Tanked: An Eastside Brewery Novel by Mia Hopkins

Author:Mia Hopkins [Hopkins, Mia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little Stone Press
Published: 2022-04-25T18:30:00+00:00

Fourteen

Angel

I take off my sweatshirt and clean myself off. I pull up my pants and sit back down on the chair. For a long time, I look out at the shadows of the garden and listen to Deanna’s soft breathing. The night air is sharp on my bare skin. It licks away my sweat. I sit still, content in the darkness.

“You should go inside,” she says at last. “Get warm.”

I grunt. That’s all I can handle right now.

“Angel?”

I grunt again.

“Can I ask you a question?”

Deanna and her questions. I smile. “Sure.”

“Is what you talked about tonight…something you have actually done in bed?”

My brain is jumbled, but I consider carefully what I’m going to say next. I want to be honest with her but I don’t want to scare her away. The balance feels precarious, but I won’t lie to her. “Yes, a long time ago,” I say. “When I was living in that house in Salinas, our trainer had us abstain from all sexual activity for three weeks before fights. That’s a lot to ask a bunch of guys in their twenties. After the fights, we needed to blow off a lot of steam. And there were always girls around who wanted to have fun.”

She’s quiet.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“I liked the fantasy you came up with for me. I really, really liked it,” she says. “But I don’t think I could ever do anything like that in real life. And if that’s what you like, that’s not…I can’t…”

I sit up straight. “Listen to me. I would never ask you to do anything you didn’t want to do. Never. Those were wild times, but I don’t miss them. I’m not nostalgic for them. What turns me on now is turning you on. In fantasy and in real life. That’s how I get off. Knowing you’re into it. If you’re not, I’m not. Simple as that.” My mind is getting clearer. A breeze weaves through the branches of the tree, rustling the leaves.

“I think it’s sad that I’m older than you but you have more experience than I do.”

I snort. “More experience doing what? Being a jackass? No. You have more experience than I do. In doing things that matter. That means something. Don’t downplay that.”

She’s quiet again.

“Is there anything else that’s bothering you?”

“I guess there’s something I’ve been wondering,” she says.

“Ask. I’ll tell you.”

“After everything that happened to you, you seemed to have a good life in Salinas.”

“I did, in a lot of ways. Friends, a house, a stable job, boxing. Sure.”

“So why come down here to LA? And why stay?”

“To help my brothers with the brewery,” I say automatically, almost as if I believe it.

“But that’s not all,” she says.

I pause. “You could tell, couldn’t you?”

“Something didn’t add up. That’s their dream, their business. They still don’t treat you like an equal, even three years later.”

I wince. It’s harsh to hear out loud.

“You’re intelligent,” she continues. “You read people well. I bet you have a hundred new ideas for the brewery.

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