Dude Magnet by Gregory Ashe

Author:Gregory Ashe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hodgkin and Blount
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

We drove to the Otter Slide in silence. In the back seat, Keme looked miserable. Hugo must have caught the mood too because he didn’t say anything. He didn’t even remind me to signal as we turned into the bar’s gravel lot. I parked and killed the engine.

“It’s fine,” I said to Keme. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

It was hard to tell in the dark, but Keme’s breathing suggested defensiveness defaulting into anger.

“It’s okay,” I said again, trying to work some conviction into my voice. I squeezed his hand. “We wouldn’t have those pictures if it weren’t for you. You were brave tonight, and it was smart to send them to Deputy Bobby.” Then, trying for a lighter tone, I added, “Although if you risk your neck like that again without talking to me first, I’m going to lose my mind.”

He tried for a glare that didn’t quite land, but some of the tension seemed to drain out of his body.

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go inside and get something to drink.”

He was a teenager. Even in the midst of self-flagellation and what probably felt like world-ending humiliation, he was still a teenager. He paused mid-glare to crook a little look at me from over the collar of his shirt.

“A Coke, dingus. Nice try, though.”

That earned me a smile—a small one.

Keme headed into the bar ahead of us, and as Hugo and I followed, Hugo asked, “What’s he so upset about?”

“He’s embarrassed,” I said. “He’s seventeen, but he thinks he’s twenty-seven, and honestly, most of the time, he’s so mature that it’s hard to remember he’s still a kid. And he—he doesn’t do well when people are upset with him. And he doesn’t do well when people he cares about are, I don’t know, in trouble.”

Hugo’s silence was another question; we’d been together long enough for me to hear it.

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “Indira says he has a rough home life, which has got to be true; I think he sleeps at her place half the time, and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he was roughing it the other nights.”

“God,” Hugo said, “he’s such a sweet kid, though.”

I nodded.

“And you’re good with him,” Hugo added.

“I’m not good with him,” I said. “He’s my friend. Although he’d probably roll his eyes if he heard me say that.”

For some reason, that made Hugo smile. The look on his face was strange—like he’d never seen me before, or like he was seeing something new. I didn’t know what to say to that look, so I picked up the pace and headed into the bar.

The Otter Slide looked about the same as it had the other night. Someone (hopefully not Seely) had cleaned up the mess from Cole and Mason’s scuffle, and the tables and chairs were back in order. The green-and-gold pendant lights left the right amount of shadows. I did a quick scout to see if I could find any new additions and spotted a tiny

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