Page 23 of The Older Brother
I leave my air on high as I race from interchange to interchange on our way to the shop. It's plenty cool in the car, but I love the way Saylor looks in my jacket, so I want to make sure it remains a littletoocold for the duration.
We pull into the shop’s driveway just as Miguel is pulling out. I stop right next to his truck, roll the window down, and take note of the way his eyes dart to Saylor, then back to me. There’s a warning in them. You haven’t been friends for as long as we have been without a good understanding of what certain expressions mean.
“She’s just getting her car,” I say, which does little to quell the guarded haze of his eyes.
“Ah, okay. Nice to see you again, Saylor,” Miguel says, leaning against his steering wheel to look past me and at his little sister’s best friend.
Fuck, this is all kinds of wrong.
“Hi, Mig.” She waves as my jacket slips down her body, and when my gaze returns to my friend, I sense just how guilty everything makes me look.
“You need me to help zero that out?” Miguel glances to his side as he tilts his head back. I already told him I wasn’t charging Saylor for my labor. It’s an easy invoice to reconcile. Even I can add a bunch of fucking zeros. He’s trying to offer me an exit before I drive full speed into trouble.
“I got it,” I say.
My friend chuckles and shakes his head, squeezing the top of his steering wheel as he looks straight ahead for a beat, then returns his gaze to me.
“Alright then. I’ll see you later. I’m going to pick up Jersey and his girl from the airport. Don’t forget . . . it’s poker night.”
“I won’t,” I say, nodding.
I’m relieved when my friend rolls up his window and heads out to the road. My conscience is bad enough; I don’t need Miguel’s sticking around to judge me.
I force myself to head directly to the back office instead of opening the passenger door for Saylor. The trick to good behavior, I think, is limiting opportunity. But a quick glance at the text from my brother after I pull Saylor’s key out of the lock box has me rethinking things.
CALEB: Why is Saylor in your car?
I snicker quietly under my breath, hovering on the response for a few seconds. I decide it’s better to leave him lingering with his own paranoia, justified or not. What did he think was going to happen when he ended things with her? That she would forgo ever spending time with another man. That she’d hole up in her house until college and cry fat tears on her pillow. Is my brother really that arrogant to think that he’s the peak of the gender? It’s all downhill after dating him.
“Are you sure I don’t owe you anything?” Her voice is distant, so I exit the office to find her running her fingers under the front of her hood and her tongue pushing inside her cheek.
“You checking my work?”
She flips around, seemingly startled by me, and lets out a nervous laugh as her fingers hook under the slim gap beneath the hood.
“I wouldn’t know what I was looking at. I can’t even open the hood.” She lifts a shoulder as her hands fall to her sides.
“Let me show you.”
I step toward her, and she doesn’t move as the distance between us grows tighter. Our eyes meet as my shoe taps against hers, and I lean to her left and feel under the hood for the release latch. The heavy metal pops with the release, and Saylor sucks in a tiny breath.
I turn into her, and our faces are suddenly only a few inches apart. My gaze dips to her mouth just as she licks her lips. This is dangerous territory, which is probably the reason I like it so much. Temptation has always found me, and I’m not always great at saying no.
My eyes move back to hers, and her lashes seem heavy. Her breath is noticeably slow.
“You just need to know the right spot.” Her eyes widen a hint at my words, and her lip ticks up on one side.
I lean into her more, my chest brushing against hers as I pull the hood up behind her.
“Do you want to see what I did?” I nod behind her toward the open engine bay, but she bites her lip and shakes her head.
“Not really,” she admits.
“Are you sure?” I think we both know I’m no longer talking about looking at her car.
She lifts her chin and nods.
“Positive.”
