Page 6 of Scrap Metal & Love Reforged

“You have an impressive knowledge of motorcycles,” Seth said. “Unfortunately, none of my friends do. I don’t suppose you’d want to have a round of drinks sometime and talk about them?”

Was he asking me on adate? My stomach flipped. Tempting… very tempting, but dangerous. I couldn’t possibly accept without outing myself. And maybe I was jumping to conclusions, anyway. It was probably just a friendly offer. With his looks and apparent wealth, Seth probably already had a girlfriend. Or boyfriend. Whatever.

Besides, I had plenty to do without throwing a wrench into it. Relationships took time and effort, and those were luxuries I could not afford.

“No, but thanks,” I said. “I’ll be happy to look over your bike, though.”

“Cool,” Seth replied, seemingly unfazed by the rejection. “I called earlier and made an appointment with Janet. Just call when you’re finished. I actually have somewhere to be, a last-minute kind of thing, so Uber’s picking me up.”

“Will do,” I said. “We've got a few ahead of you, but I can get you in.”

Seth smiled and handed me the keys. “Perfect.”

I didn’t ask why Seth had a giant keychain of what looked like a zombie Yoda head holding his keys. Instead, I merely curled my fingers around them and made the trip back to the shop.

“Bye, Seth!” I heard Skye say. She was actually waving…gawd.

I placed his keys on the counter and flipped through the schedule, searching for his name. There he was, right on time. I grimaced at the computer screen. It was a good thing Sethwasn’tgoing to wait. We were at least forty-five minutes behind where we ought to be.

I sensed Skye standing before me and raised my head, preparing for the unwanted lecture.

“Why would you sayno?” Skye asked, looking at me as if I’d just committed some unforgivable crime.

“Because I don’t want to go have drinks with him,” I replied.

“Well,Ithink you need to get out more,” Skye said. “I’d let him takemeto have drinks.”

“Then, I guess you should’ve asked for his number.”

“And you need to make friends. I know it’s hard, but—”

“I do have friends,” I said.

“Online friends don't count.”

“Of course, it counts,” I argued. “Honestly, Skye, don’t you have anything better to do than come around and lecture me?”

Skye’s face reddened. “You know,” she said slowly, “Lance’s death hurt me, too.”

Her words landed like a punch to the gut, but I wouldn’t admit it. Not to her or anyone. Maybe not even myself.

“This isn’t about Lance,” I replied. “I’m doing fine on my own. That’s all. You don’t have to mother over me all the time.”

Skye stiffened. “Fine,” she said, spinning on her pink heels and storming out.

I watched as she climbed into her car, slamming the door.

“What happened?” Arthur asked.

I turned around and found him looking at me. He held onto the doorframe leading into the back office, as if hecaredabout what had happened, but not enough to actually come out and investigate for himself.

“Nothing,” I replied, shrugging. “She wanted a tire rotation, but she left her wallet at home.”

“Oh,” Arthur said, clearly oblivious. “That’s unfortunate. We really ought to consider partnering Visa or someone.”

“That’s a great idea,” I lied.

I watched until my sister’s car was a blue dot in the distance. When I looked onto the sidewalk, Seth was gone. It wouldn’t have been right to go have drinks with him, not when I found him so attractive; not when I hadn’t even told him I was gay. It wasn’t that I wasashamedof that, but I also knew how unpredictable people could be when they learned your sexual orientation. Keeping quiet wasn't shame—it wassurvival. Unfortunately, survival made me feel guilty sometimes.