Page 55 of If I Could

“Whatever.” I turn back and head toward the office.

“You can tell him his bike will be done by noon,” I hear Jesse yell from behind me.

“Okay,” I yell back.

“And Sage,” he says.

“Yeah?” I turn around.

Jesse glares at me. “Tell him you’re off limits.”

I huff. “You don’t own me, Jesse. I’m not yours.” I storm off and yell, “And I’m never going out with you.”

“We’ll see about that,” he calls back.

If he’s threatening me, or tries to fire me for not going out with him, I’ll go to the police. I know they’re all friends with Jesse but there has to be at least one cop who would agree that Jesse’s harassment is wrong and illegal.

As soon as I’m in the office, I look up Old Man Miller’s number and call it. It rings several times before Kyle finally picks up.

“Hello?” He sounds different. His voice sounds deeper and he said ‘hello’ really fast like he’s in a hurry.

“Kyle? It’s Sage.”

“Hey.” He sounds more relaxed now. That’s weird.

“Hi. I was calling about your motorcycle. Jesse said it’d be done by noon.”

“That’s great. I didn’t think it’d be ready that fast.”

“Well, that’s what he said. Can you pick it up at noon or do you want to get it later?”

“I’ll swing by around noon.”

“Okay, see you then.”

At noon I spot Kyle through the glass partition in the office door. He goes up to Jesse and I watch as the two of them talk. Jesse, who usually slouches, stands up straight, sticking his chest out, and I feel like I’m watching some nature show where one of the male gorillas tries to assert his dominance over another. It’s so ridiculous.

Kyle is standing there with a smirk on his face, obviously humored by Jesse’s attempt to show off his manliness. Not at all intimidated by it, Kyle steps closer and talks with his hands, forcing Jesse to take a step back.

They continue to talk, and Jesse nods a couple times, then hands Kyle the keys to his bike and motions to the office. They both glance my way and I quickly look down and pretend to be typing.

A few moments later, Kyle walks in. “I’m here to pay my bill. Turned out to be five-eighty so I owe you eighty.”

I look up and see him smiling, almost about to laugh.

“Something you want to share?” I ask.

“Nope. Just here to pay my bill.” He gets his wallet out.

“C’mon. I saw you with Jesse just now. What did he say to you?”

“It was guy talk. It’s private.”

“Oh please,” I say, taking his invoice from the printer. “Don’t give me that. You two were talking about me, weren’t you?”

“Why would we talk about you?”

“You know why.” I hand him his invoice, but as he takes it, I hold onto it and narrow my eyes at him. “You better not have done something Neanderthal, like place bets on who would end up with me. That’s totally something Jesse would do but—”

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