Lonesome Beds and Bumpy Roads (Beds #3) (6 page)

Nate sighs and pushes his tray over to Brett.

“So you had nothing you need help with?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Then what the heck was your brother talking about?” I demand.

Brett takes another fry from Nate’s tray. “You sure he said me?”

“Positive.”

“Maybe he meant Pop-pop.”

I look to Nate and he shrugs. “I’m sure it was a mix-up. Ryan would never lie to you.”

“Yeah maybe,” I say, but I have this weird feeling in my gut and it’s making me not so sure.

And… done. Last pre-test before finals, and I’ve still got twenty minutes to spare.

I flip the papers upside-down on my desk and shove it to the corner. With a giant yawn, I crumple my hoodie and stuff my face into it. Feels like I’ve just fallen asleep when the bell rings. Of course.

Mrs. Caldwell swipes the test from the desktop as I stretch out my limbs. Four more weeks and I’m done with tests and grades and bells. Hopefully then I can juggle all the crap going on. After last night’s training, I slumped down onto my empty bed, wishing Lexie was there because I wanted to ask her how she did it. How she took care of her mom, held three jobs, went to school, and had time for me. So after I heard Pop-pop’s grizzly bear snores, I snuck out and slept in
her
bed. She was mostly asleep, so I didn’t bother her with my time-managing drama.

I shove my pencil into my backpack and head toward Lex’s locker. I’ve got training again in about an hour, so I’m going to make the most of my free time.

Half of her body is hidden in the depths of her locker as she fishes around for what she needs for the night. Her sexy butt wiggles back and forth, knocking the door into her locker neighbor. I laugh to myself, jog up, and grab her from behind.

“Hey,” I say and press a kiss to her warm neck. Her hands smooth over my knuckles briefly before she reaches up for one of her binders.

“Hey.”

“You got an hour to kill?”

“Do you?” she teases, smiling at me with those damn cute dimples.

“Gotta be at the garage at four. I’m all yours till then.”

“A whole sixty minutes! I’m so lucky.”

I laugh, but my brows pull in as I turn her around. “You mad at me?”

“Where were you yesterday?” She hugs her binder to her chest and swipes a finger over her forehead to move her long bangs out of her eyes. “And don’t lie to me. I swear I have to ask you not to lie all the time. And damn it, I shouldn’t have to. You never lied before we became…” She waves her hand between us, and I grab it and twist that ring I put on her pinky finger.

“I’m sorry.” She’s right… she shouldn’t have to deal with the lying or secrecy anymore, even if it is just a surprise party. I can still be honest… without pissing off Kaylee for spilling the beans.

“Last night I was working. Before that… I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Because someone will have my hide if I do.”

She sighs and looks down at our hands. “Is it anything I should worry about?” Her cheeks blossom pink, and I realize… she suspects I’m cheating.

I can’t help it. I laugh.

“No, you goof.” 

“Don’t make fun. You’re sexy and funny and I know lots of girls who want a piece of it.”

“Trust me. I can barely handle one of you.”

Her eyes narrow. “Thanks. That’s so comforting.”

My lips pull up in a half-smile and I swallow her in a hug. “I’ve been in love with you since we were kids. I don’t
see
anyone else.”

Her tense stance relaxes somewhat in my hold. She lets out a long breath and finally wraps her arms around me too.

“Okay. But no more lying. You make me paranoid.”

I kiss the top of her head. “Then I think you should know something.”

“What’s that?”

“Since our time together has been not so frequent, I kinda want to make the most of it.”

She steps back, shaking her head and pushing her locker shut. “We’re not having sex in the janitor’s closet… again.”

“Oh, come on,” I say with a grin, following her down the hall. She turns and gives me a cute little nose wrinkle as she bumps the exit door open with her butt. I catch up with her, claim her hand, and we make our way to the IROC.

“Okay… truth,” she says, swinging our arms back and forth. “I’d so totally do you in the janitor’s closet, but I’ve got a job too, you know.”

“Right. How do you do it anyway?”

“Well, I take people’s orders, put them in the register…”

I pinch her side. “No smartass. I mean how do you handle work, school, family… me?”

“Obviously I don’t.” Her smile drifts away. “Feels like I haven’t spent time with you since prom. You know, besides bed time.”

“That doesn’t count?” I wink.

“I want best friend time.”

We get to the passenger door and I pull her to me, her body bumping against mine. I would spend the rest of my life with best friend time if I could.

“You doing anything Friday night?”

She nods, the tiniest pout on her lips. “AA support meeting with my mom. What about Saturday?”

“I got work. Sunday?”

“I can do Sunday.”

I take out my phone and tap a text to her.

“What are you doing?” she asks, resting her cheek against my shoulder as she watches me type.

“Asking you out.”

“Via text? Oh be still my heart.”

“Writing makes it permanent.” I hit send and feel Lex’s phone buzz by my hip about five seconds later. She snakes her hand down, nails tickling my ribs a bit before she pulls her cell out and taps back. I watch the wind blow her hair across her face and get stuck in her lip-gloss. And out of nowhere I feel the need to tell her, “I love you.”

Her dimple craters into her cheek. “I love you, too.” Then she puts her phone away, gets on her tiptoes to kiss my nose, and hops into the IROC. I read her reply text on the way to the driver’s seat.

Lex: It’s a date!

***

The last of the garage’s lights shut off, but I’m still sitting in the glow of the computer screen at the front desk, watching as Josh shows me how to type up an invoice. There are about a million trillion codes, and I’ve got to memorize them all.

“If Pop’s offered them a discount,” Josh continues as if it’s not closing time, “then you put in one of our discount codes.”

Make that a million trillion and fifty codes I gotta memorize.

“Got it,” I say, and Josh slides over a giant binder.

“They’re all in here. Might want to familiarize yourself with the categories first. It comes easy after a while, trust me.”

I nod and push back a yawn. My back’s killing me from sitting on this piece o’ crap stool all night.

“Okay, you can clock out.” Josh shuts down the computer, and I sing praises to the Almighty. Time to call Lex and see if she’s off work yet. We both got school tomorrow, but I’m hoping to sneak some alone time in before one of us ends up in the other’s bed.

I put in my clock out time on the training sheet, grab the binder, and head out. Josh nods and says, “See you tomorrow, Greenie.”

After sending a text to Lex, I head to the grocery store near her house. Monster drinks are calling my name, and I’m gonna need the energy to memorize all this shit. Lex still hasn’t texted back when I get there, so I press
dial
and wait for her to pick up. I get her voicemail.

“Guess you’re still at work,” I say to the machine. “Call me when you get off. Love you.”

Something kicks my gut when I hang up, and I’m not sure where it comes from. I saw her earlier. And we’re going out Sunday. But it seems like things are starting to shift, and I’m wondering when she’s at college and I’m at the garage if the only times we’ll get to see each other is while we’re sleeping. At least we get that, but still, for nearly a decade I’ve spent almost every day with that girl. Being apart isn’t something I’m used to yet. And I don’t want to get used to it.

A text vibrates in my hand as I turn down the refrigerated drink aisle and my empty stomach swoops upward for a split second, till I see Nate’s name on the screen.

Nate: No shitting me… do you know if something’s going on with Kaylee?

Apparently Kaylee and I need to work on our alibis.

Me: Don’t worry about it, dude.

Nate: I’m not kidding. Is she dumping my ass?

Me: I said don’t worry.

Nate: And I said don’t shit on me.

I look up to grab a few Monsters and just as I’m about to text him back a lady down by the hard lemonade shifts, and I double-take to make sure I’m seeing things right.

Me: Just ask Kaylee. I gotta run.

I settle my phone into my hoodie pocket, brows pulling in as I watch Lex’s mom stare at the case of lemonade, arms crossed and rubbing up and down to warm herself as if she’s been standing in this aisle for a while.

“Ms. Boggs?”

She doesn’t look up, but I can tell she knows I’m here. Her nose is red like she has a cold, but other than that she doesn’t look sick. I edge closer, enough so that if she reaches for anything I can dive in front of her.

“Hi Ryan,” she says so quietly I barely catch it. That and her lips are pursed, barely moving as she speaks to me.

“Hey.” I wait for her to turn, but she just continues to stare, rubbing her arms and pulling at a piece of her blonde hair. “So… uh… what’re you doing?” I let out an awkward laugh which she surprisingly echoes.

“You know what I think?” She finally turns to look at me. I shake my head and shrug, and she takes a deep breath and nods to the hard lemonade. “I think bad decisions happen slowly. They start small. And before you know it, they become so big you’re not sure how you got there in the first place.”

I scratch my head. “Uh, yeah.”

“They start small because you think you can get away with it. Just one taste. Just one sip. Just one glass. Just one case. Just for one day. Just for one month.” Her voice catches, and her eyes shut hard as she shakes in the aisle. “You give someone one minute of your time. Then it becomes one hour. One day. One week. And now you’re in so deep you don’t know how to get out. You don’t know what to believe and what not to. Whether it was a bad decision, or the only decision.”

After a good half a minute, her head drops, and the quietest of sobs tumbles from her lips. I have no idea what the hell to do other than put my arm around her, rub her freezing arm, and get her away from the alcohol and back home.

“Hey, I was heading to your place to see Lex. You want me to follow you home?” I ask, half expecting her to jolt from my hold, tell me to mind my own business or something. Lex’s mom isn’t my biggest fan.

“I walked,” she whispers. She looks at the alcohol again. “Didn’t trust myself.”

“How about a lift, then?”

She takes a deep breath, holding it as she nods, and I steer her toward the exit, setting my Monsters back on the rack before stepping out. She doesn’t put up a fight, which is good. I’m worried she may break free and drink that one sip of alcohol while I’m not looking. But she stays quiet, staring out the windshield as I drive her home.

“Is he here?” I ask when we pull in.

“Roger’s visiting his son in Nebraska this week.”

I shut off the car. “I actually meant… uh… Lex’s dad.”

She meets my gaze briefly before unbuckling. “Not tonight.”

I really wish she’d say, “Not ever,” but I don’t want to overstep when she’s obviously already emotional.

“I’ll walk you in.”

She doesn’t argue, and that alone has me even more worried about her well-being.

“You can wait for Alexis here,” she says, pointing to the couch when we get inside. The house is a little messy, unfolded laundry strewn across the cushions, but I’ve seen it worse. I settle into the couch, trying to look comfortable even though my skin itches all over.

The trinkle of her keys echoes through the quiet room, and her eyes float to mine.

“Th-thank you,” she says, and I’m so stunned it takes me a few minutes to get my mouth to grin at her.

“Goodnight, Ms. Boggs.”

She sets her house keys on the kitchen counter and disappears into the back bedroom. The door shuts with a quiet
click
, and I push from the couch and go straight to the fridge. A large breath of relief escapes when I don’t find a speck of alcohol. And not two seconds later, I hear the front door creak open.

Lex’s eyes widen with joyous surprise, her phone up against her ear.

“I was just calling you,” she says, dropping her cell and nudging the door shut with her foot. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you,” I answer, shutting the fridge and closing the distance between us. I give her a long kiss, cupping her warm cheeks, inhaling the coffee on her clothes, tasting caramel on her tongue. I indulge in the senses for a little longer before pulling back and word vomiting the truth. Because Lex deserves the truth all the time. No matter how much this may worry her. “And… I ran into your mom at the store.”

Her brows pull in as she catches her breath. “Okay…?”

I sigh, find her hand, and tangle our fingers. Dragging her to the couch, I shove a pile of clothes out of the way before plopping us down.

“She was in the liquor section.”

Lex shoots to her feet, stride set on the back bedroom, but I snag her wrist before she gets too far and pull her back down.