“Maybe I should just sell it after all,” Jack mused, his fingers trailing over the seat.
“I’d buy it, if that’s what you really want to do,” I said.
“Why in the world would you buy that hunk of junk?”
I snorted at him. “Excuse me. It was a hunk of junk. Now, it is a masterpiece. Someone would pay good money to own something like this.”
“I just don’t know what to do with it anymore. I thought it would make more sense after it was fixed up, but now I’m even more confused than before.”
“What if you took it for a ride?”
Jack pushed his sunglasses up on his head and peered at me. “You think I should?”
“If you’re worried about the structural integrity of the bike, don’t be,” I said. “The bike is as good as new. Better than new, if I can toot my own horn. If you don’t believe me, start it up.”
“Want to ride with me?”
“Hell, yes.”
I tossed him a spare helmet and wheeled out my own motorcycle. The glee on Jack’s face as he revved it was worth the price of admission, even if he didn’t get any of his memories back. Maybe the bike was for making new memories, and saying to hell with the past. I could use one of those things in my life. “To hell with the past.” It would make a good T-shirt.
I followed Jack down the road at a respectful distance, letting him get a feel for the bike. Who knew? Maybe his lost life would manifest itself in some kind of muscle memory, riding that bike. It had to have been placed in that storage unit for some purpose. Then he really opened up the throttle and shot down the road like a gleaming comet. Goddamn. That thing could really run. I’d outdone myself.
“Holy shit,” I said, before whooping and laughing and trying my best to catch up, even if I knew it was impossible. When Jack finally did take pity on me, circling back on an empty stretch of road, he was grinning.
“Amazing,” he said. “Fucking amazing. I’ll race you back to the shop.”
“You’ll win,” I said. “That thing absolutely flies.”
“Yeah, it does.” He tossed his head back and laughed like he didn’t have a care in the world, and maybe in that moment, he didn’t. I had at least given him that. “Race me anyway.”
I helped him load the motorcycle back into the bed of the truck, pushing the boxes away to make room and trying not to think about what might be inside of them, what Jack might deem important enough to try and make sense of away from the storage unit.
“You know…” I began, then thought better of it.
“‘You know…’ what?” Jack handed my spare helmet back to me, then checked the straps securing the bike. “Say whatever you want. You’ve earned it a million times over.”
“Maybe you’ve been given a second chance at life,” I said, hesitating, afraid I’d piss him off, or worse hurt him. “Maybe all that matters now, after surviving that explosion over there, is that you lived. Maybe all you should worry about is enjoying yourself.”
Jack laughed, and I was a little relieved that he didn’t look angry. “I’m damn well sure I’m going to enjoy myself with this bike, now,” he said. “Let’s see if we can get the guys together for a club ride as soon as possible. What do you think? You free tomorrow?”
“I think I could swing it, just to see the rest of the guys faces when you take off like a fucking rocket.”
Both of us laughed in sheer joy to think of it.
“You’ve been giving me a lot of life advice today, Chuck.”
“Sorry, man.”
He chuckled. “Nothing to be sorry about. It’s good advice. Really. Thank you.”
“Well, you’re welcome.”
He turned to me. “Can I offer you some friendly advice?”
“I think you’re entitled to, at this point,” I said. “Go ahead, then.”
I thought it was going to be something about my own advice, or the motorcycle, or maybe even the club. I definitely did not expect the words that came out of Jack’s mouth.
“When are you going to do something about Haley?”
I blinked. “What needs to be done about Haley? Isn’t Brody the one to talk to about personnel changes at the bar?”
“No, no, no. I don’t want to make a personnel change. Why? Do you think I need to make a personnel change? Ooh, I’m going to tell Haley. You’re going to be in so much trouble.”
Fuck. I had obviously put my foot in my mouth on that one. “No way. She’s great. The only personnel change I was going to recommend was a promotion or something.”
“A promotion?” Jack laughed. “She practically owns the place already.”
“A raise, then. I don’t know. Why are we talking about Haley again?”
“You have feelings for her.”
I was too blindsided to even try to deny it. “What? She’s way out of my league.”
“Everyone knows it,” he scoffed. “And don’t sell yourself short. You’re a good catch.”
That was the most ludicrous thing I’d heard so far. “I scared her to death the other night, you know that?”
“You saved her,” Jack argued. “It’s more than any of the rest of us could say.”
I shook my head. “Only because I was the one who noticed it first.”
“Uh-huh. You noticed it because you were watching her. Because you have feelings for her.”
“So what if I do?” I rubbed my smooth head, thinking about it. “I’m sure lots of men have crushes on her. Club members included.”
“Sure, but I’m not talking about crushes. I don’t think you just want to get into her pants, Chuck, like the rest of humanity. I think you have genuine, honest to God feelings for her. Tell me I’m wrong.”
There wasn’t any point in arguing. “You’re not wrong. I just don’t know what to do.”
“You don’t know Chuck, life is short. We all know that. Just go for it. What do you have to lose?”
I thought about that, thought about just how disappointed she had been when we parted ways that night after I beat up that asshole. Thought about my revelation that maybe she’d been loitering outside the bar because she wanted to spend time with me me or someone, anybody, as long as she wasn’t alone. And how I’d let her down.
“No pressure,” Jack said, clapping me on the back before opening the driver’s side door of his pickup. “But neither of you is getting any younger. None of us are. Seize the day.”
“Bar later?” I asked him.
“Bar now,” he said, shutting the door and grinning at me. “See you there.”
“See you.”
I was left in a cloud of dust and confusion, alone at the shop. I briefly thought about catching up on some things, then decided against it. My mind wasn’t straight right now. If I couldn’t focus on my work, I’d probably screw something up. I needed to figure out this problem of Haley, figure out what to do about it. Sure, I had feelings for her, but that was only one side of the puzzle. The border of it, maybe. It was easy to find the edges in the puzzle, to put them together, to frame the shape and size of it, get a feel for the scene itself. But it was the other pieces that were missing. I didn’t know what I was supposed to be looking for. Could it be possible that she might have feelings for me?
Did it range wider than me just being her protector? Did it go deeper than that? She flirted with everyoneit was just the way she operatedbut she sometimes seemed to make time just to talk to me. She’d been the one who had gotten through to me on the anniversary of my sister’s death. And I’d opened upa bit to her. She trusted me. I trusted her.
But maybe that actually made sense. Puzzle pieces that had been jumbled or missing started slowly falling into place, including the awkwardness she and I had shared after the brawl at the bar. That strange, soft kiss. The way I’d felt like I’d just been disappointing her ever since, every single time we interacted.
I hadn’t called her because I’d been too nervous to. And maybe she hadn’t called me because I ha
dn’t called her.
Before I could register what I was doing, I was holding my phone to my ear as it was ringing.
“Chuck?” Haley’s voice was colored in concern. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“I’m better than okay. Really good, actually,” I said, pacing around, trying to walk away from my nerves. What in the hell did I think I was doing? “How are you?”
“I’m just fine,” she said. “Getting ready to head to the bar.”
“You working tonight?”
“You know it. Saturday night.”
“Nothing like the Horizon bar on a Saturday night.”
“People just can’t resist karaoke.”
“Is it karaoke tonight?”
“Last Saturday of the month.”
“Damn. So it is. This month has flown by.”
“It really has. Of course, it always feels like that when you’re paying rent.”
“Ah, yeah. Fucking rent.”
“Fucking rent. I would drink to that, if I was at the bar. Drinking.”
There was an awkward pause between our banter, and Haley cleared her throat.
“Was there a reason you were calling?” she asked. “Not that you need a reason. I told you to call me any time, and for any reason, and you did. It’s nice to hear your voice on the phone. You have a nice voice, Chuck. You should sing karaoke tonight. I bet you have a killer baritone.”
“You didn’t ever call me. That’s why I didn’t call you. I thought maybe you wouldn’t like to talk to me on the phone. I have stage fright. That’s why I never sing. And why do you think I have a killer baritone? Because I’m a big black man? That’s pigeonholing me, there. I could rock a sexy falsetto for all you know. You’ve never heard me perform.”
Haley laughed. “Maybe I never called you because you never called me,” she countered. “And what would you say to a duet? I bet you wouldn’t be prone to stage fright if you had a friendly face up there, helping you out. Or I could be your backup dancer. Something to take the attention off you until you got comfortable.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said. “It’s good to hear your voice on the phone, too. What are you, an alto or a soprano?”
“Whatever moves me the most. That’s what I am.”
“Interesting. And versatile. What’s your go-to karaoke song?”
“It depends on my mood. I like the classics, though.”
“Classics?” I squinted, trying to imagine what she might mean. “Like opera?”
“No, stupid. Like classic rock. Disco. Funk.”
“Now you’re speaking my language. Why have I never seen you perform on karaoke night?”
“You know how popular it is. I want everyone to have a chance to go before the bar closes for the night. I don’t perform because it would rob someone else of the opportunity.”
“Can you make an exception for tonight? I’d love to hear you sing.”
She laughed, and I could almost see the blush on her cheeks. “On one condition and one condition only.”
“And what would that be?”
“I think you know.”
“I think I do. What if I choke? Will you still like me if I make a complete ass of myself?”
“Of course I will. But I don’t think you’re going to choke. Not with me shaking my ass up there for you.”
“I think that could very well make me choke.”
“I think you’ll be fine.”
“Thank you. I want to be fine. I also want to hear you sing.”
“Hey, Chuck?”
“Yeah?”
“You didn’t call me to chat about karaoke, did you?”
“No. That wasn’t really the plan. But I’m glad we chatted about karaoke.”
“I am, too. But what was the plan?”
“I just wanted to see if you were okay.”
A pause. “I am okay. And that’s really sweet of you to ask. I feel like I should’ve been calling you, checking on your wellbeing and state of mind, too. Could you do something for me?”
“Anything.”
“Could you call me a little more often? It’s nice to talk to you outside of the bar. And if it’s okay, could I call you even if I’m not in crisis?”
“You could call me to discuss anything you like,” I said. “And I do mean anything.”
“Thanks, Chuck. I’ll see you later tonight?”
“Definitely.”
“It’s a date, then.”
Was it a date? I stared at the screen that signified Haley had ended the call. What did she mean? Should I call her back? No. I put a lid on that immediately. I wasn’t going to call her back, not even to secure some kind of clarification. I was going to roll with it. I had feelings for her that almost seemed magnified now that we’d just chatted on the phone. We were going to do more chatting on the phone. We’d promised each other. And we were apparently going to serenade each other tonight at karaoke.
What in the hell was I going to sing at karaoke?
Fuck singing. What in the hell was I going to wear?
I closed up the shop as quickly as I could and rocketed home, taking a shower I didn’t need, doing some personal grooming I never did, and realizing that of all the shirts and pants and jackets hanging in my closet would never be adequate for the way I wanted to look for Haley. I ripped clothes from their hangers and tossed them on the bed, pacing around, doing a million things at once. I scrolled through my phone, looking at examples of karaoke songs, examining the lyrics for each of them. Because this was going to be the performance of my life. I was going to have to show up ready to impress. The song had to be perfect. My outfit had to be perfect.
Because, and I was well aware that I was putting a lot of pressure on myself, I knew I was going to try to win Haley over with this song. I wanted to start something with her. I wanted a relationship. And I knew this was a way to get a shot straight at her heart.
I rode well under the speed limit to the bar, not wanting to wrinkle the maroon dress shirt I’d finally settled on, tucked carefully into the black trousers I couldn’t remember ever having worn. I’d seriously considered a tie before I realized how much better I looked with the shirt unbuttoned several buttons. If Haley was in her general work uniform of a Horizon T-shirt and jeans, this was about to blow her away. At least, that was what I was going for.
I strode into the bar, ignoring Ace’s shout of greeting, only halfway hearing the rest of the guys already in the booth, with eyes only for Haley, nodding as she took a regular’s order, already starting back to grab the beers in the cooler, when she stopped.
“Hey, Chuck”
She cut off with a little yip as I took her gently by the shoulders and dipped her backward, kissing her passionately. I was afraid, for a fraction of a second, that I’d misjudged the entire thing, when her lips froze against mine, but that moment passed and she kissed me back, giving as good as she got, lips now parted, tongue questing into my mouth.
I broke the kiss, halfway afraid to, and she grinned.
“I see you’re ready for karaoke,” she said. “You look amazing.”
“Do you know what you’re going to sing?” I asked her. “Because I’m thinking my song is going to blow yours out of the water.”
“Oh, that is a challenge, Chuck,” she said, her eyes alight with glee. “Oh, my goodness. I am so excited we’re doing this. Come on. Let’s go give our songs to Brody.”
Brody organized the karaoke nights with a passion I found amusing until I was the one about to be put in the spotlight. Now I understood why he took it so seriously. There was something about putting yourself out there that was terrifying and empowering and addictive.
“Did I see you two did you just kiss?” he asked us, puzzled, poking away at his laptop. “Was I hallucinating?”
“If so, must’ve been a pretty hot hallucination,” Haley said. “We’re both going to be performing tonight. Separately.”
“Interesting,” Brody said, fighting again
st a grin that threatened to stretch his face in two. “I’d recommend you all be the first ones up before it gets too packed.”
Haley patted my arm. “He’s doing this for you, Chuck. So when you crash and burn, not everyone has to watch it happen.”
“I think it’s more merciful for you,” I said. “Because I’ve been practicing ever since we got off the phone.”
“I have to say, honey, that all this trash talk just gets me more worked up,” she purred. “It is doing the exact opposite of intimidating me. It just makes me want to blow you out of the water.”
I shuddered at that voice, atGod help me Haley saying “blow you” to me, as juvenile as it was. If her tactic was to throw me off, she was doing a hell of a job.
“So what are your songs going to be?” Brody asked, his eyes darting back and forth between us as if he were watching a prize fight or something.
“Ladies first,” I said magnanimously.
“Thank you.” Haley whispered in Brody’s ear, and he laughed.
“Amazing,” he said. “I’m putting this up on YouTube, just so you know.”
“You better not,” I warned him. “That’s an invasion of privacy.”
“You’re such a spoilsport,” he complained. “Come on, then, Chuck. Let’s have your song.”
I murmured the title in his ear, just like Haley had done, and he guffawed.
“What?” I demanded. “You don’t think I’ll do a good job?”
“I know you’ll do a good job,” he said, wiping his eyes, which were streaming with tears of mirth. “It’s just…the two of you, oh my God. Wait and see. This is going to be epic.”
Jack crossed the floor, his face perplexed. “What in the hell is going on over here? We all saw that kiss. The two of you are going to have to explain yourselves.”
“Dude, just wait.” Brody was practically vibrating in excitement. “Karaoke tonight is going to be the best it’s ever been. Oh my God.”
“He’s so enthusiastic,” Haley said, eyeing him with distrust. “What song did you pick, Chuck?”
“You’re just going to have to wait and see, sweetheart.”
Her eyes narrowed at me, even as her smiled grew wider. “You’d better stand back so we can get this thing started.”
HORIZON MC Page 22