over the massive brick building. “Property only begets more property.”

“Sage, little bro. But in all seriousness, I’m glad to see you happy again. We always used to bug you about being the golden child in the family. We’re all golden children, but you deserve to have the sun shine on you. Jodie was… she was kind of difficult, you know?”

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