I work on the Mustang while Isa starts taking inventory. It would be sweet if this car was repainted and the inside was detailed and restored. Once upon a time, this car would’ve turned heads. Not now. Well, now it turns heads because it looks like a pile of junk, not because it’s a cool car.

I finish with the Mustang and get working on the F150. The engine rebuild won’t be a piece of cake, but it’s right up my alley. When I’m working on cars, I can escape the rest of my life. I feel more at home in the auto body shop than at my own house.

“Hello! Anyone here?” I hear someone call out.

I look at the entrance and see Bernie, a mechanic who helps Isa at the shop a few days a week. The dude has been in love with my cousin since he started working here, but she pushes him away. I’ve got to give him credit because he’s got the cojones to keep coming back for more of her verbal assaults.

“I thought I fired you.” Isa growls the words as if she’s a feral animal. “Get out of here.”

Bernie, a thirty-something dude whose hair is brushed neatly to the side and is the walking definition of a nerd, walks over to Isa. “You fired me because I asked you out.”

“Exactly.”

Bernie holds his hands up. “That’s irrational, Isa.”

“No.” Isa walks toward the front desk, putting a barrier between her and Bernie. “What’s irrational is you wanting to ask me out. It’s never gonna happen.”

“Why not?”

She glances up at him. “Because I don’t date.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“Okay, let me put it this way.” She slams her hands on the desk. “I don’t date nerds. Now get out.”

Bernie, who you’d think would be a pushover, ignores her. He walks over to a car on the lift and starts looking at the paperwork while whistling. He starts working on the car.

I have to say their interaction is pretty damn entertaining.

“You want me to call the cops?” Isa calls out angrily.

“Go ahead,” he says.

“Don’t test me, dork.”

Bernie stops whistling. “Did I ever tell you that you’re sexy when you’re being obstinate?”

“Fuck you,” Isa says while flipping him the finger. She storms upstairs to her private apartment.

“You’re asking for nothin’ but trouble,” I tell Bernie.

Bernie shrugs. “I’m in love with her, Vic.” He stares longingly at the door where Isa just disappeared. “And I want a chance if she’ll give it to me. Haven’t you ever wanted to date a girl so bad that you were willing to do anything to have a chance with her?”

“No,” I tell him, thinking of Monika and the way I’ve felt about her for years. “I’d give up if I were you.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re not me.” He holds out his palm. “Can you hand me a socket wrench?”

“I thought she fired you.”

“She can’t afford to fire me, Vic.” He smiles mischievously. “Don’t worry, I’ll break her down eventually.”

“You know she stores a gun under the front desk, right?” I warn him. “I don’t think she’d be afraid to use it.”

“Some girls are worth the risk,” Bernie says. “Haven’t you ever been in love?”

“Yeah, but I gave up a long time ago.” My best friend won her over the second he asked her out.

“One thing my father taught me before he died, was to never give up. Ever.” He gazes longingly at the door to the upstairs apartment. “Well, unless she shoots me. Then I guess it’s over.”

Chapter Fourteen

MONIKA

Trey texts me Sunday morning saying that he wants to take me somewhere. The problem is that I don’t feel good. My wrists feel like they’re being stretched, and they hurt so bad.

Trey isn’t big on surprises, so it must be important. I walk, hunched over, into the shower, get dressed in my new shorts, and wait for him to pick me up.

The entire drive my heart is thumping, especially because he seems so nervous. He keeps tapping his fingers on the dashboard, and his knee is shaking.

Is he nervous because he’s finally going to spill the truth about Zara Hughes?

Is he high on drugs?

Are we about to break up?

My anxiety fades and curiosity takes control when we pull up to Wild Adventures amusement park.

“Wild Adventures?” I ask when he pays the parking guy five bucks to park in the lot.