Page 78 of Never Have I Ever
She's smart, adventurous, and doesn't seem to be scared of anything. I like it. A lot. I like how she hums into my mouth when we kiss and how she tastes like candy. How she seems to love the adrenaline of danger like I do.
I once thought we were completely different, but now I think we’re more similar than either of us realizes. I want to know more about her, I want to know everything about her. How she thinks, and what she desires out of life, everything.
I stop myself from pulling my phone out of my pocket and focus on the car instead. Being here clears my head.
“How’s she doing?” Mattie asks, handing me a torque wrench.
I tighten the bolts, making sure it’s all connected. “Needed a new engine.”
“Hmm.” Mattie asses me working on the car. I look up, seeing a look of shock on his face. “You’re good, kid,” he says, leaning against the wall as he watches me.
I’ve done this so many times I could do it in my sleep, but it’s cute that Mattie thinks I’m some newbie wanting to play with cars. I’ve been working on cars since I was seven. I learned to drive by the age of ten, which probably wasn’t the best idea for a kid like me, considering I was a little shit. But fuck, I don’t regret it. Especially because I miss those times so much.
“Who taught you?” Mattie asks, throwing me a rag
I catch it and wrap it around my hand to unplug the drain plug. “My uncle.” I swallow hard.
“Is he a mechanic too?”
I don’t want to fucking talk about this. I can't look him in the eye. I stare down at the car and change the oil, which gives me an excuse to hide behind here a little longer.
“Yeah,” I say, feeling like there’s gravel in my throat.
“He can’t get you a job?”
My jaw clenches. I’ve been trying to get Mattie to hire me since I came to Redfield, but the bastard won’t hire me until I graduate. Figures, some high school dropout wants me to graduate with a degree to work for him.
It’s bad enough that my parents are on my case all the time about my grades and making sure I attend school, but even Mattie won’t let me work here. It would be a fuck ton easier to make the money I need.
“No, he can’t,” I tell him.
“Why not? If you’re as good as you say.”
I inhale, closing the hood of my car a little harder than I anticipated. “Because he’s dead,” I say, trying to act like it doesn’t affect me.
He shakes his head, letting out a breath. “Shit. Sorry, kid.”
I shrug because what the fuck else am I going to say? It was my fault. I killed him. Yeah, didn’t think so.
He lifts himself off the car. “You heading out of here?” he asks. “I’m about to take my lunch break.”
“Yeah. I’m gonna head back to my place.”
He nods. “Lock up, kid,” he tells me before walking out.
When I’m done, I close the hood of the piece of junk Mattie’s letting me work on and lock up the garage, heading toward the back exit. I get on the bike, deciding to leave my car there. I need to feel the air on my skin right now. I have to keep it here since some douchebags tried to steal it before. Knowing Ben Reed, it was probably him. I know Mattie will keep it safe for me here.
I speed home, remembering when I brought Rosie with me to the lake. How she clung to my body, how she trusted me enough to get on the back of the bike with me, and how she loved the adrenaline, telling me to go faster.
I wanted her to feel how I did whenever I took the bike for a ride, like nothing else in the world mattered but the feeling right there in the moment. It’s the only thing you can concentrate on. When the wind hits your skin and the sound of the engine roars in the air, you feel alive.
When I pull up to the apartment, Aiden’s outside, already dressed and heading out of the front door.
I get off the bike, pulling the helmet off my head. “Where you going?” I call out.
He lifts his head, giving me a single glance, before looking back down at his phone. “Out.”
“How informative.” I joke.
