Page 10 of Winning You
“I don’t think that’s what deductive reasoning is?—”
“—andthenhe got a call and said he’d be back to finish up later, and he left his card,” Lucas said, ignoring Lane’s correction.
Lane let out a deep, heavy breath. “Did he say when?”
“I figured it was on the card.”
“Oh, I…” Lane hummed. “Tomorrow at nine.”
Lucas wanted to fling himself on the floor and have a tantrum. He hadn’t done that in a while. Meltdowns, yes. A tantrum because he wanted to get his way and that wasn’t happening? He’d outgrown that. But it felt like a good day for one.
“I quit.”
“You own the truck,” Lane said flatly. “You insisted on buying it from me, remember? I’m not your boss anymore.”
Lucas dropped against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. “I abdicate the throne.”
“Ah, if only it were so easy.” Lane’s footfalls made the truck tremble, and Lucas wasn’t startled when a hand fell on his arm. He liked that Lane was touchy-feely with him. It allowed him his own version of eye contact, which didn’t happen a lot.
His little family—they were great about it. But most people were absolutely fucking ridiculous and thought blindness was catching. Half the time, he was tempted to tell them they were right, and if they weren’t careful, their eyeballs were going to fall out of their heads.
He actually had done that once to some kid at the neighborhood playground when he was eleven. He got grounded for a week when his dad got a call from the traumatized kid’s mom.
“Do you want me to go down to his office and handle it?”
Lucas groaned and gently rocked from side to side, self-soothing. When he could breathe again, he shook his head. “I can deal with him. It’s just irritating. The moment he realized I couldn’t see, he assumed I was doing everything wrong.”
“Is that what he said?” Lane asked. His tone was careful.
Lucas sighed. “Well…no. But trust me when I say I’ve been through this before. You have no idea how many people walk away when they realize these puppies are fake.” He flicked one of his eyes, his nail making a hollow click sound against the acrylic.
“I do know. Marc wasn’t the only one who trained you,” Lane reminded him.
Lucas was tired of Lane taking all the fury wind out of his anger sails. “Can you just let me hate this guy? Please?”
“As long as you don’t get shut down or fined, you can do whatever you want.” There was a smile in his tone. “But also, I am here for you if this guy really is an ableist dickhead.”
Lucas’s shoulders sagged in relief. “I know. Thanks.”
Lane patted him gently on the arm. “Do you want a ride home?”
“Nah. Gage is coming by in a few. We’re going to eat our weight in sour belts and try to finish our campaign.” He wasn’t sure if any of the guys actually understood anything he or Gage said about D&D, but he didn’t really care that much. They always indulged him, and he appreciated them for it.
“Alright. Do me a favor though? After this Francisco guy leaves, give me a call and let me know how it went?”
“Can do, mon capitaine,” Lucas said. He tried to salute, but he was so damn tired, he missed his forehead and clipped his nose. “Ignore that. That is not a mark of my hand—whatever it is when you don’t have eyes—coordination.”
“I’m aware,” Lane said dryly. “Have a good night, and don’t forget to put the onions away.”
“Oh shit! My onions!”
Gage arrived thirty minutes late, but he had apology burritos and an extra-large side of guac and chips from the little stand that Lucas was increasingly obsessed with. The California burrito was his current hyperfixation meal, and he appreciated that his friends never gave him shit about it.
“You’re lucky I love you,” he said, his mouth full of tortilla, french fries, steak, and sour cream.
“Mm.” Gage hit the gas and picked up speed. “You say that so often it’s kind of lost its edge, babe.”
Lucas flipped him off as he took another massive bite. He’d always been a messy eater, and his ex-dad had always hated that about him. But he didn’t understand the point. It had taken him years and years to understand the concept that people could know things about him just by looking.
