Accepting his hand to help me up off the ground, I got ready to go again. “I’m already starting to figure that out.”
ONCE MY DAD and I were done fighting and had talked awhile longer, I grabbed some food and drove over to the tattoo parlor where I got all my work done. Walking in, I headed over to Brian, a friend of my parents’. He was practically family and I’d always gone to him whenever anything happened in my life. But I hadn’t seen him since I’d found out Kennedy was in California, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he somehow found out and got pissed because I’d failed to mention anything.
“What’s up, Little Chachi?” Brian called out when he saw me.
I rolled my eyes but smiled at the nickname he and his wife had passed on from my father to me.
“You lookin’ to get something? I’m sure I’ve got a good hour or so before the weekend crowd starts pouring in.”
“Not today.” Grabbing a burrito out of the bag I was holding, I tossed it in his direction.
“Ah, yes. Gift from the gods. How did you know I was dying of starvation?” he asked as he opened up the foil.
“Because you’re always dying of starvation.” I pulled a chair into his station and groaned as I ran my hands over my face.
Brian clucked his tongue. “Ah, one of those visits. Good thing I’m not stoned. I need to be clearheaded for this.”
“Shut up, Brian.”
He laughed and took a massive bite of the burrito, then nodded once and spoke around the food. “Talk at me.”
“You might want to swallow the food before I tell you this.”
His brow creased as he studied me, and after a few seconds, he went back to chewing. “Done,” he grunted, and his eyes narrowed. “Are you in some sort of trouble?”
“No, not at all. I just have a feeling you’re about to start yelling as soon as I tell you what’s going on, and I’d rather not have to call an ambulance for you when you choke on the food.”
“Makes me all warm and fuzzy to know you wouldn’t try to save me.” Brian set the burrito on his desk and crossed his arms over his chest.
“I’m sure it does,” I said with a grin, but it quickly fell. With a deep breath in, I asked, “Do you—”
“You get her flowers and beg her to forgive your stupid ass.”
My eyebrows rose. “What the fuck, Brian? I barely got two words out!”
“This about a girl?”
“Yeah, but—”
“Then you get some motherfucking flowers, and you go to her and beg her to forgive your dumb ass. There. Heart-to-heart done. Now I’m still starving, and this little piece of heaven is begging me to eat it.” Grabbing the burrito again, he took another bite and smiled through it.
“How did you even know it had to do with a girl?” I asked, somewhat amazed that Brian of all people could have guessed that.
“Because I’ve seen that exact same tortured face before.” His eyes darted to the side, and he swallowed thickly. With a slight shake of his head, he mumbled, “I still can’t believe how much you look like him now.”
“I know.” I sighed, but couldn’t even begin to imagine what he was seeing when he looked at me. Because even though pictures helped tell a story, they would never be the same as the real thing, and the guy he was talking about had died before I was born.
“So what’d you do to screw up this time?”
“What did I do? Nothing. Nothing, unless you can count wanting to be with her.”
Brian looked at me for a second as he slowly chewed his food, and made a sound of disapproval in his throat. “LC, man, I told you. Once they get a restraining order, you can’t keep going near them.”
Despite the aggravation I was still feeling even after sparring with my dad, hard laughs burst from my chest. “Aw, Bri, did you find that out firsthand?”
He shrugged. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. Maybe I ended up marrying her despite it.”
My eyes widened, and my mouth curved up. “Riss had a restraining order on you?”
“Fuck no. Her dad did. He got over it eventually. Anyway, I know you didn’t come in here to have me tell you about my life, so continue.”
“Okay, well, this is the part I didn’t want to tell you while you were eating. So stop.” I gave him a look when he started to go for another bite, and after a heavy sigh, he set the burrito down. Again.
“This better be fucking good,” he grumbled, and pouted when he eyed the food again.
“Do you remember Moon? The girl from Vegas?”
“How am I supposed to forget her? She’s the only girl you’ve talked to me about more than once.”
I rolled my eyes at his annoyed tone, but didn’t comment on it. I knew it was just because I’d told him to stop eating. “Well, she’s in San Diego.”
Brian sat up and sucked in a large breath. “No!” he said loudly, drawing out the word.
“And she’s working in Dad’s gym.”
“No! No fucking way, dude! Holy shit!” His excitement died suddenly, and he pointed at me. “I forgive you for making me put the burrito down. This made up for it. But, seriously, what are the chances of this?”
“It gets better. Her uncle is my boss.”
Brian stared at me for a minute with his mouth wide open. “Did you find her through him? Did you see a picture of her or something?”