Page 96 of One Good Crash
"No. He probably thinks I’m an idiot.
Was it any wonder he preferred pediatricians and professors?Theynever forgot their money. I was almost sure of it.
But Allie was saying, "He probably loved it. You know, 'coming to your rescue' and all that."
No. He hadn't.In reality, he'd looked concerned more than anything.
Allie said, "So, do you want to hear the rest or not?"
Now, I wasn't so sure. "There's more?"
"Oh yeah," she said. "So when I'm telling him that you haven't seen a lot of your mom, at first, he's happy…" She paused. "Well as happy as he gets. He's kind of a brooder. You know that, right?"
I gave it some thought.Washe the brooding type? It was hard for me to tell since our relationship – or whatever it was – had consisted mostly of him pulling my butt out of the fire. The wayIsaw it, that was enough to make anyone kind of broody.
"Honestly," I said. "I'm not so sure."
"Oh, but he is," she insisted. "But like I said, at first he's sort of happy because your mom hasn't been coming around. But then, when I mention that you're having trouble getting your stuff, he gets all pissed off."
"Really?" I said. "What'd he do?"
"Well, he stands there for a long moment, and I swear, I can hear his teeth grinding together. And then, he just turns and walks away without so much as a 'thanks Allie for the information.'"
Funny, I could almost see it.
Allie was saying, "Pretty rude, huh?"
"I guess," I admitted. "But I still wish you hadn't told him that."
She straightened. "AndIwish he hadn't been rude. So we're even."
That actually made sense in an Allie sort of way.
"But about my stuff," I persisted, "youdidtell him that we're picking it up on Saturday, right? I mean, so he doesn't worry?"
Allie looked away. "Uh, yeah. About that…"
My stomach sank. "Oh, no. Don't tell me you have to back out?"
I only prayed this wasn't the case. Without a vehicle of my own, I couldn’t do it without her. I couldn’t even borrow the pickup, because the truck was a stick-shift, and there was no way I'd be attemptingthat, especially on only two days' notice.
When Allie made no reply, I said, "So do I? Need to reschedule, I mean?"
"No. But…" She paused. "It won't bemetaking you."
"It won't?"
"No. It'll be Jax."
Chapter 41
I wasn't happy with the news andstillwasn't happy two days later when Jax knocked on my apartment door – a half-hour early no less.
It was true that I'd been wanting to see more of him, but this wasn't what I had in-mind. In my fantasies – meaning the ones thatweren'tX-rated – we spent our time strolling along the beach or getting to know each other over drinks and dinner.
But instead, where were we going? To see the one person who made me feel like a total freak. And I justknewthere'd be drama, because with my mom, there always was.
Still, I tried to smile when I opened the apartment door and saw Jax standing in the hallway wearing ratty jeans and a plain gray T-shirt.
