Page 8 of Ignition

Rolling my eyes at my own carelessness, I put my hand out, palm up toward Caleb. “Hand me that relay fuse, would you?”

The alpha looked at the items on the cart like he’d never seen any of them before.

“Uh, yeah, for sure…”

“Looks like a little ugly plug,” I offered, a little bitterly. Adding, “Pendejo....” under my breath for good measure.

Fuck me, it must be nice to be able to pay someone for whatever you needed. I wasn’t sure if Caleb would even know how to bang in a nail. For a guy whose father worked so closely with cars, he was pretty clueless when it came to even the most basic maintenance.

“Right!” he said, a little embarrassed as he picked it up, handing it over.

Our fingers brushed, and instead of the depraved flutter that usually accompanied closeness with my best friend, it was awkward.

Stiff.

Things had been fucked since the affair came out. And even though I was pretty pissed about what it did to my sister, I was angriest about what’d happened to Caleb and me.

Just a few months ago, I told him everything… and now? Now it was like I was looking at a stranger wearing my best friend's face.

That shit stung way worse than getting left.

Maybe not quite as much as losing my house though.

“Can you get in and turn the key?”

“Think you’ll actually get it to run?” Caleb asked as he rounded me, clearly relieved that I was asking him for something that didn’t make him look like an idiot.

I quickly popped the little fuse in, letting out the breath I’d been holding until he was far enough that his pheromones weren’t entirely flooding my nose. “Pretty sure.”

The other alpha slid into the front seat, and a long stretch of silence followed that made me look around the open hood.

“Are you turning the key?”

“I can’t drive manual,” Caleb muttered, his handsome face pinching uncomfortably. “I’m not sure…”

I groaned, coming around to give him a little shove, and the alpha climbed over the center console to get into the passenger’s side as I checked my e-brake and put my foot on the clutch, turning the key.

The engine sputtered, snarled—and then purred to life, our seats vibrating slightly as the car waited for me to put it in drive.

I should’ve felt happy.

Should’ve felt…anything.

But as Caleb grabbed my arm, shouting with excitement, I could barely make out the words. It was like he was talking to me in a foreign fuckin’ language.

As much as I hated my dad right now, he should’ve been here not just for this, but for Nina’s graduation coming this spring. Our lives were moving on in leaps and big life moments, and his selfish ass was missing all of it.

It fuckin’ pissed me off.

“—Let's take her for a spin!”

At least that came through clear, Caleb’s wide smile feeling like coming home after a trip that’d gone on way too long.

I’d almost forgotten what it looked like, the slight point of his incisors that added the faintest hint of danger to his grin, it’d been so long since I’d seen it. MaybeIwas the one making everything weird. Maybe if I just let go, for even a couple hours, we could fix whatever fucked up mess had been made of our friendship.

“Uh, yeah,” I said and hopped out of the car, fumbling a little to close the hood.

I took a second to breathe deeply, trying to calm thewarring emotions making my chest feel tight, and got a lungful of mouthwateringly sweet earl grey.