Page 161 of The Friends and Rivals Collection

“I can take it from here,” Sam says, a few hours later. “But thanks for staying late to help me.”

“No problem.” I grab a rag and wipe my dirty hands.

Sam needed a little help on this beast, and that’s my job—to show him how to make an engine sing, not fuck a girl on the hood of the car he’s restoring. Perhaps staying late is my penance for my hypocrisy.

“So.” Sam clears his throat as he works on degreeing the cam. “You and Henley?—”

I jerk my head, nerves prickling the back of my neck as I cut him off. “What do you mean?”

He didn’t breathe a word about the two of us all evening, and it’s not his place to either. Even so, I can’t help but feel I crossed lines tonight when I decided to sleep with the rival.

Sam cranes his neck to look up from the engine at me. “Whoa. I was just going to say I didn’t realize you and Henley used to work together.”

I release a tight breath as I set down the rag. Momentary relief floods me. The question he’s asked is simple. “Yeah, she was my apprentice five years ago.”

“Karen mentioned it when we went out a second time.”

“Karen the mechanic at John Smith? I met her briefly the other week when I stopped by.”

Sam nods as he takes a reading from the dial indicator.

“She likes Henley. She says she’s a great builder.

Karen loves having another chick there, and she said that all the guys over there have a lot of respect for her.

They think she’s doing a great job at the shop.

I just hadn’t realized you two had some history, and now you’re working together on the show car.

That’s how tight this business is.” He laughs. “Small world, huh?”

I force out a chuckle that sounds as if it’s strangling me. “Yeah, it sure is.”

I feel like an ass for telling Sam to watch his back on his date.

Meanwhile, I torched my own advice to ashes a few hours ago.

I’m not sure what to say next, but I decide to start with being less of an asshole boss about his personal life.

“So, you and Karen are getting along?” I ask, and it feels like eating chalk.

I do not enjoy talking about extracurriculars with my employees.

Their private lives should be private. But, I started the discussion, so I need to finish it with a proper reset, not another warning on who to date.

“We’re going to keep seeing each other. It’s not like we’re going to pool our resources and get one of those ten-thousand-dollar Snap-on Mammoth tool sets and open a shop together. But she’s cool.”

I laugh and gesture to the five-foot-high tool set I’ve got that contains everything under the sun that a professional builder needs. “A 10K Snap-on tool set is absolutely the sign of true love.”

Sam taps his temple with his free hand. “I’ll keep that tidbit up here in case someone ever gives me one.”

“I’m glad to hear it’s going well with her.” I walk closer to the engine, and it’s then that I see he’s about to make an error.

“Hold on.” I shift gears from after-hours affairs to the engine as I explain what he’s doing wrong.

His face is crestfallen. “Oh shit.”

I clap his back. “No worries, man. That’s what I’m here for. Let’s get this right.”

I’m patient as I walk him through the next steps in degreeing the cam. It’s painstaking work, and calls for incredible precision, but Sam listens and takes direction well. Soon enough, we’ve got the issue tackled.

He holds up a fist for knocking. “Man, am I glad you didn’t leave right away.”

I knock back. “You know you should never hesitate to ask me anything, right? Whatever you need help with. That’s my job,” I say, and this is way easier than who’s dating who at the competition. I take some solace that I’m still good at teaching my guys.

He nods, an earnest look in his blue eyes. “I do. I appreciate it.” Then he winks. “By the way, you do know this car is a dude, right?”

I laugh. “And does he have a name?”

“Of course. I’m going to call him Kyle the Sex Machine.”

“That’s an awful name for a car.”

He laughs. “I know. But I named it that because I want to hear Mike say it.”

“Now that you mention it, so do I.”

When I return to my apartment, I pour a Scotch and work my way around the table for a solo round of pool.

As I sink the balls, I think back on this evening.

I managed Sam like a pro, segueing from work to his personal life.

I should be able to manage a one-night stand with the same sort of ease and insight.

Nothing ruffles me. Nothing throws me off. Not work. Not cars. Not women.

But as I roll my neck from side to side, I’m not feeling so unruffled. I’m not experiencing the cool, blasé attitude I’d like to possess after an evening of delivering multiple Os to a woman I’ve wanted.

Instead, I’m wired and wound up. I pull on basketball shorts and a T-shirt and head downstairs to the gym in my building, where I run on the treadmill for five miles, trying to shed this antsy, unsettled sensation in my gut.

The exercise wears me out, and after a hot shower, I get into bed. Stupidly, I check my phone.

That’s when it clicks—why I’m out of sorts. I drag a hand through my hair. “Dipshit,” I mutter. I’m waiting to hear from her. Like a fucking teenager. A moony, mopey teenager.

For better or worse, I’m not the kind of man to sit around and wait for a chick. I’m a man of action. I open my contacts, find her number, and send her a text.

Max: Since you still don’t like coffee, what do you like to drink?

The tension in me unwinds somewhat. I draw in a long breath, feeling it spread through my tight muscles, willing it to relax me.

I close my eyes, ready to drift off, when my phone blips.

I grab it from the covers in world-record time.

I’ll need to let Guinness know later what I’ve accomplished in the Over Eager Dude category.

Henley: Hot chocolate is my style.

In the dark of my bedroom, with the moonlight slicing soft rays over the covers, a smile spreads on my face.

A flash of images pops before my eyes. Her unicorn and rainbow shirt.

Her pink sparkly sunglasses. Her affection for bubble-gum music.

The take-no-prisoners, keep-up-with-the-guys, do-a-man’s-work woman has such a girlie side.

It’s fucking adorable.

Max: Yeah, that sounds just like you.

But that’s not quite enough to say to a woman you devoured on a car hours earlier.

Max: Also, your drink preferences are duly noted. And I hope your thing went well.

Henley: My thing went great. Glad to hear you’ve made the proper beverage notations. Ideally, gourmet hot chocolate.

My fingers hover over the phone, and I contemplate typing out one more text. Something witty. Something flirty. Something to let her know she’s not just on my mind; she’s the epicenter of it.

But the only thing I want to say right now is the hard truth.

I’m dying to know what your thing is. I want you to tell me what you do after work. I want to know your thing isn’t the thing we did on the car. I toss the phone to the other side of the bed. If I say that, it’ll be patently obvious I want more than one night with her.

And that would be very bad for business.