He takes it. “Guess that would be the stand-up thing to do.”
“And you’re a regular stand-up guy,” I say with a sardonic laugh.
He moves to the rattan chair in the corner of the porch and sits, kicking his boots onto the rail. “Adri’s racking up some frequent-flier miles chasing you around.” The hard obsidian staring back at me as he says it is counter to his calm façade. “She tells me everything, but she won’t tell me why she went after you.”
“Not sure why.” I settle into the love seat and take a long draw off my beer. “I had some things I thought I had to take care of. Turns out I was wrong, so I came back.”
“But you’re not sticking around.”
“No,” I say, even though it wasn’t a question.
“Everyone’s got shit in their lives, and it seems to me yours might be more complicated than most people’s.” He pauses and picks at the label of his beer. “The thing to think about is that there’s only so far you can run, you know what I’m saying? Eventually, you’re gonna have to stop.”
I drain half of my beer in one swallow. “Trust me when I tell you, you don’t want me stopping here. Adri and everyone else will be better off if I keep moving.”
He tips his beer up and takes a long swallow. “Wouldn’t break Chief Carl’s heart to see you go, but it might break Adri’s. She’s trying to hold it together, but she’s wrecked, man.”
The stone fist squeezing my chest tightens and I can’t find air to speak.
He kicks his feet to the planking of the porch and plants his elbows on his knees. “She looks almost as bad as you do.”
I laugh again, but there’s nothing funny about the way my insides are imploding. “There are some things I wish she’d told me. Things would have been different.”
“Like that she was a virgin? She said you flipped your shit all over her when you figured it out after the fact.”
I take a breath and hold it before tipping my head onto the back of the love seat and blowing it out. Having Chuck as Adri’s confidant feels like another guy in the bedroom with us. “Like I said, things would have been different.”
His fingers drum the side of his bottle. “Not for her. I don’t know what the hell she thinks she sees in your mangy ass, but this whole thing is just about killing her.”
I lift my head and look at him. “Next time an asshole like me comes along, do a better job of protecting her.”
He blows out a laugh. “That girl has a mind of her own. She wants what she wants, though I’ve never seen her want something quite as much as she wants you.”
“Well, I can’t stick around, so regardless of what she wants, what she needs right now is for me to stay the hell away from her. I might have screwed everything else up, but that’s something I can do right.” I finish my beer and set the bottle down, then stand and spread my arms to the side. “Ready when you are. Bring it on.”
He leans back and kicks his feet up, handing me his empty bottle. “The pump’s not primed yet. I need another one if you want a thorough ass kicking.”
We’re on our third beer and shooting the shit about work when Grant goes out for Sherm. When they comes back, Sherm lets Crash and Burn out, and they all disappear down the path to the beach. Grant pulls off his helmet, grabs a beer from the ice chest I brought out, and cracks it open.
“Nice bike,” Chuck tells him. “Bringing the Low Rider back was the smartest thing Harley’s done in a while.”
They talk bikes and I tip my head back and zone out. When Sherm comes back, he surprises me by dropping onto the top step with the dogs and joining into the conversation. Lee calls him in to do his homework just as dusk sets in, and he high-fives Grant then Chuck. When he holds his hand out to me, it’s a second before I can move. I high-five him and he slips through the door, Burn on his heels.
It’s dark and I’m drunk by the time Chuck leaves. I guess he’ll be back later for the ass kicking.
* * *
I had to do some fancy dancing to get back on Elaine’s good side, but since I technically