Page 60 (1/2)

Soet tattoos on a dare, after a night of partying hard Occasionally we’d fit theuys would stay late, to earn extra cash If it was a bunch of girls, it could get interesting, especially if their only goal was to get these guys to put their hands on them It was up to us at the front desk to make that determination

But we hadn’t had any DBs in yet "Not today"

"Heard your tire was flat last night," she said, eyeing a girl who’d just strolled through the door She was a regular of Dex’s He specialized in shaded art and was finishing up a huge piece on her leg "How did you ht," I said

"And then?" Emmy arched her eyebrow

"And then he ca"

Emmy never pushed me for closed-door details, and I never offered, but she would get the gist of what I was saying fro about it made my entire body heat up

Before she could respond, another customer walked in and she alerted Cory of his appointerly turned back tofor one Buta brand-new tire"

She squealed "Nate?"

"Right," I said, lowering h-pitched tone alerted Cory across the rooot it done early thisCan you believe that shit?"

"Told you," she said "That boy is going down hook, line, and sinker"

I just shook my head and turned away to pull up some files for the art festival

I was pretty sure it was the other way around and I didn’t have any earthly clue what to do about it

Chapter Thirty-one

Nate

Heading up my parents’ driveway for a family dinner, which unfortunately included all four of us, I heardvoice I froze near the azalea bushes, bile pungent in the back of e to squat down and curl into a ball as small as humanly possible, like I did when I was a kid But I forced e, closer to the source of the sound I was an adult and I needed to protect my mother