Page 42 of Control Freak

“Oh Jesus,” he muttered.

“Gonna be scarred for life,” Bailey said mournfully. “Nova once walked in on her mom and dad making out. I get it now.”

“Nova?” I asked.

“My best friend,” Bailey said. “She’ll probably stop by next week. Unless I warn her to stay away from this little show.” He waved his finger between us.

Holden gave an exasperated sigh. “If you’re here for lunch, we’re almost done. You can head back to the shop.”

“Actually, Axel called and asked us to take something over for Flynn.”

“Oh. Shit. Should have thought of that.” Holden quickly assembled two more sandwiches and slipped them into a Ziploc bag. “Can you run it over there, Bailey? I’ve got a call with a supplier in a few minutes.”

“Sure, I need a break from the shop, anyway.”

“I’ll go too, if that’s okay,” I said. “I haven’t seen the junkyard yet.”

Holden raised an eyebrow. “No more working today?”

“No,” I said slowly. “But I didn’t think you’d want to hear about it if I was?”

“No, yeah,” he said quickly. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“I’ll always tell you the truth. Just be sure you’re ready to hear it.”

He nodded, slipping another sandwich into a Ziploc. “Here, Bails. Mustard and pickles, just how you like it.”

“Thanks,” Bailey said, taking it from him carefully so their fingers didn’t brush. I’d noticed the way Bailey moved around Holden, close but always aware of their proximity. He never crossed Holden’s boundaries, but he also didn’t keep his distance.

I needed to learn that art because I was sure Holden must feel the absence of closeness. I wanted to bridge that gap while respecting his needs.

“Okay, let’s go,” Bailey said. “But don’t get your hopes up. The junkyard is boring. Grab a coat, too, because it’s cold as fuck.”

I blew Holden a kiss goodbye, retreated to the bedroom to grab my puffy jacket, and then followed Bailey outside. If I was going to stay here for more than a few days, I wanted to get to know all the brothers. Make sure they were okay with me hanging around.

“So, Holden says you’re going to college in the fall?”

Bailey glanced at me sidelong. “Guess so.”

“What’s your major?”

He shoved the sandwiches into the pocket of his fleece-lined jean jacket. “Dunno. Probably mechanical engineering.”

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense.”

He shrugged. “I’m mechanically inclined. Not so great with school, though. Not sure how this college thing will pan out.”

I cocked my head, my teacher side coming to the surface. “You’ve probably got a hands-on learning style. Just guessing since you’re a mechanic. That means sitting and listening to lectures may not be the best way for you to learn.”

“So, college is a bad idea, right?”

“Not necessarily,” I said. “You’ll have to work a little harder for some classes, but if the lecture isn’t sticking, look for study methods that require you to use your hands. Build a model of something, or even create some sort of poster or presentation, you know? I bet mechanical engineering will have some hands-on labs too, and you’ll do great with those.”

Bailey gave me an odd look. “You have a lot of ideas about it.”

I chuckled. “Sorry. Teacher habit.”

His eyes widened. “You’re ateacher?”