I hand Tor the cold bottle and he takes it from me, using his keychain to pop the cap off.

“I thought you were mad at me.” He takes a long drink before glancing sideways at me. I can see why Jason was scared of him; on the outside, Tor looks like a badass. He’s a beast of a man, not an ounce of fat on him, broad and hard as a rock with ink covering both arms from neck to knuckle. Wavy brown hair falls to the tops of his shoulders. It’s usually tied back in a short ponytail to keep it out of his face when he’s working and from tangling up when he’s riding. He notoriously wears dark sunglasses to shade his even darker eyes, and his ride of choice is an old custom Harley that roars down the road so loud that you can barely hear yourself think if he’s near. But on the inside, he’s quiet. Thoughtful. Amazingly caring and giving. Unlike my Dad, he’s good looking in a rugged, almost scary way. Chloe has nicknamed him the walking orgasm. I think she’s way too fixated on sex lately.

I put my bowl of fruit off to the side. “You know me better than that.”

“I shouldn’t have embarrassed you in front of your boyfriend.”

He passes the bottle to me and I take a sip. I don’t like the taste of beer at all but I take sips every now and then, thinking maybe someday that will change and I’ll enjoy it like everyone else. Nope. Still tastes gross.

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Really? You were pretty excited about him a few weeks ago. I distinctly remember a bunch of squealing and a happy dance when he asked you out.”

Sighing with slight embarrassment over that colorful flashback, I hand the beer back to him, our fingers touching against the cold, damp bottle. “I was, until I got to know him. There’s nothing there. I don’t feel anything. There’s nothing interesting about him. He’s just…blah.” I feign a shudder.

He laughs and shakes his head. “That shit must be contagious then. That’s exactly what Lisa said to me a few days ago.”

“You guys broke up?”

“We weren’t really together, Kenz. Just kinda seeing where it was gonna go. Testing the waters.”

I pick a big, juicy strawberry off my plate and bite it in half. “What did she say?”

He looks up at the sky for a moment before answering. “Well, let’s see. She had a whole list, actually. She said I don’t give enough. I don’t communicate enough. I’m too cold and closed off. I’m too quiet. I work too much. I don’t smile enough. I don’t dress nice enough.” He shrugs. “I’ve heard it all before.”

“You’re not cold, Uncle Tor. Not at all. You’re just not the type to talk for the sake of talking. You talk when you have something to say. And maybe she’s just mad because you’re not saying what she wants to hear.”

“Apparently I never have much to say, and it’s never what they want to hear. She said pretty much the same things to me,” he raises his chin and nods across the yard, his eyes zeroing in on Sydni, who’s talking to my dad, her long fire-engine-red hair cascading down her back like a mermaid. Aunt Sydni is the bass player in my mom’s band, and is my mom’s best friend. She’s also been Toren’s on-again-off-again girlfriend for the past twelve years or so. Mostly off.

But lately, I see her as the woman who’s in love with my dad, and she isn’t very good at hiding it.

Yes, welcome to the soap opera that is my life.

“Sydni said that too?” I ask.

“Sydni’s said a lot of things over the years, but we both know what it all comes down to. I’m not him. I don’t smile like him, I don’t talk like him, I don’t make her laugh like him, I’m not rich like him. I’ll never be as good as him. Blah, blah, blah. To her I’m just a dirty mechanic who chases animals around.” He gulps down his beer and I wish I hadn’t given it to him.

“He doesn’t want her, Uncle Tor,” I say softly, trying to diffuse him. “He has zero interest in her other than as a friend.”

“I know that. Fuck, everyone knows that. But it doesn’t change how she feels.”

“Maybe you two can work it out? It’s been a few months since you broke up, maybe she feels different now. Sometimes you hafta lose something to appreciate it, ya know? She knows you were seeing Lisa. Maybe that made her open her eyes a little. Jealousy can be a great motivator.”

A grin spreads across his face. “You’re pretty smart, Kenz. But that ship has sailed and sunk. I don’t want someone who’s in love with someone else. Fuck that.”