Page 74 of The One for Me
“I wouldn’t go that far, Shrimpy. I’m just housebroken and she doesn’t want to start over.”
“You are a bit of a dog.”
He shakes his head. “You’re a pain in the ass.”
“This is true, but will you fix it up for me? Make sure it’s perfect?”
Jasper lets out a very long sigh. “I guess. The things I do for my little sister.”
I give him a big squeeze and smile. “You’re the best big brother in the world.”
“I know. Now, let me get you a fair price.”
We talk to the owner, who is a much older gentleman who has had the car for a long time and barely drives it. He comes down on the price so far that Jasper almost chokes. And even though I’ve just blown all my apartment money, I’m beyond happy.
Sean needs to heal and I want to be his balm.
“You’ll follow me back in my car, okay?” Jasper says as he takes the keys to Sean’s new car.
“Deal.”
The ride takes about two hours, I’m jamming out to my brother’s tunes, loving that no matter how old he is, he’ll always love classic rock. Zepplin, Guns & Roses, and Warrant CDs still sit in the console because my brother refuses to use his phone to stream music, not that his car is updated enough for it. He still drives the car he got when Austin was born. It’s old, reliable, and as he says . . . free.
We pull into the back where his shop is and he gets it up on the lift.
“Did it drive nice?”
“It was a good ride. Nothing smoked or made too many odd noises. It’s actually criminal what you just got this car for.”
“He was really nice.”
He nods. “And you being pretty and smiling a lot didn’t hurt.”
I slap his arm. “That wasn’t why.”
“Okay.”
“Whatever the reason was, he’s going to be so happy!”
Jasper laughs and then nudges me. “He better be! You just got the man a gift from the mechanical gods.”
He’s so stupid. Boys and their cars. “Sean is always appreciative.”
“He better be.”
“Spoken like a big brother.”
Jasper smiles and leans against the workbench with his arms across his chest. “Are you happy, Dev?”
I nod.
“You know that if anything goes bad, you always have a place here.”
I love him. “I know.”
“There’s nothing that we wouldn’t do for you.”
I walk toward him, place my hand on his arm. “I know.”
