More than anything, Em wished Jay could see her like that. But when the bell rang, it wasn’t Jay waiting on the other side of the door.
“Wow. You look . . . fantastic.”
Em smiled, shyly. “Thanks. Happy birthday.”
“Thank you.”
Mason was wearing his normal jeans and polo shirt and she was suddenly feeling overdressed. Until Ashlyn breezed into the room in all her breathtaking glory.
“Ready to get this party started?”
“You look beautiful, as well.”
“Why thank you, Mas. You look . . . the same.”
Mason laughed. “I’m a guy. We don’t generally dress up unless it’s for a wedding or a funeral.”
“Are those the rules?” Ash teased as she pulled on a lightweight sweater of her own.
“It’s in the guy book,” Mason assured her, holding the door open.
When they’d all piled outside, he stopped in the driveway glancing from his truck to Ashlyn’s car.
“What?” Em could understand Ashlyn’s annoyance at the delay. Mason may have his normal winter wear on, but they were freezing their butts off.
“Well . . . Downtown isn’t exactly the best area and my truck might draw a lot of attention. I thought maybe your car . . .”
“You thought my crappy car wouldn’t be worth stealing?!”
“Sort of.” Mason had the good grace to at least look sheepish over the suggestion.
Ash considered it for a second and then shrugged. “Probably. Fine, let’s take Harrison. But I’m driving.”
“No arguments here.” Mason climbed into the backseat, allowing Em to ride shotgun.
Polite, but not exactly the best arrangement when he was the only one who actually knew where they were going. Mason had to lean over the seat to point out turns to her, half of which Ash completely ignored. The two of them bickered for a solid twenty minutes and Em could have sworn they’d passed that gas station at least twice already. She had to bite her lip not to laugh out loud as their annoyance grew with one another. They sounded like an old married couple.
“Do you hear that?” Mason hushed Ash’s latest retort.
“What?” Ashlyn flicked the radio off and Em’s ears perked up.
“Pull over. I hear something. Your car’s making a weird noise.”
“What weird noise?” Ash sounded panicked. That car was her baby. Not to mention, her dad had just paid to fix the thing and she swore he’d kill her dead if anything else happened to it.
“I don’t know. Just pull over and I’ll check it out.”
Mason pointed out spot after spot as Ashlyn passed them.
“Anywhere will do, Ash. Where are you going?”
“I don’t know! I’m just trying to find . . .” She made a flustered left and pulled into an alley, turning off the engine with a relieved sigh.
Mason glanced around the poorly lit, vacant dead-end street they’d ended up on before shooting Ashlyn and exasperated look. “Could you have found a sketchier spot to park?”
“You said pull over. I pulled over. Now go see what’s wrong with Harrison. And don’t come back until you fix it.”
Mason sighed and climbed out of the car. They watched from inside the warm interior as he did his best to check underneath without getting his pants dirty. He didn’t seem to be having much luck.
“Oh, for crying out loud, is he a guy or not?” Ash pulled her sweater tighter around her shoulders and got out with him. “What are you doing?”
“Looking.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know. I’m not a mechanic.”
Em couldn’t hold it in anymore. Laughing felt like a sin—with all the bad that she’d caused, what right did she have to be happy, even for a moment?—but the two of them made it impossible not to. By the time she joined them on the sidewalk, her sides hurt. “Isn’t that in the guy book? Good with cars. Right after don’t dress up?”
“Har-har.” Mason got down on one knee and hung his head to peer underneath again.
“Christ, Mason, I want you to fix him not propose to him. Get under there.” Ash waved frantically at the car while Mason scowled and tears welled in Em’s eyes from the hilarity.
Giving in to Ashlyn’s demands, Mason laid out flat on his back and scooted underneath for a closer look. The cold air bit through the thin layers of material shielding Em from the night as they awaited his verdict. Minutes ticked by and Em was beginning to wonder if he was actually doing anything under there, or just trying not to look bad. She was starting to feel bad for teasing him when the shadows around them shifted.
A group of three guys around their age—maybe a little bit older—were headed down the alley. Nerves on high alert, Em kicked Mason’s leg.