Her booth is nearly full, as she’s surrounded by a group of pretty young women, along with a few pretty young men. I’m guessing they work for her, which means … you know. They’re on offer tonight. They’re all stunning. Luke goes up to Barbie, stands up straight, and starts talking to her. She lowers her glasses and smiles at him. In that second, he looks like a pretty boy for sale, blending into the crowd, not a Miller man. I wonder if that’s what he wants: to not be one of the power players by birth, if only for a second.
I accidentally make eye contact with one of her male companions. He looks me up and down.
Shit.
I step inside the bathroom, and walk into one of the dark wooden stalls. I lock the door behind me, then sit down on the closed toilet seat. I feel light-headed and sick to my stomach.
I can’t hide in here for long, so I need to make every second of peace count. I pinch one nostril closed, breathe in deep, then let go and exhale. It helps a little, but not enough. I can’t get the sight of the burning restaurant, along with Dad’s look of disdain through the rearview, out of my head. And then there’s the fact that my family has been talking about me.
It’s a pretty killer trio.
I wait for as long as I can, and then I step outside.
And find I’m not alone in the bathroom.
Washing his hands is a guy I haven’t seen before. He’s wearing a dark blue shirt tucked into gray slacks and nice black shoes. His dusty brown hair is short, cut in military fashion. The top two buttons of his shirt are undone, showing off some pale skin.
He has the kind of body you notice.
I ignore him and start washing up.
“Rough night?” he asks.
“Huh?”
“You look like you’ve been through it,” he says, turning to face me. He’s drying his hands with a paper towel. I notice his posture, too; it’s weirdly great.
Dead straight.
I shrug and turn off the tap.
“I’m Jason, by the way,” he says.
He looks young, maybe around my age. It’s not super uncommon for the sons and daughters of mob players to show up here: They like to get us indoctrinated early. So much illegal stuff happens here; underage drinking is the least of their concerns.
“Matt,” I say. “I’d shake your hand, but you know…”
I raise my wet hands.
“Don’t worry about it,” he says, and he smiles. “Hey, this might be a long shot, but are you up for sneaking out of here?”
His smile makes my heart beat faster. This boy, whoever he is, has a great freaking smile. It feels almost dangerous. He should warn a guy before smiling at him like that.
“What?” I say.
He steps closer, and his shoes click on the tiles. “Look, I can tell you’d rather be somewhere else right now. And conveniently, that’s what I want, too. I know a diner down the road. If you’re game?”
I eye him warily. Who suggests something like that? Who is this guy? But he’s right. I would rather be somewhere else right now.
And fine, I’ll admit it. He’s absurdly hot.
“Sure,” I say. “Let’s do it.”
CHAPTER TWO
Jason and I are walking down a quiet alley.
It feels a little like this stretch of the city belongs to us.
I’m not sure if anyone else would want it, though. It smells like trash, and the walls are covered in graffiti. I look up. The moon’s out, and I can hear the ocean. I feel a little unsafe, but weirdly I kind of like that. At the end of the alleyway, across a road, is a diner, called Sunshine Diner. Its signage is blue neon.
I look across, at the tall hot guy keeping pace beside me. It doesn’t feel real, that I’m doing this.
“What?” he asks.
“Huh?”
“You just looked at me weird. What’s up?”
We pass by a blue dumpster.
“Nothing, dude,” I say.
He raises both eyebrows.
“Okay,” I say. “I’m just sort of pinching myself that I’m doing this. I should be back at the bar.”
“Why?”
“My dad, I guess. You know how it is.”
He must, if he was at the bar.
He stops walking, and I do as well. He turns to face me. Beside me is a metal chain-link gate, leading into a small yard. It’s overgrown. Above me, there are thick black power cables, connecting power poles that run down the alley.
I feel a little pressed in.
“Let’s make a deal,” he says. “How about we don’t talk about our families? We can just be us, not our last names. How does that sound?”
I wasn’t expecting that. It sounds amazing.
But I’m Matt Miller. All anyone really cares about is my family. I don’t recognize Jason, but I hardly pay attention when I’m forced to be at the bar. I’m guessing he’s the son of one of the families we’re allied with. Or maybe he’s one of Barbie Barker’s rent boys. He’s hot enough for it.
Wait, what if he is one of her rent boys?
I decide it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t afford it anyway. I hope he isn’t, though. For a lot of reasons.
“Sure,” I say. “Why not?”
He grins. “Sweet.”
We start walking again.
“So you like this place?” I ask, pointing at the diner. It doesn’t look like much. It puts the suss in suspect. Also, it’s right next to a gas station, which for some reason feels really damning to me. Like it’s going to be especially cheap and fast, even for a diner.
“I do.”
We reach the front door, and Jason opens it for me. A bell chimes. The place is massive, with pink booths and faded wooden paneling. At the back is a mural, sky blue, with a slightly wonky palm tree painted on it.
It’s a whole lot of why?
Jason leads me to a booth in the back and sits down. I sit opposite him. This place smells like coffee and sugar. The local hit-music station is playing on the radio.
The menu in front of me is freaking huge. I flip it over and see there are just as many options on the other side. There’s something available called the “sunrise special” that includes both eggs and pineapple. I almost gag at the thought.
The bell above the door chimes again, and two cops walk in. They sit down at the counter. The server smiles like she knows them and pours them each a mug of coffee.
Okay, so this isn’t the kind of place I’m supposed to be in.
Why am I here? What am I doing?
“Do you do this a lot?” I ask.
“Do what?”
“Ask random guys you meet in bathrooms to diners?”
He laughs. “You’re the first.”
“So why me?”
We’re interrupted by the server. The menu is so huge I haven’t even decided what I want.
“What can I get you boys?”
“Um,” I say, as I desperately scan the menu. “I…”
“Two double cheeseburgers, and two chocolate thick shakes, and a large waffle fries,” says Jason, then he looks at me. “You happy with that?”
“Um, yeah.”
The server walks away.
“You looked freaked, so I ordered for you,” he says. “Hope that’s cool.”