Page 7 of Ignition

Nina wasn’t my kid, obviously. But she might as well havebeen. Even before he’d dipped, our dad worked all the time, and Mom died when I was eleven, so I’d basically been looking out for us both since then. But at least when my dad was around, I had some financial help. Now it was all on me, and it was hard not to feel like I was drowning.

How the fuck were prom dresses just as expensive as quince, while from what I could tell, they were about a third of the fabric?

Being trust into the position of the sole provider wasn’t fair, but I didn’t didn’t see what else I could do. My sister needed me, and now that I was the head of our small family unit I neeced to suck up whatever bitter feelings I had about it and get on with making sure that Nina had whatever she needed.

She made it worth it though. Nina was pretty much my best friend, and now she was the only family I had left. So even though every day felt like we were one unexpected bill away from bankruptcy, it felt good to let her live out the last bit of her childhood as removed from the horrifying realities of reality as possible thanks to credit cards and careful budgeting.

All good, see you tomorrow.

Have fun!

What did it say that she had a better social life than I did? Probably that I was at least doing one thing right.

Oh my god, is that what being a dad was? Staying home to watchJeopardy!reruns so that your kid could go out and live their best life?

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spent my night out with friends. Probably before Cal left after the winter holidays. And after that…fuck.

Happy New Year, Nick! Welcome to being the sole provider of the family!

I let the self-pity well up for a few more seconds while I fiddled with a few more things, barely paying attention to what my hands were doing.

I’d done just about everything that I could think of short of a brand-new transmission. But the old girl didn’t have the miles for all of that, and I’d already replaced the engine and battery… Leaning into the car, I squinted, my eyes following the cables and tubes as I thought, probably a little too hard, about what it was that was keeping her from starting.

Like the universe was mocking me, the low purr of an engine came from behind, a few loose rocks crunching under wheels.

I didn’t straighten up, didn’t turn. My hand locked around the edge of the car until my knuckles were white. I didn’t need to; I’d recognize the sound of that car anywhere.

“He’s fucking lost it,” Caleb snapped as he threw his door open, stepping out of his beautiful Lambo with a slam of the door that set my teeth on edge.

Here I was, practically ready to lube my cock up and jam it into the fuel line if it’d sweet-talk this piece of shit into moving, and Caleb was zipping around town in a car that was worth more than my entire houseandits contents.

I knew that was true thanks to the realtor who’d pounded the for-sale sign into the front yard.

“Who?” I asked tersely. It wasn’t that I wasn’t happy to see Caleb; we’d been friends since before I could remember. But things had been weird between us lately.

Well, since it came out that my dad has been fucking his stepmom behind all our backs for years, and they ran off together.

Though, from what I put together from Dad’s Facebook feed—seriously, did old people need to tell the internetfucking everything? That hadn’t lasted long after they’d been found out anyway.

Turns out that forbidden romance was only fun until the secret was out, and that the reality of losing your spouse was way less sexy than creeping around in cars between business meetings and luncheons with socialites.

“My fucking dad,” Caleb snapped as he stomped into the garage with a wave of bitter, oversteeped tea floating on the heavy, humid air. “Acts like you’re the devil, too. Grow up, asshole. It’s not like you’re the one who fucked Mom.”

My nose wrinkled at the stifling scent of his bad mood, and I forced a laugh I didn’t feel. “I wouldn’t stick my dick in your ugly mother if you paid me.”

I looked up just in time to catch Caleb’s stifled laugh. He was just as angry, if not angrier, with them than I was. Obviously, since that comment would’ve earned me a tire iron to the back of the head just about any other time.

“It’s fucking hot in here.”

“A bit of a waste to have an AC somewhere that is 90% door.”

Caleb missed the sarcasm in my tone; he was busy touching everything on my work cart, the glass of the fuses tinkling softly as he organized my wrenches by size. His grasp was light, picking most things up with only a couple fingers, obviously afraid of getting his soft hands dirty.

“Ah, fuck…” I muttered, glancing back into the engine to confirm my suspicions.

Yep, I’d forgotten to put the fuel pump fuse back in.

Ryker was right, well,half-right. Not that I was gonna tell the smug bastard that. I’d never hear the goddamn end of it.