I walked into work Monday morning and Vince immediately said, "Someone got laid."
I cursed myself for not playing it cooler. Who was I kidding? I smiled. Vince was like an uncle to me and he knew I'd never had much success with girls. "Yeah."
"Who?" Tommy, another mechanic, asked. "Did you fuck her ass?"
I wanted to punch him for saying something so crude about Katie, but slowed myself. He didn't know her and she wasn't mine. And with these guys, nothing was off limits. "No."
"But you did fuck her?"
"What the fuck else would I have done to her?" I snapped.
Tommy slapped my shoulder. "Good for you, man. 'Bout time." He walked into the office.
I turned around and went to my clipboard of orders for the day, hoping Vince wouldn't say anything. I wasn't lucky.
"You didn't fuck her, did you?" he asked in a fatherly way.
I shook my head. "Nope. But what we did was almost better."
He shook his head and clapped my shoulder. "You've got it bad, Kid."
"What?"
"You really like this girl. I can tell. But she's the one with the boyfriend who's got the small dick lifted truck, right? The one whose Beemer I had to work on last week even though we were swamped?"
"Yeah," I muttered. "Her name's Katie."
He laughed for a second but shut up at the look on my face. "Sorry, Kid, but you've got no hope with this one."
"She's..." Amazing. Smart. Funny. Intoxicating. Too good for me. All were true but I knew saying any one would only get more pity from Vince.
"Kid, have fun, enjoy itโwhatever it isโwhile it lasts and prepare for the worst. Because you already are in with this girl and unless she feels the same way for you, you're going to get hurt when this is over. But," he sighed, "you'll fuck a couple of girls who remind you of herโor notโand get over it eventually."
I nodded. "I guess."
"Trust me. Been there, done that. Some girls pull you in and even though you know nothing will last, there's not a damn thing you can do to stop." He smiled and nodded at the clipboard. "Now get to work."
***