Spring Secrets - Allie Boniface Page 0,53
was outta town for a long time. And I heard he got himself in some trouble. I just would hate to see you get caught up in something that...”
Isn’t Christian? she wanted to finish, but she knew that wasn’t fair. Jason wasn’t trying to be mean or righteous; he didn’t have it in him. “I’m a big girl,” she said. “I can look out for myself. But thanks.” She turned to go. “It was nice to see you.”
“You too.”
She didn’t turn around at the longing in his voice.
DASH CRANKED THE RADIO and sang along to a country song as he drove back to the gym. He didn’t know the words, but it didn’t matter; they all told the same general story about girl leaving guy and guy drowning his sorrows in a bottle of whiskey. Funny, though—the lyrics couldn’t get him down today. Those kids had a way of putting him in a good mood. Well, those kids and Sienna. Even today, the frightening few minutes when they couldn’t find Dawn, and then they did, made him feel more needed, more alive, than most other hours in his week.
When he reached Springer Fitness, he pulled around to the back lot. He had a few more hours to put in, but then he’d see if Sienna wanted to grab a drink. Jimmy’s Watering Hole might actually be fun with her sitting beside him. He headed for his usual parking spot near the gym’s back door and stopped. Again? The same group of teenagers was hanging out a few yards away. He peered through his windshield. Or maybe not the same group. He hadn’t looked closely last time, but the tall, skinny kid with the crew cut looked new, along with a chubby girl wearing an oversized Yankees hoodie. He counted six of them this time, heads bent close together, a couple vaping, a couple smoking, the others passing around something he couldn’t make out.
He laid on the horn. Chubby Girl jumped, and when she looked over her shoulder he could see bright pink hair and a face pierced with metal. The others mostly scowled, but Tall Skinny Crew Cut flipped him off. Dash got out of the truck in record time. “Hey!” He strode across the parking lot. “Told ya once before, I don’t want you hanging out here.”
“It’s public property,” muttered one kid with dark hair and a faint moustache he’d probably spent a month trying to grow.
“Is whatever you’ve got also public property?” Dash shoved out one hand, palm up, as if to say Let me see. Let me have some. But they all put their hands in their pockets and stared either at him or the ground. He scanned their faces, trying to memorize them. “Find someplace else to hang out.”
A couple of them cursed under their breaths, but they were already slouching away, some in one direction, the rest in the other. Earbuds dangled from under their hats and hoodies and cell phones hung from their back pockets. Dash shook his head and watched them go. Different generation, same stupidity.
“Idiots.” He locked his truck and headed for the back entrance, his good mood gone.
“Coulda been a little nicer to ‘em.”
He froze at the voice.
“Hey.” The person attached to the voice grabbed Dash’s arm. “What, now you don’t talk to an old friend?”
It took everything in his power not to punch Al Halloran in the mouth. “We haven’t been friends in a long time.” He shook off Al’s hand on his elbow. “And don’t ever come up behind me like that again.”
Al guffawed. Dash could smell the liquor on his breath. “Ya know I’m blackballed in this town? Can’t get a job to save my life.”
“Could’ve told you that three weeks ago.”
“Wasn’t that hard for you.” Al looked up at the sign that read Springer Fitness and spat on the bottom step.
“You have no idea what I put into this place. And I don’t spend my days stoned out of my mind.” Dash pushed by him, keys in his hand.
“Wait.” This time Al grabbed Dash’s coat. “You gotta help me. I helped you. When you needed a job, I gave you one. Gave you a place to live too, for a whole year when you came out to California. You forget about that?” He burped and stumbled. Dash wondered how long he’d been drinking. Probably most of the day.
“I’ve been thinking more about all the ways you screwed me out in California.”
Al shrugged. “You took that money from