Page 19 of The Man Next Door
He didn’t bother looking up, too focused on his work. He didn’t notice my wet hair. “Thanks, Abbs.”
“Nick threw a bowl of cereal over my head.”
“You probably did something to deserve it.”
I stared at the ground, pouting. Dad was not going to get on my side this time. That’s when I spotted Gavin working on his old car. We were friends now. I could just stroll into his yard and chat him up. I had nothing better to do.
I was careful. I knew my dad didn’t want me anywhere near the man. So I walked the other way, around the back of our trailer. I found Gavin at the back of his yard, busy at work. He didn’t notice me at first, so I just watched him for a beat. The hood was popped open, and he was hunched over the engine. He wore a dirty muscle shirt, and unlike the boys at school, he actually had the muscles for it. I was impressed.
I couldn’t stay in incognito mode too long because Magnum spotted me and came hurling toward me. His excitement was contagious.
I stroked him under the chin, and he seemed to like it. “Hey, buddy. How’s it going?”
Gavin peeked up from under the hood and smiled. “Hey, kid. What’s up?”
I shrugged. “Nothing much. Wat’cha doing?”
“Just working on my baby, here,” he said, as if that wasn’t obvious. “I’ll whip her into shape in no time.”
“It’s nice,” I offered, taking in the details of the old car. It was actually quite beautiful, a metallic blue two-seater convertible with a really nice tan leather interior. I had a sudden fantasy of the two of us driving, the breeze in our hair.
“Nice?” he said. “It’s more than nice. It’s priceless.”
I smiled.
“It’s a ’69 Mercedes-Benz 280 SL,” he clarified. “Classic. Do you know how much these babies are worth?”
No, I didn’t, but I guessed that it was a lot. I giggled.
“What?”
“Sixty-nine,” I said, and broke into laughter.
He shook his head like Mr. Collin, my math teacher, always did when I annoyed him.
“What? It’s funny.”
He went back to work. “If you say so, kid.”
“So where’d you get it?”
“It was my grandfather’s. He gave it to me in his will.”
“Nice,” I smiled. “Lucky you.”
“So when can you take me for a ride?” I asked, my tone a bit more flirtatious than it should have been.
He laughed. “Well, I don’t think that would be a great idea, kid. And even if it was, this baby is going to take over a thousand hours, give or take.”
“A thousand hours! Holy crap. What is that? Like fifty hours a week, for like…” I tried to do the math in my head. I was hopeless. No wonder I got on Mr. Collin’s nerves.
“A long time,” he said, finally looking up again. When he did, he studied me for a long beat, and it made me uncomfortable. But it also excited me. I stared right back, studied his dark neatly trimmed beard, his perfect nose, and those dark bedroom eyes.
He inched closer, and my heart went into overdrive. He smelled of motor oil, and I was wondering what the hell he was up to. He reached for my head.
I stood frozen while he pulled out something from my hair. “Crazy morning?” he asked, holding a Lucky Charm between the pads of his dirty fingers.
I laughed.
