Sam Frisby was a great man and like a father to me. He gave me a shot when no one else in town would and I always hoped to repay him for that. The day he died my heart broke twice, once for losing someone so important to me in my life, and again for his daughter Caroline.He was all she had and for years I heard him sing her praises. There was never anyone or anything he loved more than his baby girl, and I'll never forget the way he'd light up when she walked into the shop.The car accident was a freak thing that happened in a blink of an eye. I sometimes wonder if he didn't sense something was coming because a couple of days before the accident he pulled me into his office."Hey, Nolan, everything going okay at the shop?""All good, thanks to you." I grab his hand and pull him in for a hug and we slap one another on the back. I lean back and grab the stool next to his desk as I get down to business. "What up? You said it's important. Everything over here okay?""Yep, we've still got
I peek over to see Nolan turning away from me as he goes back to working on the grill. I tell myself it's because he thinks Mitch is going to burn the food. He's got Roxy in his arms and they are kissing like long-lost lovers. I smile when Mitch openly squeezes Roxy's ass. They're so freaking adorable.Mitch would have gotten a broken hand a few months ago, but now Roxy loves those hands and has gotten used to his open displays of affection. How many times have I thought of doing the same with Nolan? What if I could run up and jump into his arms? I know it would never happen, not only because he doesn't want me but I don't see Nolan as the type of guy to want to be public about anything. He's still so much of a mystery to me."You hungry?" Joey asks as he takes a drink of his beer. I don't know him as well as the other guys since he's only been here a few months. He's nice enough and welcomed me when I walked in. Everyone did except Nolan."I'll get something in a minute."I'm not goi
By the time I'm calmed down enough to apologize to Caroline I realize she's gone."Where did she go?" I scan the room again just to be sure and I hear the hesitation in Mitch's voice. "Tell me."I glare at him for all of two seconds before he folds."She was upset. She wanted to know why no one would ask her out and it sort of slipped that you've got your rule about—""Fuck." I run my fingers through my hair as frustration takes hold. "Did she go home?""Um, about that." Mitch takes a big step back and suddenly my hackles are rising."Spill it." I clench my fists at my side as I prepare for the worst."She said she had a date and took off, that's as far as I got." The last few words are rushed out as he holds his hands up and backs away even farther. Mitch is smart because I feel like hitting something right now."Goddamn it," I mumble under my breath, stomping from the back yard into the shop.When I burst through the metal door I look over to see Chunky lazily lift his head up from
"Well, look what the cat dragged in," she says, with glassy eyes and the strong scent of tequila on her breath."Thanks, man, I can take her from here," some skinny guy wearing a CrossFit shirt says as he reaches for Caroline."What you can do is back the fuck up." I narrow my eyes at him and he pauses. "She's mine.""Not according to my bar tab." The little shit must be blind because I'm almost twice his size."This is Ronnie. He let me try tequila," Caroline slurs and I roll my eyes. "It's pretty gross but it's less gross with limes. I had two whole shots.""Well, Ronnie is about to get his teeth knocked out." I see his eyebrows pull together like he's calculating if Caroline is worth the fight. She is, but he wouldn't make it out alive."Whatever," he finally tosses out when he decides he can't take me. He turns to walk away but even over the noise of the place I can hear him. "Bitch can't handle her liquor anyway."I've got Caroline on her feet and behind me in a flash as I grab R
When I open my eyes I see a giant glass of water and two pills sitting next to it. I down them both before falling right back to sleep. I have no idea how they got there, but I'm oh so thankful for them. It's much later when I wake up again and there's a banging on my door."Rise and shine!" Roxy shouts before the door flies open. I'm surprised she knocked at all.I sit up, feeling so much better than I did the first time, but I don't even know what time it is."It's four in the afternoon." Roxy answers my unspoken question. My eyes go wide. I'm happy I didn't have anything to do this weekend. She shuts my door behind her and brings in a bag of food."Oh God," I groan as flashes of the night before come back to me."I can't believe you went and got drunk for the first time without me." Roxy drops the bag of food down on my small dining room table and narrows her eyes at me, trying to look pissed."I'm never—"She cuts me off. "Oh yeah, you're doing that again. Maybe not tonight or eve
"He called Mitch to bail him out of jail, but before he even told him he got arrested, he was making sure Mitch had me checking on you. I mean come on. The man is in love with you." Everything she says is white noise after I hear "arrested."I stand up from my chair, almost knocking it over. "Arrested?""Well, you can't just punch people." She shrugs like it's no big deal Nolan got arrested. Guilt hits me hard and I close my eyes. I got him arrested. All he was trying to do was look after me. I'm an adult. I know he feels he needs to take care of me because of my dad, but not like this."Where is he?" I ask. I need to tell him I'm sorry. Then I need to get the hell out of here. I'm not only messing with my life, I'm messing with his too. Nolan is a minor celebrity. I can't imagine this will be good for his reputation. I'm pretty sure he even has an agent or something."Probably back from the car show. Mitch got him out early this morning." That's right, it's Saturday. There's always a
"Fuck," I grunt as I try to hold still."I'm almost there," Stacy says softly, and I close my eyes.I try to take my mind off what's happening but it's no use. Everywhere inside me is pain, so why not feel that on the outside as well?"We've been at this for years, are you ever going to be done with me?" Stacy pauses and I let out a deep breath."I told you earlier this is the last time." I hear a small laugh, but it's not a lie; this time I mean it."The next time you text me in the middle of the night, I'll remind you of that."I hear talking on the other side of the door and I look up."Don't worry. I locked it." Stacy confirms my unspoken question and I nod."How much longer?" I ask, ready to put my clothes back on.There's a long pause and then the pain is gone. "You're all set."My feet are a little unsteady as I stand up and stretch. The muscles in my back ache but in a good way. Some people might not consider getting tattooed to be therapeutic, but in a weird way it helps me g
I hit the steering wheel again as if it will help. I can't believe this is happening. I have no idea what is wrong with my car. I've checked everything I could think of and it's flat-out dead. It's like someone flipped a switch and everything went out.I pick up my dead cell, willing it to work but drop it back down when all I see is a black screen. That's what I get for trying to get the hell outta Dodge without a plan. I'm lucky my car was home to begin with. I have no idea how it got from the bar to my place last night. It had to have been Nolan because he always takes care of me in some way.My plan is to not be his to take care of anymore, but right now I wish for nothing more than him to appear and fix this. Even though I shouldn't have, I found comfort in knowing he was always next door. It was part of why I chose to move out of my childhood home. It wasn't just for a change, it was to be closer to him so I'd get to see him every day."He's busy," I remind myself.I swallow the