Page 24 of Lovewell Lane

“Night, Slick.”

Something about the notion that my own father was worried about my love life really stuck in the back of my teeth. I was happy, and more importantly, Tessa was happy. We didn’t need a woman to complete our family unit.

We certainly didn’t needthatwoman. She was nearly ten years younger than me, and clearly in a different stage of her life. I was in bed by nine p.m. sharp while she was out alone at a dive bar until nearly midnight. That would drive me crazy in a relationship. It was driving me crazynow.

So reckless. It bothered me more that I didn’t even know she was out. What if my phone was on silent and I didn’t hear her call? What would she have done?

The thing that got me through raising my entire family after my mom’s death and my dad’s injury was having tabs on everyone and everything. To this day, Calli and Jack still share their location with me. Sam doesn’t even leave city limits without talking my ear off about it.

Having some woman that I now had responsibility over, if only because I was one of the few people she knew here, reminded me of that time. She was chaotic. And new. My entire routine was thrown off by her presence alone. Yet, I still was interested to know more.

I wasinterestedin her. Not just physically attracted. Don’t get me wrong— I was also physically attracted to her, but it was more than just that. This was something I hadn’t felt since nearly childhood.

I wanted to get to know Margo Sinclair. Up until this point, I’d only ever cared about me and mine. Sure, I tried to be a good person and look after my community. But, individually, the only people I ever cared to spend time with were my family and Andy.

Until Margo. And I didn’t know what the fuck to do about that.

Birds singing pulled me out of my thoughts. Beams of light filtered through the curtains in my bedroom. I hadn’t slept at all.Finally taking that cold shower cleared my head, if only a little bit.

I found Slick in the kitchen already sipping on his cup of coffee. “Do you mind staying in here for an hour?”

“Got plans?”

Not wanting to continue our conversation from last night, I stole the coffee pot from him and poured myself a thermos. “I’ll be back in an hour. Thanks.”

-

“So you do like her?”

I loudly slammed my truck’s door shut before glaring at my best friend. “I’m being a good human. Setting an example for my daughter. Why does everyone assume that means I like the woman?”

Andy shrugged with a smirk. “You’re feisty lately. I like that.”

“I’mannoyed.”

“Hate is not the opposite of love, my friend.”

“Save your words of wisdom for someone who will listen.”

I handed him the car keys that Margo left in my truck last night. He took them and got to work testing out the car. The lot Barley’s was situated in was empty, so I took in the beginnings of a nice sunrise while sipping my coffee.

“Just needs a new battery,” he informed me. “Let’s jump it, and I’ll replace it at the shop.”

I pulled out the black and red cables from a box in the bed of my truck. Handing him two ends, I walked around to pop my hood. “Do you like her?” I asked.

My friend’s head popped up from where it was under the hood of her car. “Margo?” I nodded. “She seems nice.”

“No, do youlikeher? The way you’re implying I do.”

He laughed and patted my shoulder. “You’ve got no competition from me, dude. She seems great.”

Honestly, I was hoping he’d say yes. He could take her off my hands and sweep her off her feet. Andy was a great guy, he’d make a great partner. And it would solve my curiosity for why I wassointerested in her. Everyone else must see what I saw, too.

Maybe my friend just had awful taste in women. Even after meeting her for the first time, I was drawn in by her sweet smiles that gave way to sass and bite when she was provoked. Her constant need to figure everyone out, and making everyone else around her comfortable while she drew as little attention to herself as possible. On the outside, she was a flashy disco ball, but she never really opened up about herself. Not that I saw at least.

And that only made me want to know more.

We didn’t talk about Margo again for the rest of the morning. I helped hand him parts while he replaced her car battery and paid for it once he was finished. He tried to convince me not to pay, but he knew I’d always find a way to put cash in his box no matter how much he refused.

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