Page 106 of The One for Me
“I’m not hungry.”
I look at the bowl of spaghetti. “That’s a shame. I cooked and I am a master at this dish.”
He looks away from the television. “What is it?”
“Spaghetti.”
“Even I can make pasta.”
I shrug. “Listen, my skill set is pasta, sandwiches, and chicken nuggets.”
Austin grins. “I like chicken nuggets.”
“I’ll make that tomorrow.”
Devney is at work for the first time since the accident. I was adamant that she start getting back to normal—for both of them. It’s been a week of us hunkering down, working through his feelings and avoiding anything heavy.
Austin is healing. Every part of him is a little hurt, and I’m doing my best to be here for him.
I bring over a bowl, and plop down next to him. “So, what are you watching?”
“I don’t know.”
I look at the screen to see a bunch of guys working on cars. My heart breaks because I’m sure this was something he did with his dad. “Mind if I watch?”
“Nope.”
I swirl the spaghetti and take a bite as the mechanic rips out the seat from the back, tossing it. “What’s he going to do now?”
“They’ll rebuild the whole car. They take it all apart and then make it have every gadget possible.”
“Cool. I had a tricked out car once.”
He looks up at me. “Really?”
“Yup. It was beautiful. Had everything I wanted, and it was my favorite thing I ever bought.”
Austin nods. “I was going to buy my first car and Dad said he’d fix it.”
“I bet it would’ve been fun to do that with him.”
“Yeah.”
I take another bite, and Austin looks over at me. “Want some?”
He grabs the other bowl and eats a bit. We sit in silence as we watch the show. After a few minutes, we’ve finished lunch and he places the empty bowl down. The show goes on and I have to admit, it’s really cool. I’m not much of a car guy, nothing like Jasper was, but the things they’re doing to the car is crazy.
“You think they’ll put the laptop in the console?” I ask.
“They always do the coolest stuff.”
He’s not wrong.
Once the show is over we discuss some of our favorite parts. It’s fun just talking to him and seeing his spirits lift a little.
“I wish you could see the episode where they put a projector screen in the trunk.”
I laugh. “For all the times I’ve needed it?”
