And Ben’s his son.
I swallow my nerves. “Mr. Dorsey.” I shake his hand. I force myself to be casual, neutral, and pleasant to his son. “Ben.”
“Call me Jason.” He eyes his son again but says nothing. At least not in front of me.
Ben shakes my hand, but the hostility in his eyes could drill holes into my skull. “Oz.” He fairly growls it through it gritted teeth.
I’ve got to get out of here. Colt is just standing there, a threat merely by his presence. Jason Dorsey is trying to figure out the source of the tension between me and Ben, and Kylie clearly just wants to go inside. I give her a grin. “I’ll see you later, Calloway.” I give an awkward wave, a nod. “Colt, Jason. Nice to meet you.” I don’t bother with saying goodbye to Ben.
He and I are going to tangle at some point, and it’s going to be a rough one.
Kylie waves at me as I swing onto my bike, letting it roll down the driveway. I wave back and then gun the engine, twist the throttle so my Indian kicks forward. As soon as I’m out of the sub and on the freeway heading home, I open the throttle and let her purr. All the way home I’m thinking of a tall girl with strawberry blonde hair and big round tits and a smile I could kill for.
Fuck. Maybe I’ll be the one to suggest we move this time.
TWO: Wishes At Night
Colt
Kylie is sitting at the island, sending yet another text to who the hell knows who. I lean against the fridge, slicing cheese off a block and eating it off the knife. She’s been quiet this evening, and I think I know why.
“You like him?” I ask, wrapping up the cheese.
She sets the phone down, all too carefully. “Who, Daddy?”
“New guy. Oz. With the bike.”
She blushes and looks away. “He’s…surprising.”
Not a typical answer, and it has me intrigued. “Surprising? What’s that mean?”
She shrugs. “Just…not what I was expecting. I kind of judged him by the way he looks, honestly. He has the bike, and the jacket with the patches, and the tattoos, and I guess I thought he’d be—I don’t know. Not what he is.”
“Which is what?” I don’t know exactly why I’m pushing this with her. Except I see something in the kid, something I recognize. And it scares me that she’s interested in him.
“Smart. Polite. Easy to talk to.” She scratches a smudge on the screen of her phone with a fingernail. “He held the door for me at the café, and he paid the bill without even telling me.”
“Wait, the café?”
She bites her lip and shrugs. “We had some fries, that’s all. That’s not the point, Daddy.”
“What happened to telling us if you’re going somewhere?”
“Sorry. It was a last-minute thing.” She glances at me. “And besides, I’m in college now, Daddy. I shouldn’t have to check in anymore.”
I lift an eyebrow. “You’re not in college yet, Kylie. You’re taking college classes while still in high school. There’s a difference.”
“Ugh. You’re impossible. You’re acting like I’m still a kid. I’m almost eighteen. Trust me a little.”
I sigh. “Fine. But at least text Mom or me so we know where you are. That’s not checking in—that’s just being respectful.”
“I will next time. I promise. You’re getting off topic, Dad.”
I let it go. She’s a good kid, with a good head on her shoulders. “So he’s smart and he’s got manners. What’s Ben’s issue with him? If looks could kill, our boy Ozzy would be long dead.”
She shrugs yet again. She needs to learn a new gesture. “I don’t know. He didn’t want me to go with Oz, I guess.”
I can’t help but wonder if she knows Ben is head-over-heels for her, and has been since fourth grade. Guess not. Or if she does, she’s in denial. “I guess. Just…he’s your oldest friend, Ky. Don’t make a habit of ditching him for something new and shiny.” Not my place to tell her Ben’s in love with her. She’ll figure it out, or she won’t, and I wouldn’t be doing her any favors by interfering. As long as no one hurts her, her love life is her business.
Nell may not agree, but what the hell do I know about teenage girls and their social lives? Jack shit, that’s what.
Speaking of Nell, here she is, finally emerging from our basement studio. We’ve been together for over eighteen years, and I swear to God she’s even more stunning than the day we met in New York. She beelines for me, tucks up against me. “Baby,” she breathes, tilting her face up to mine.
“Hey.” I run my thumb over her lips before I kiss them. “Get the track laid down?”
She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, finally. It only took about fifteen takes for me to get that one note right. Kept hitting it off-key.”
“You? Off-key?” I laugh. “Never.”
She shoves at my chest. “Jerk. You know I have trouble with notes that high.”
“Then why’d you write the song with that note?”
“It was the best fit.” Nell leaves my side to stand behind Kylie and wrap her arms around her. “How’s my baby?” she asks with a kiss to the top of Kylie’s head.
Kylie huffs and wiggles away from Nell. “God, Mom! You’re so clingy!” She laughs as she says it, though. “I’m fine. Same old bullshit.”
“Language, Kylie Olivia Calloway.”
“Sorry, Mom. Usual bullcrap.”
“Yeah, usual bullshit, except for our daughter showing up on the back of some guy’s motorcycle,” I put in, just to watch the drama unfold.
Kylie gives me a horrified look. “Daddy! You traitor!”
I just laugh.
Nell seems torn as to who to lay into first. “Colton. I just got on our daughter’s case for her language. You have to set the example.” She turns to Kylie. “And you, young lady. Some guy? Motorcycle?” Nell ignores me. “Spill it, Ky.”
Kylie glares at me, mouths I’m gonna kill you. I just laugh. “It’s no big deal. His name is Oz. I don’t know much about him, except that he has a motorcycle, he’s cute, and he’s nice.”
I snort. “He may have been nice to you, but I doubt he’s nice.”
Kylie frowns at me. “He said something similar.”
“Smart, well-mannered, and able to hold a conversation do not equal nice,” I say. “Take me, for example. I’m a lot of things. Nice is not one of them.”