Page 15 of A Real Goode Time

I was surprised by the forwardness of the question. I laughed and rubbed the back of my head. “Ah, like…fourteen, almost fifteen.”

She made a face, but I knew it was meant to cover somewhat judgmental surprise. “Fourteen, huh?”

I shrugged. “Shania Lautner. She lived in the trailer next to ours. She was sixteen, I was fourteen. Her parents were a mess, mine were always working, so we were both home alone a lot. Well, her folks were always drunk and fighting so she was never in there if she could help it. She came over a lot, and we’d watch TV, drink my dad’s beer, and sometimes steal her dad’s shitty whiskey if he was passed out. And one day, she looked at me, shut the TV off, and took her top off.” I laughed, remembering. “I was shocked as hell. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was a horny fourteen-year-old with a hot sixteen-year-old neighbor, and those bathroom windows weren’t exactly frosted too well, so I’d gotten some looks at her, I’m ashamed to say. But oh boy, seeing her take it off in front of me like that? Coulda knocked me over with a feather.”

She laughed. “Lucky you, huh?”

“I guess so, yeah. She and I…well, I wouldn’t call it dating. We were just kids and it was mostly just sex. But it was some good times. Then she started dating Kyle Kuhn, who was nineteen and had a cool Trans Am, and that was it for me and Shania.”

“Just like that?” she asked.

I waved a hand. “Eh, I knew it was coming. She told me as much. After, one time. She was like, ‘you know, one of these days I’m gonna have to find a boyfriend who can get me the hell out of here, and I hope there won’t be no hard feelings.’” I sighed, because I really did have fond memories of Shania. “She told me before she started dating him. Gave me a real nice last hurrah, and told me she had to stop coming over to see me, because she was gonna start seeing Kyle, and she was gonna get him to move to Lexington with her so she could get the hell out of our shitty podunk little trailer park and shitty podunk little backwoods town.”

Torie was intently watching me. “And? Did she?”

I winced, shook my head. “Nah. He knocked her up, and now they’ve got four kids and she’s cutting hair at a Fantastic Sam’s or something like that, living in a different trailer with him in the town we grew up in.”

“Oof. That sucks.”

I nodded. “The way shit works for a lot of folks. Shania’s mom had her when she was sixteen, and Shania had her first kid at just barely seventeen—sometimes, you just get stuck.”

“But not you.”

I laughed, not a little bitterly. “Yeah, not me. I kept my ass unattached and saved every penny I could. The day I got my diploma, I had my truck packed and I was gone. Didn’t even bother walking in the commencement. Got the diploma from Principal Hyde, and I left from school that very day. I’d already said goodbye to Ma and Dad, and they knew I wasn’t coming back.”

“How’d you end up in New Haven?” she asked.

“You got a lot of questions, don’t you?” I said, wryly.

She pulled a face. “Sorry. I get nosy. You don’t have to answer.”

I waved. “Nah, ain’t got any real secrets. I left town with no clue where I was going, just figured I had to get away. I’d planned on going west; I guess I was thinking California because that’s basically as far from Kentucky as you can get. But I took a wrong freeway exit and ended up going north. So I said fuck it, I’ll go north. I was sort of homeless for a while, lived in my truck. I’d stop at a local mechanic in a random town or city and beg for busy work. Those guys always got brake jobs and oil changes and shitty boring tedious things like that when they’d rather be doing the big-dollar stuff. So I’d do those shitty jobs for cash, and take little enough that they’d make a profit on the job. That work put cash in my pocket and taught me more of my trade. I’d stay in town a few days, then keep heading north.”

“Wow. And you were, what? Eighteen?”

“Seventeen, couple months shy of eighteen.” I gestured at the shop below us. “I ended up here sort of by mistake. I was driving around looking for somewhere to park so I could sleep. Happened by this building—it was opened up and had a For Sale sign. The owner was just about to close up, and I asked him how much he wanted. I had quite a bit of cash saved up, because my goal all along was to open my own shop. He named a price, and I haggled him down. We came to an agreement, and I managed to talk a banker into giving me a loan, with almost all my cash as a down payment. Shouldn’t have gotten that loan, honestly, being seventeen, no credit, just a duffel bag full of cash I’d spent ten years saving.”

“It’s impressive as hell, Rhys, is what it is.”

I shook my head. “Nah. Just making ends meet, keeping food in my belly.”

She blew a raspberry. “Quit being modest, Rhys. You’re twenty-six and running a successful garage. It’s an impressive accomplishment.” She gestured at her backpack and the pile of sopping wet clothes. “That’s just about everything I own. I have no education beyond high school, no real skills other than waiting tables, and not even a hobby I’m passionate about.”

I sighed. “If you ask me, I think you’re being too hard on yourself. Just because your sisters have figured their shit out doesn’t mean you’re behind because you haven’t decided at twenty what you want to do with the rest of your life. You’re twenty and you’ve been living on your own and taking care of yourself. That on its own is no mean feat. Most twenty-year-olds I’ve met ain’t got a clue about taking care of themselves. You and me, we’re a rare breed, Torie.”

She yawned, stretched, and I had force my eyes away from what the stretch did to press her tits against her shirt. “God, what a day,” she mumbled.

I pointed at the corner of my loft where my bedroom was. “Take the bed. I’ll head back downstairs and work for a while so you can get to sleep.”

She shook her head. “I appreciate your kindness and generosity more than I can say, Rhys, but I draw the line at taking your bed. The pull-out is absolutely fine.”

My drive to impress her, to do good things for her was shouting at me to press the issue, but I saw something in her eyes, an independent streak that I recognized as like my own. If I was in her position, I wouldn’t take the bed.

“I really don’t mind,” I said. “My sister visited me a few months ago, and I gave her the bed, and I slept on the pull-out. Slept like a baby.” Sue me—I had to try.

“If you slept like a baby on it, then so will I.”

The conversation had been easy, and I hadn’t even noticed when we’d moved to sit on the couch. We were close—not quite touching, but sitting with less distance between us than near-total strangers would normally have. She leaned forward, and I thought for a split second that she was going to kiss me; my heart started pounding and my dick sat up and took notice.