Page 13 of A Real Goode Time
Phew. Well over eighteen, and almost legal to drink, so I didn’t have to feel shitty about having a hard-on for a seventeen-year-old. And, really, she was only six years younger than me. Shit, my ma was eight years younger than Dad, and they’d been together going on thirty years.
She smirked at me. “You were worried I was a runaway, weren’t you?”
I shrugged, shook my head as I got us both a beer, uncapped them and handed her one. “I mean, it crossed my mind, but I knew you were probably at least eighteen.”
“Thank you,” she said, smirking at me. “I won’t tell, I swear.” She tilted her head to one side, severing a piece of roast off with her fork, stabbing it, and popping it into her mouth. “I look that young, to you?”
It’s a trap—the Star Wars quote ran through my head in Admiral Ackbar’s voice. “Uh…well? I’m not that great at knowing how old someone is by looking at them. All I know is, you’re gorgeous.”
Her ivory skin went pink as she blushed. “Thanks?”
I hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but it was true, and it was an understatement. Now that she was clean and dry and her hair was brushed, the raw, stunning, artful perfection of her face was highlighted. Her cheekbones framed her deep, pale brown eyes; the sharp point of her chin enhanced the delicate angles of her jaw, the sculpted cupid’s bow of her upper lip was perfection. God, she was so much more than merely gorgeous.
I ducked my head to pull my gaze away from her, digging into my food.
A strange not-awkward silence ensued as we both ate. She devoured all I’d given her in a matter of minutes and gave a longing look at the platter between us—I didn’t wait for her to ask, I just slid a few more pieces onto her plate, and onto mine, and we kept eating.
She glanced at me, now and again. “Do you see yourself always working on cars?”
“I don’t know. I’m working on getting my realtor license. If I can make more selling houses, maybe I could do less salvaging. I’d like to be able to do engine work full time, but I just don’t have enough clientele for that, yet. All my business is word of mouth, and I’m doing all right considering I’m only twenty-six, but…I guess I’m just impatient.”
“Well, I’m almost twenty-one and I don’t have a damn clue what to do with my life. I know it’snotwaiting tables, but I don’t have any idea what itis.”
“There’s nothing wrong with waiting tables,” I said.
“Hell no,” she said, around a mouthful. “I know that. I’ve worked for Mr. Sokoli since I was fourteen. It’s a good job and I’m good at it. But it’s just not something I want to do forever.”
“So?” I said, waving with my fork. “You’ve got time to figure it out.”
“Not really. I mean, I know I don’t want to go to college. I tried that for half a year and I fucking hated it.”
“There’s lots of stuff you can do without a degree.” He gestured. “I don’t have one.”
“Yeah, but…you have the skills and experience. I just…” She sighed. “You’d have to know my family to understand. My oldest sister, Charlie, is super successful. She went to fucking Yale on a full academic scholarship, where she got notone, buttwodegrees.”
“Yikes,” I said. “I barely graduated high school. Book learning and classrooms just wasn’t my thing.”
“Same,” she said. “Then there’s Cassie. She went to Julliard for dance, and was lead dancer for one of the most prestigious dance companies in the world, and lived inParis.”
I arched my eyebrow. “Damn.”
“You begin to understand,” she said, droll. “But wait, there’s more. Lexie, my sister who’s getting married, did the whole college thing, went to the University of Connecticut and then Sarah Lawrence for women’s studies or something like that. But overall, not totally out of the ordinary, right? Just a normal girl going to college. Only, she recently did some kind of dumb shit and got herself kicked out of Sarah Lawrence—what, I don’t know—and she and Charlie went on some super cool road trip. Lexie met Myles North, and yes, I meantheMyles North, and now Lexie is getting married to one of the most famous humans on the planet. But wait, there’s even more—he got her to play the guitar and sing for him, and they discovered she’s like insanely talented. He recorded her and that video broke world records for most views in twenty-four hours.”
I dropped my fork. “Wait. You gotta be shittin’ me. Your sister isthatLexie? The Lexie from Myles and Lexie?”
I nodded. “Yes. That Lexie is my sister.”
I rocked back in my chair. “Okay, that’d be a little intimidating. She’s crazy talented.”
And crazy hot, but I didn’t say that. Mainly because the girl across the table from me was, in my opinion, even hotter—and not just because she was here in person, in my home, and was not getting married to a rich and famous dude with magazine perfect looks and bonkers musical talent.
“Yes, it’s a little intimidating, and it makes me feel inferior.”
“Well, she’s her, and you’re you. You gotta liveyourlife.”
Torie rolled her eyes at me. “Thank you for that stunning insight, Rhys.”
I laughed. “A little inane, huh?”