Winter Solstice in St. Nacho's (St. Nacho's #5) - Z.A. Maxfield Page 0,58
because… maybe this time it’s the call you’re waiting for?”
“First Robin sees right through me, and now you do.” I groaned. “Am I really that transparent?”
“The honest ones always are.”
We met each other’s gaze, and we both knew then it wasn’t happening between us. The wind picked up his hair and blew it across his face. My phone rang this time. Tug calling. Maybe it was important after all?
“I’ve got to take this.”
“Here, let me just—” He started to unzip my jacket.
“Keep it. Stay warm.” I wasn’t attached to the jacket. It was just an old Van’s hoodie.
I caught his jaw and kissed his cheek.
“Say goodbye to Robin. Thanks so much for tonight.”
“Here. Take my card.” He slipped his wallet out of his pocket and gave me a card featuring his band, Blue Kiss. “If you ever want to see us play again, the schedule’s on the website.”
“Thank you. Good luck.”
The phone stopped ringing before I was in a position to answer, but it started ringing again a couple minutes later.
If I had wondered before how deeply I’d entrenched myself in Tug territory, the answer was perfectly clear now that I’d turned down a sure thing—a one-night stand with a hot musician—to take Tug’s call.
Even as I was mentally kicking myself and asking myself what I was thinking, my heart rate picked up speed—whether from pleasure or anxiety, the matter was too close to call.
Would I have really taken Ari up on his seduction? Maybe, maybe not. What was important to note was when Tug’s message came in, I felt a flare of something, not shame but maybe guilt, as though I were cheating, when I absolutely was not.
Maybe I needed to carefully consider the boundaries I was setting to see whether I’d erected a few undesired barriers as well.
“Tug? Is everything okay there?”
“Yes.” He huffed audibly. “No. Is that music? I have to keep my voice down because we’re having quiet hours here. Can you hear me?”
“I’m going to find a quieter spot, hang on.”
The boardwalk crowds had diminished, and now it was mostly couples and small groups going from bar to bar. I found an empty bench and sat down. The air was chilly and damp. I was grateful for my long sleeves. What had possessed me to give away my jacket?
Well, I knew. I’d liked seeing Ari wearing it. Liked the idea that he’d have it to remember me by. The cold reminded me I was a dumbass to have walked away from him.
I berated myself even as I said, “Try now.”
“Can you hear me?”
“Loud and clear.” Across a stretch of water, moonlight fell on Morro Rock—a round volcanic plug tied to the land by a causeway.
“I swore I wasn’t going to call you.”
“It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. I’m not some kid on his first day at sixth-grade camp, but that’s what this feels like, and I don’t understand.”
“Describe the new place. What’s it like? Strict?”
“I don’t think so. I have chores, and we have a mandatory community meeting once a week. You know about the drug tests. There are quiet hours. We can’t have visitors. Internet is restricted.”
“Doesn’t sound worse than military school.”
“Ha, ha. The manager Minerva enforces the rules without prejudice, but she’s not ruthless. She’s actually kind of adorable.”
“Yeah?”
“You’d probably love her. She owns a metaphysical bookstore where she tells fortunes. Very woo-woo crystal ball.
“I love her already. So, it sounds pretty good. How come you can’t sleep?”
“I just—” A heavy sigh and the sound of linens rustling preceded his next words. “You know, I’ve never worked a legitimate paying job in my life? I’m twenty-five, and I have no skills, no job history, an arrest record, and—”
“What’s on your record again?”
“Theft of property, sexual misconduct, soliciting—all obviously related to my former career as a heroin addict. I don’t really want to talk about this…”
“Will you have to disclose that on employment forms?”
His voice rose in pitch, not volume. “How should I know? I’ve never fucking filled one out.”
“Oh my God. Seriously?”
“Hey. Judgy much?”
“I could have gotten you some and let you practice. Can you ask the manager of your sober living place to print off random employment forms and fill out a few to make it less of a hairy scary deal?”
“Maybe.”
“Or wait. Lots of places have online applications. If you fill those out and have the qualifications they need, they’ll call you in for an interview. You could try a few of those.”