Page 67 of Love at First Ride
I check where my boys are at. ‘I heard somebody say it was Hollie Palmer. But I don’t know for sure.’
‘So, go ask her.’
I wince. Rub my fingers through my hair. ‘Can’t.’
‘Why? You too chicken?’
The crowd cheers loudly when Def Leppard blasts over the sound system. I say nothing.
‘You’re pathetic, AJ Callahan,’ she says, finishing her beer. ‘I gotta get back to work.’
We kick the college kids off the pool table after Nando finds us some more quarters. I spend the next hour with my buddies.
Except I’m thinking about Hollie.
Nicole is right.
I am chicken shit.
And when I think about what I’m afraid of, I guess it’s finding out that she wasn’t the girl in the closet that one time, and somebody made that shit up. Or that she doesn’t feel the same way about me as I now do about her.
I look at Reyes and Brennan.Am I gonna spend the rest of my life skulking around a shitty bar with these two clowns?
I crane my neck, trying to see if I can see her, only I can’t see shit for the number of bodies in here.
My brain is screaming at me.Grow a pair.
‘Where the hell you going?’ Chase hollers after me when I walk away.
‘Gotta go see about something,’ I tell him. ‘Catch you later.’
I make my way through the crowd. I don’t recognize these people. Then I set eyes on her, in the corner, near the dance floor, the neon light bouncing off her pink hair.
When I reach her, she’s not expecting to see me, though she doesn’t smile neither. I grab her hand and bring my lips close to her ear.
‘Can we talk outside?’ I ask over the music.
I pull back. She stares at me, then nods her head. I keep hold of her hand, our fingers entwined as I lead her from the dance floor, through the crowd to the door.
In the night air, I lead her around the side of the building, toward the base of the outer steps that lead up to my room, the music inside the building still thrumming.
I’m nervous. My heart is pounding somethin’ furious. I let go of her hand.
She stands there, saying nothing. I should have thought this through, because right now, my thoughts are mixed up like snakes in a barrel. ‘I, uh—’ I begin, and run my fingers through my hair. ‘Echo said you got a wristband.’
She’s pissed at me. Her face is in shadow but it’s obvious. She makes it worse by crossing her arms over her chest. ‘As you can see,’ she says.
‘So, I just… I just wanted to say I’m sorry again,’ I say. ‘For leaving you behind in Roswell.’
She shakes her head. ‘Whatever makes you feel better, AJ. And you’re only apologizing because Echo told you to.’
This is worse than I thought. ‘That’s not true.’
‘You couldn’t wait to get out of there. Noah was gone, you didn’t need me and my poor excuse for a car holding you back. I mean, god forbid.’
‘Echo was gonna fire me.’
She raises her voice. ‘Why would Echo fire somebody he moved into a room above his bar and went out of his way to look after when you went off the rails? And, yes, AJ, Noah told me what happened to you after Mo passed away. So, your decision to leave me in Roswell – ohthanksby the way – had nothing to do with keeping your job. I’d just served my purpose. I’m so stupid that I didn’t realize it sooner.’
