Page 3 of Sure, Pal

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Evan

“Son, hand me that wrench over there.” My dad leaned over the hood of my beautiful 1969 Camaro, up to his elbows in grease. The car was supposed to be a gift for my eighteenth birthday, but it wasn’t running yet. He bought the Camaro one and half years early and said, “Let’s get that engine purring by the time you graduate high school. Then, the car’s yours.”

My older sister, Bea, whined about getting a plain old Hyundai Elantra for her eighteenth birthday. When my dad came home with my Camaro, Bea said, “Evan always gets special treatment! I think we all know who Dad’s favorite is!”

Our dad had laughed and messed up Bea’s shiny blonde hair. “Oh, Bea!”

I wasn’t my dad’s favorite. Parents don’t honestly pick favorite children, but we did have a special bond. I handed my dad the wrench he’d asked for and couldn’t help but smile at the sheer excitement in his eyes.

Ava’s white Jetta pulled into the driveway a moment later, and she jumped out before shutting off the engine. “Ah! Baby!” She ran over to me, leaving her car door open and flung her arms around my neck.

I laughed out loud. “Aves, I’m going to get your cute little dress all dirty.”

She laughed and kissed me. “I don’t care.” I loved Ava’s bubbly excitement and passion for life. I kissed her back and then looked up to see Sienna in the passenger seat. She rolled her eyes and leaned over to pull Ava’s keys from the ignition. Sienna blew her long, dark hair out of her eyes and then slowly climbed out of the car. She closed her door, then Ava’s, and made her way over to us.

“Wow.” Sienna’s eyes traveled over my Camaro. “That is a beautiful car.”

My dad looked up and grinned at her. “Smart girl.”

Ava turned to the car now. “You’re going to like paint it, right?” The Camaro was bright orange with white stripes down the hood. The paint was chipped and rusted, and it looked truly terrible.

I laughed. “Yeah, Aves. What color should I paint it?”

Ava slid her arm around my waist. “Blue, like your eyes!”

Sienna shook her head. “No, this car needs a serious badass color. Either black or red.”

My dad laughed again as he finished tightening something on the engine. I didn’t know what he was doing yet, but he was going to teach me everything he knew about cars over the next couple of years. He wiped his hands on a rag and said, “Well, son, you can have a car that’s blue like your gorgeous eyes or badass like your old man.” He patted me on the back. “I’ll let you be with your friends, but let’s get back out here bright and early tomorrow.”

“Sounds good, dad. You might have to wake me up, though.”

“You bet your ass I’ll wake you up if you’re not out here by seven.” My dad waved at Ava and Sienna. “Good to see you, girls.” Then he turned and headed back into the house.

Ava pushed me up against the Camaro and kissed me again. “Mmm,” she sighed. “I couldn’t give you a proper hello with your dad watching.” She kissed me again and again.

Sienna snorted. “Well, I’m still here. I don’t want to watch you eat each other’s faces either.”

I quickly pulled away from Ava and glanced at Sienna. “Sorry, pal.”

Sienna raised a single eyebrow at me. “Are you?”

Ava laughed. “Fine, Sienna, we’ll go make out in Evan’s new car, and you can look the other way.”

“Fucking hell, Ava! Why did you drag me here if you just wanted to make out with your stupid boyfriend?”

“Hey! Stupid?” I grinned at Sienna.

Ava laughed and stood on her tiptoes to kiss me again. “Don’t call my baby stupid, Si.”

Sienna groaned and covered her face with both hands. “Evan, is Rob coming?”

Rob was my best friend. He’d asked Sienna to the middle school dance before I could even work up the courage to admit that I wanted to ask her. They never started dating, but I backed off anyway. But that was all such a long time ago. Why was I even thinking about it? “Yeah, he should be heading over after he gets off work.”

“Cool.” Sienna’s voice was deadpan. “Are you guys seriously going to make out right now?” She shook her head. “Do whatever you want. Is Charlie home, Evan? I’ll hang out with her.”

Charlie was my thirteen-year-old little sister. Charlie and Sienna were a lot alike. They were both deep and sarcastic. I laughed. “Yeah, she’s up in her room trying to figure out how to put on make-up.”

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