When I’d first moved to LA, I’d look at it every night, but at some point, the sight of August just made me sad, so I’d shoved the Polaroid inside a shoe box along with the rest of my keepsakes. The next time I’d lifted the lid on that box was about three years later. A leak in our apartment had filled my box with dirty water, ruining the few mementos I’d carried from Boulder.
I blinked out of the memory. “How did the talk go with your dad?”
“I’d rather not discuss it in here.”
Did he think the place was bugged? I didn’t ask.
August gestured to the door of the building, and I followed him out. He turned off all the lights before setting the alarm. I thought he’d tell me about his conversation outside, but he tipped his head toward the side of the warehouse.
“Ooh.” I was sure my eyes lit up. “I get to see your man cave?” I rubbed my palms together like a little kid.
“Man cave?” He grunted.
I flicked his arm.
“Ouch. What was that for?”
“Every time you grunt, I’m flicking you.”
“Are you now?” he muttered.
“Uh-huh. It’ll make you take notice of how often you do it.”
He shook his head a little, but a smile softened his expression. “Should I remind you that inflicting bodily harm on your boss is majorly frowned upon?”
“Bodily harm?” I snorted. “I don’t think I could inflict much harm on that impressive body of yours.” I winked at him.
He flicked my ribs.
“What was that for?” I said, rubbing the spot. “It wasn’t a dig. Besides, I didn’t even come up with the descriptive term. That was all Uncle Tom.”
“You grunted,” he said matter-of-factly.
“I did not.”
“You did.”
I shook my head but matched his smile with one of my own.
August unlocked his front door with a digital keypad and then tapped another keypad inside, and a dozen different lights flared to life.
I tilted my head up and took in the narrow, but dizzyingly high-ceilinged space. “Wow.”
The walls were brushed concrete, and the floors were gunmetal-tinged wood, and over the kitchen, there was a giant mezzanine topped with a king-sized bed.
“Total man cave,” I declared.
August walked to the kitchen and tugged open the fridge that was stocked with beer, milk, and more beer.
“Don’t eat here often, huh?” I ran my fingers over the knots in the giant slice of trunk that made up his kitchen island. “This is beautiful.” The sides were uneven but smooth, almost like ruffles. “I want an island like this in my glass cube.” I took a seat at the island as he pulled out two beers which he uncapped with his fist. I tipped an eyebrow up. “I thought I was underage.”
He smiled. “I was trying to irritate you.” He handed me one of the bottles, then held out his own. “To milestones.”
We clinked, and then I took a small sip.
“I probably shouldn’t drink and drive. Especially not on an empty stomach.”
“I was going to order pizza.”
My spine straightened a little. “You don’t have to feed me.”
“Cole’s coming over soon. He requested an extra-large pie.”
I took another sip. “You guys hang out often?”
“Well, we work together, but yeah, we hang out every day.”
They were the same age, or maybe a year apart. “I don’t remember you guys being such good friends before I left town.”
“Those last few weeks you were around, we were on the outs over a girl. He hooked up with her right after I broke up with her.”
“And that was a violation of the bro-code or something?”
He snorted.
I leaned over and flicked his wrist.
“Hey.” He rubbed it, eyes glinting with a smile.
I tipped my bottle to my lips, relishing the cool fizz of the beer as it hit my tongue, as it hit my veins. “So what happened after that?”
“He ended up going out with her for four years.”
“And you didn’t talk the entire time?”
“Nah. We patched things up pretty quick.”
I thought of the girl inside Liam’s room. I still didn’t know who she was, but I couldn’t imagine wanting to hang out with her. Then again, Cole and August had been friends before a girl had come between them. I had no girlfriends in Boulder, besides Sarah, but Sarah had obviously not been the one behind that wall.
Would I have forgiven her if she had been?”Ness?”
“Yeah?” I blinked out of my glum thoughts.
“Want some pizza?”
“Sure.”As he phoned up the delivery place, I went back to thinking about the girl in Liam’s room. Went through my entire beer dwelling on her.
I really needed to get my mind off it. “So what did your dad say?” I asked once August was done placing the order.