has a chance to get to her door. “Hey,” I say with a smile, trying not to let my eyes travel down to her body. “You look nice today.”
She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear, glancing down toward the ground. “Thanks,” she says softly. “I appreciate your doing this for me.”
“I know, babe.” I open the passenger door for her, always being chivalrous like I’ve been taught by both my parents. “Let’s not say it again. Friends do favors for friends.”
She stops at the door and turns her face toward me. “We’re friends now?”
I shrug. “We’re whatever you want to be.”
“Friends works.”
“I think you could use a few more good ones. Yours seem to be shit.”
She smiles at me as she folds herself in, looking like she was made to sit inside my baby. “They’re not the best.”
“I got you,” I tell her, but what the fuck am I doing? I have never been able to maintain a healthy friendship with a woman because it always ends in sex.
Always.
I jog around the back, sliding into the driver’s seat next to Arlo. “Fair warning,” I tell her before I push the start engine button. “My cousins may be there.”
The color drains from her face. “A cousin?”
“A lot of cousins. They’re super nosy, but nice. Just be calm and ignore half the shit they say. They’re ridiculous at times. You know how families are.”
“Yeah,” she mutters, fumbling with the cuff of her dress shirt.
The ride to the shop is short and quiet. Arlo stares out the window, watching where we’re going carefully, but she has very little to say to me.
“Here we are,” I announce as we pull into the parking lot, thankful we’ve arrived and no longer have to sit in awkward silence.
“You don’t have to come in with me.”
I stare at her, hand on the wheel, confused. “Babe, I don’t know what men you hang out with, but a man like me doesn’t let a woman walk into an auto body shop alone.”
“Why?”
“Because men aren’t trustworthy, especially men at places like this.”
“But it’s your family.”
“They’re especially not to be trusted,” I lie, knowing they’re going to be all over her like white on rice.
Her eyes widen. “Really?”
“They’re good people, but once you meet them, you’ll totally understand.”
“Okay,” she says, her face relaxing.
“Come on, babe.” I open my car door, and she follows, meeting me near the front to walk toward the building together.
As soon as I open the door to the shop, I realize the clusterfuck is far worse than I ever could’ve imagined. Every single one of my cousins is there and waiting near the reception area, trying to look incognito and like normal, everyday customers.
Tamara’s at the counter, a shit-eating grin on her face. “Good morning, you two cuties,” she says in a way-too-cheery voice as her eyes sweep over Arlo, and she comes out from behind the counter to wrap her arms around me. “She’s cute.” Those words are spoken in my ear.
“We’re here for Arlo’s car. Did the rim and tire get fixed?”
Tamara pulls away, giving her attention to Arlo. “Hi. I’m Tamara, this jerk’s cousin. It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Umm,” Arlo mumbles, looking at me out of the corner of her eye as she stands stiff as a board. “I’m Arlo. It’s nice to meet you too.”
“She’s cute,” Gigi says behind me, and I turn just as she lifts a magazine above her face to hide.
“Arlo, these are my cousins,” I say, waving my arms around. “Well, half of them, at least.”
Arlo’s eyes widen again, looking like a poor, trapped animal. “Hi,” she squeaks.
I point to each one, calling out their names along with Pike and Jett, who came along for the nosy-ass ride. “Glad to see you all have so much to do today.”
“We came to see the renovations to the place. It had nothing to do with you.” Lily somehow keeps a straight face as she lies. She’s spent way too much time around the other women in the family, given the ease with which those words slide off her tongue. “Ignore our grumpy cousin and his attitude. It’s our pleasure to meet you, Arlo.”
“Thanks,” she whispers, still standing there confused and probably scared too. “You have a lot of cousins.”
“We’re only half,” Gigi adds, rising to her feet. “The other half are a bit younger. We travel in two groups, but none of that matters.” She waves her hand, walking closer to us. “We’re so happy our cousin was