Page 74 of The Sweetest Devotion

Kennedy examined my T-shirt she was wearing. “Ah.”

She was so serious in her fancy clothes, her high heels, and her prim image, Iwantedto see her in jeans and an old T-shirt getting down and dirty.

“I’ll text you,” I said as I felt the smile slip from my face.

I went out to my Tahoe and got in behind the wheel, reveling in the space now wedged between us.

Mobb Deep was playing as I drove in to work. A much-needed distraction from my overall disappointment.

As expected, Uncle Rod was lingering around when I made it in. On an ordinary day, he’d be in his office doing paperwork, while I worked the garage with a few other mechanics.

Today wasn’t one of those days.

“?’Sup, Keith,” Uncle Rod greeted me as he leaned against the front counter, giving me his full attention.

Jake was on the other end, digging in a pink pastry box. He grabbed a cream stick and turned, eyes and ears eager to hear our conversation.

Not happening.

Ignoring my uncle, I breezed by the front room and stepped out into the garage. The smell of gasoline and oil swept around me, clogging my senses, ridding me of a certain perfume. Now if only an engine or tire could get the image of a silly little dance out of my head.

Whistling sounded at my back and I knew my uncle had followed me out here.

I grabbed a clipboard hanging from the wall and checked the day’s itinerary. One of the cars amid the lineup was a Ford Fusion in need of fresh brake pads. Simple.

“She sure was pretty,” Uncle Rod marveled as he came around me.

On second thought, it was best to store my lunch in the mini fridge in Rod’s office first.

Naturally, he was on my heels as I took off in that direction.

“Drop it,” I barked out as we passed Jake’s stance at the front counter.

The sound of chuckling let me know my uncle didn’t take orders from me. With everyone else in the shop, all it took was one look and they went scattering.

In his office, Uncle Rod was quick to lean against the doorpost, studying me as I tossed my lunch in the fridge next to the one I hadn’t eaten the day before.

“What’s gotten you in a foul mood, boy?” he asked.

I stood tall, facing my uncle and blocking out all bullshit from the past twenty-four hours. “Nothing. I’m just ready to work.”

“Uh-huh.” He wasn’t convinced.

Fuck, I needed a cigarette and I really was trying to quit.

I sighed. “I got stuff I gotta sort out, that’s all.”

“Wouldn’t happen to do with that pretty little thing that was in here yesterday, would it?” Uncle Rod went on.

“It’s nothing.”

“You know, you’re not gettin’ any younger, Keith,” Uncle Rod tried to say. “?’Bout time you found you someone nice and settled down, started a family or somethin’.”

This was rich coming from a bachelor. Not that Rod hadn’t ever been around with a woman before. Currently, he was in between partners, and he liked it that way. Or so he said. “Less complicated, less pressure,” he’d argued.

The fact that he thoughtIshould be with a woman when he found solitude peaceful was humorous.

He was right though. As was Savon. I wasn’t getting any younger.

---