Page 121 of Live for Me

New Jersey looked every bit as annoyed to see me as I imagined I looked about seeing him in the kitchen already.

“Kids,” was all he said with a nod in our direction over his coffee cup.

“Pappaw,” Indy said and nodded right back at him.

How that coffee cup in his hands hadn’t turned into an airborne weapon was a testament to the existence of miracles. I wondered if New Jersey really had found a way to just fucking lighten up after being back here and having Indy around pretty much all the time. I imagined even grumpy old pricks would have to find Indy funny after he wore them down.

“On your way back out?” New Jersey asked. “Taking him with you this time?”

So maybe Indy still hadn’t worn him down.

“No,” I said quickly. “I’ve got something else to handle now before I get back to work.”

I held my phone out to Indy with the number already pulled up.

“Who is it?” Indy asked.

“The guy from that bar who hit on Memphis,” I said, assuming she’d already told Indy parts of the story from that night. “He’s been texting her.”

“What?” Jersey asked. “Why does he have her number at all?”

I blew out all the air in my body and tried to prepare myself for the shit he was about to give me. “I took her out to a bar because she hadn’t been in one before. She got drunk. Some guy introduced himself, they danced, she gave him her number, and now he won’t go away. So I’m going to make him.”

Jersey looked from me to Indy like he was waiting for one of us to start laughing at a prank we were pulling at his expense.

“You took a girl you like out to a bar and let her dance with some other guy? Then let her give her number to him? Dating really is weird now.”

“Well, from the stories I’ve heard, you’re not anywhere near as great as you think you are, Zip Ties.”

New Jersey rolled his eyes before he put his coffee cup down on the counter. “Give me ten minutes, lover boy. I’m going with you.”

He was already out of the kitchen before the shock lifted from my body to allow me to speak again.

“The fuck?” I mumbled.

“You’re about to have a great day,” Indy said and laughed at himself. “Bonding with your girlfriend’s stand-in dad over a game of ‘put the fear of God into some poor unsuspecting soul who happened to see a cute girl one night’.”

“A nightmare,” I corrected. “I’m about to have a nightmare.”

I heard Trista’s voice from the hallway a couple seconds before New Jersey appeared in the kitchen again. He was right back in his top tier asshole style, wearing a full suit and carrying a pink duffle bag in his hand.

“Just stay out of it. She’s going to be so mad at you,” Triss said and grabbed Jersey’s arm. She paused to look at me. “And at you,” she added.

“That’s not really anything new for me. She’s been mad at me for a portion of just about every single day for nearly half a decade now. One more time won’t kill me,” Jersey shrugged and turned back to kiss Triss on the cheek. “Stay out of trouble, Fancy Face. Come on, kid, we’ll take Seph.”

“Um, side note,” Indy said. “What are we supposed to tell Memphis when she asks what you’re both out doing with only one of your vehicles gone?”

“Tell her I don’t even like having to tolerate one punk hanging around here just to be close to her,” Jersey said, smiling like he was excited about what we were about to do. “So, I’m damn sure not letting a second one get close.”

“Felt like there was going to be a moment in there when I could almost thank you for wanting to help,” I mumbled. “Just for you to shit all over that opportunity with your attitude problem.”

Jersey smiled while he smacked me on the shoulder and went to the door. I looked at the other two and felt a little better to see they were both just as confused by this encounter as I was.

“It’s almost creepy to see him this kind of happy,” Indy whispered to Triss. “He’swillinglygoing on a jobwith Utah. Volunteered for it even.”

“I think maybe it’s just been a minute since he had the chance to hurt someone,” Triss said and shrugged her shoulders.

“Let me know what you find on this guy,” I said to Indy before I turned to catch up to New Jersey.

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