Pit Stop by Joanne Ganci
Mia
Pulling the blue door open with a creak, I hop into the truck. “Thanks for coming to get me.”
Julian pushes the flop of blonde hair out of his face and smiles at me. “No problem, Mia. Sorry no one warned you about my delightful little brother taking over for Mr. Jenkins. I bet that came as a shock.”
Almost, but Riley walked in. My cheeks heat at my wayward thoughts. That was NOT what he meant. “Uh, yeah. Definitely shocking. I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but your brother’s kind of a dick.”
“Oh, believe me, I’m aware.” He chuckles, throwing the gear shift into reverse and backing out of the parking spot. “He’s really not that bad if you get to know him. Unless you’re me, then he’s always that bad.” His green eyes light up with love, and I can’t stand that I notice how different they are from Parker’s cerulean ones.
“He said as much.”
“I hope he didn’t scare you off. Sunshine is so excited you’re here.”
I scoff, “He wishes he had that much of an effect on me.”
Julian shakes his head, laughing. Being his brother, I’m sure he doesn’t even need me to explain what I mean by that. “Well, damn. I was going to suggest you talk to him about a job, but it sounds like y’all already don’t get along.”
“A job? I’m not a mechanic, Julian.”
“I know that.” He flips his blinker on, taking the turn onto his street. “He needs an office manager. Parker’s great when it comes to cars, but the business side, not so much. Isn’t that what you did back up in North Carolina?”
“It was…” Before the company shut down six months ago. I couldn’t find another office manager position after that. Thankfully, I got another job almost immediately, but the position wasn’t as good, and the salary was much lower than I was used to. With the cost of childcare now that I didn’t have Aunt Ruth to watch Alex for me… I just couldn’t keep afloat. “Yeah.”
“Well, if Parker didn’t completely turn you off, I know he’s looking for one. I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t want to work with him, though. He’s… an acquired taste. More like he’s a dick if he hasn’t acquired a taste for you.”
I choke on my own saliva at his words.
DOES HE NOT HEAR THE WORDS HE’S SAYING RIGHT NOW?!
Or is my mind just that dirty?
“You alright?” he asks, patting me on the back.
“Uh, yeah. All good. Thanks.” When I finish choking, I realize we’re in their driveway already. “Uh, I have to go to the bathroom?” I fling the door open, grabbing my stuff, and power walk into the house.
I make a beeline for the bathroom in the front of the house, thankfully not seeing anyone else. When I close the door behind me, I play back what I said and really wish the ground would swallow me up. Did I ask him if I had to go to the bathroom? Yeah… pretty sure I did. Dropping my purse and bag of food onto the bathroom counter, I refuse to think about how weird it is that I brought my food in here with me.
What is wrong with me today?
I practically dive for my purse. I need to call Jamie.
As soon as he answers, I hiss out, “You’re a terrible conscience, Jaminey!”
A bark of laughter comes through the phone, followed by, “I’m sorry?”
“You should be!” I pace the short length of the bathroom.
“Why are you whispering, Mia?”
“Because I’m hiding in a bathroom at my brother’s house, and I don’t want anyone to hear me. My mind is in the gutter, and I feel like I can’t function right now. And I’ve got your voice in my head telling me I’m thirsty as fuck. Terrible, horrible conscience!”
“Why am I calling you thirsty in your head? You haven’t gotten laid in three years, and as far as I know you haven’t been interested in a man since then. I don’t even know if you masturbate. Honestly, I was beginning to think you were asexual.”
“Would an asexual person lose her mind with lust and let a practical stranger lay her out on the hood of a fucking car?”
“You fucked a stranger on the hood of a car?” he asks, cackling. “You haven’t even been gone a full twenty-four hours, Mee!”
Checking to make sure the lid is down—the last thing I need is to fall into a toilet right now—I plop down on the toilet and put my head in my hands. “I didn’t fuck him. We were… interrupted.” I tell him everything that happened from start to finish and sit here waiting for him to reel in his uncontrollable laughter. When he stops laughing long enough for me to get a word in, I ask him, “Do you think Julian knows? His word choice seems very freaking specific.”
“Mee, how could he know? Do you think Parker went and told him?”
“I don’t know. I don’t fucking know him, Jamie!”
“I find it highly unlikely the first thing he did was call his brother up and tell him,” he snorts.
“But he could have!”
“But he probably didn’t. And even if he did, so what? You’re both adults. He is an adult, right?”
“Yes, he’s a fucking adult. I said I lost my mind in lust, not altogether! Jesus, Jamie.”
He laughs, and I know he’s rolling his hazel eyes at me. “Calm down, Mee. It was a valid question. There’s no reason for you to freak out.”
“I almost slept with my brother’s girlfriend’s boyfriend's brother and got caught by his best friend, who I thought was his girlfriend. I had to meet her sans fucking panties, Jamie. SANS WONDER WOMAN PANTIES. This is some Jerry Springer shit right here.”
“God, this would make a great episode. But really, there’s nothing wrong with it. You’re not related. Yes, the whole situation is unconventional, but fuck normal,” my gay best friend says.
“Okay, you’re right. Fuck normal. And I didn’t actually sleep with him, anyway. It’s all good. Everything’s fine.”
“Woman, get it together! Don’t make me drive down to Florida to smack some sense into you!”
“I’m good. We’re good. No smacking needed. Thanks. I don’t know what I would do without you, Jamison Williams.”
“Me either. You’re clearly a mess without me,” he snorts.
“Hey!”
“It’s true. You’re hiding in a bathroom right now, Mia.”
Dammit. He’s right. Why is he always right? “Ugh. I should go. My food is probably cold now. I’m so glad I drank most of my milkshake on the way here. And I’m sure everyone is going to ask why the hell I’ve been in the bathroom for…” I pull my phone away to look at the timer for the call, “over twenty minutes! Yeah, gotta go. Love you, Jamie-bear.”
“Love you too, Mia-bo-bia.”
I hang up the phone and stand up, then immediately lift the lid and sit back down, because I’ve been in here so long I actually have to pee now. After washing my hands, I gather my stuff and sneak out of the bathroom. Smacking my forehead, I yell at myself in my head, because sneaking around is the exact opposite of what I should be doing right now.
Why do you make everything so weird, Mia?
You know that moment in movies when someone says, “Act casual,” and the idiot tries several different things, failing miserably the entire time? That’s me right now. I’m that idiot. I’m still trying to figure out what the hell I’m doing when I look up to see Rachael staring at me, trying not to laugh.
“Are you okay, Mia?”
“What? Me? Yeah, I’m cool. Totally cool. Everything is just peachy. Why, what’s up?” Smooth. That was totally believable. Can you internally facepalm? I’m definitely internally facepalming. I don’t think it’s working. Maybe I need to call Jamie back and tell him I need that smack. Because, really? Peachy?
“Okayyyy. Uh…” Did I mention I just met Rachael today? Yeah, great first impression. I am royally fucking this up. I like to believe I’m normally well put together. There isn’t anyone that values first impressions more than me. And yet, here I am, fucking up all of them.
“Just… Ignore it. It’s probably better if we pretend that didn’t happen. I’m… Where’s Alex?”
She laughs and shakes her head. “He’s playing outside with James, Zack, and Lydia. Already forgotten. Just be glad it was me that came to check on you. Anyone else and I can guarantee it would not be forgotten.” She walks back toward the kitchen, and I follow since I can’t go hide in the bathroom for another twenty minutes. Not gonna lie, I definitely consider it. “Except Zack… maybe.”
“Well… I’m really glad it was you then. Thank you for watching Alex. I really appreciate it.”
“Anytime! He was great. A little moody after nap time, but Uncle James turned that frown upside down in no time.”
I put my stuff down on the kitchen table and sit down. “Yeah, he’s a good kid. He’s got too much energy if you ask me, but he’s a good boy. And the after nap mood is on me, so I wholeheartedly apologize for that. You hope and hope that kids will inherit only your good traits, then they end up getting some of the worst ones. I feel like I owe every single person I’ve ever been around after waking up the biggest apology after being on the other end of that shit.”
Rachael’s sitting at the table with me, and we continue talking while I scarf down my extremely cold lunch. I was happy for James when he told me he found someone, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t leery about the, as Jamie called it, unconventional situation. I’ve seen Rachael over video chat a few times, and she seemed really nice. I even said hi to Julian and met Zack. I was at least familiar with Julian, since we went to high school together. We were never exactly friends, but we had friends in common. Still… Everything was just so… different. I’ve always thought you were supposed to get married, have babies, then live happily ever after. It’s what my parents did, and it’s what I wanted. Except things aren’t that simple. Sometimes you fall in love with multiple people, sometimes you fall in love with someone of the same gender, sometimes you have a baby before you get married, and sometimes you get hit by a drunk driver and have that happily ever after ripped away from you.
No. Life is never that simple.
I had never met someone who was polyamorous, so when James told me about his relationship, it worried me. I didn’t want to see him get hurt again. He’s an artist and feels so deeply. I know he’s my older brother, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying about him. But after being in their house for less than ten minutes, I knew I had nothing to worry about. There is so much love and happiness between them. So, yeah, it’s unconventional, but… fuck normal.
As long as you’re happy and no one’s getting hurt, what you do and who you love is nobody’s fucking business.
Probably shouldn’t date a serial killer.
Shit, I should write the notes in fortune cookies with these golden nuggets of advice.
Perpetual.
Internal.
Facepalm.