Page 97 of Beneath the Hood

But to my surprise, he stays in the hotel.

Lee hops into the passenger seat of my car, grinning from ear to ear, a short jean skirt and a Dixie Chicks tee on her small frame, her honey hair pulled up in a giant bun.

I bounce my hand on top of it and she bats me away, scowling. “Quit that.”

“Cute.” I smirk.

She kicks off her flip-flops, throwing her feet up on the dash without a care in the world. And once again, my mind is brought back to the time when Blakely did the same thing, worried that I would be upset. Apologizing for the simple act of being comfortable in a car.

My chest pulls tight, realizing that it’s nine a.m. and I still haven’t gotten a text back. I soothe my worries by telling myself it’s her first day of not having to be at Donahue Motors, and maybe she’s sleeping in, catching up on time for herself after a lifetime of living for other people.

“What just happened?” Lee asks.

I side-eye her as I pull onto the street, heading back to my house. “What do you mean?”

“Your face got all wonky.”

I bite the inside of my lip. “Wonky?”

“Yeah, you know... droopy in the corners, like you just thought of somethin’ sad.” The air grows thick the longer I stay silent. “Areyou sad, Jax?”

My grip tightens on the steering wheel. “I’m actually really happy, sweetheart. I uh... I met someone.”

She squeals, the sound so harsh in the quiet of the car that my hand jerks on the wheel, making us swerve over the dotted white line.

“I knewit! Tell meeverything.”

My chest warms. “Let’s get back to my place first.”

Lee nods, leaning back in her seat, a goofy smile on her face and her shoulders slightly less tense than when she first got in the car. It’s nice seeing her this way. Reminiscent of her youth, before her mom died and Chase disappeared. Before her dad became a raging alcoholic and she had to carry the weight of his secrets on her back.

It makes me miss home, a twinge of envy for everyone who’s gotten to see her rebloom.

My phone vibrates in my pocket and at the next red light I pull it out, relief swarming every part of me when I see Blakely’s name is on the screen.

I text her back quickly, not wanting to miss my opportunity, and the tension loosens from my shoulders as we pull into my driveway and head inside.

I give Lee a brief tour, but my place is small and bare, never really having taken the time to turn this house into a home.

“So,” she says, chomping on the Doritos she grabbed from my pantry. “Tell me all about her. What’s her name?”

Sighing, I rest against the kitchen counter, snapping a hairband against my wrist, trying to figure out where the hell to start.

“You remember me telling you about Blakely?”

Her forehead scrunches. “That bratty girl you always droned on about?” Realization lights up her eyes. “You’re tellin’ meshe’sthe girl you’re with?”

I nod.

“Ain’t she nineteen?”

Sucking air in through my teeth, I nod again.

“Oh.” She pauses, licking her orange fingers clean before diving in to grab another chip.

My entire face screws up. “Lee,that’s disgusting.”

Her brows furrow. “What is?”

---