Uninvolved (35 page)

"Amazing how much light you get in here if you actually open your shades
.
" Becka raised her eyebrows at him.

"Shocking
.
Open
shades let in light
.
Thank you so much for your pearls of wisdom
,
oh wise one
.
"

"What crawled up your ass and died?"

Dave was always sarcastic but his tone was way harsher than normal.

"I'm just stressed about my folks coming."

"Why? They're awesome."

"Let's see
.
T
hey are totally going to give me shit the whole time about what a crappy job I have and why
I can’t
meet a nice girl and get settled down."

"You never told me they didn’t like your job."

"Yeah, well
,
I guess no parent wants to brag about their college
-
degree
-
having son working at a grocery store."

"Have they ever actually said that?"

"Of course not
.
At
least not out right
.
It's always
‘S
till working nights? Why not try
to
find a job with normal hours?
’
"

"That doesn’t sound like
they
dislike your job
.
It
only sounds like they wished you worked during the day."

"But that's the whole point
,
Becks
.
My
job is only at night."

"Okay, I get it. Are you happy with your job?"

"It's a job
,
Becks
.
Not
a hobby. I'm only there for the paycheck."

"Fine, whatever
.
I was just asking. Either way
,
stop being stressed because your folks are cool and only want what's best for you."

Dave picked up his laundry basket
,
and Becka moved out of the way as he headed towards the garage
.
Flopping down onto the sofa
,
Becka checked the time on her phone
.
It was 5:
30
.
She
wondered if his folks hi
t traffic and if she should make a snack in the meantime
.
Her thoughts were interrupted with a knock on the door.

"Becka!" Mrs. Logan boomed as she pulled Becka into a tight hug.

"Hi
,
Mr. Logan
.
" Becka smiled over Claire's shoulder.

Mr. Logan had two rolling suitcases behind him
,
and after Mrs. Logan released her and Becka gave Mr. Logan a kiss on the check
,
she directed
him toward
s Dave's room with their bags.

"It is so good to see you
.
" Mrs. Logan beamed at her.

"Where's Dave?" Mr. Logan asked
,
walking out of the bedroom.

"I think he's starting a load of laundry
.
"

"He isn’t trying to con you into doing it for him anymore?" Mrs. Logan joked.

"Nope
.
I'm still stuck with the dishwasher
,
though."

"That boy. Oh
,
there he is. David
,
come give your mother a kiss."

Dave
,
who was n
ever much of a hugger
,
grudg
ing
l
y came
over
.
Dave's parents were going to be staying in his room for their visit
,
and he would be crashing on the couch
.
They all went out to dinner as planned
.
Becka paid special attention to see if anything about Dave's job was discussed
,
but it wasn't
,
and Dave seemed so much more relaxed.

After dinner
,
they drove back to the house but only to drop off the car
.
They all ended up walking over to Dave's favorite dive bar
.
Mr. Logan and Dave played darts while Mrs. Logan and Becka went over the game plan for the next day
.
First
,
they would head over to the mall and do some holiday shopping and after that
,
mani-pedis
.
This was all standard fare for her visits. The next request
,
however threw
,
Becka.

Chapter 17

"I want to get a tattoo
,
Becka
.
"

"Um, is Mr. Logan cool with that?"

"Of course he is
,
dear, not that he decides
what I can or can
'
t do."

"Hell yeah
.
I'll take you to get a tattoo
.
Does Dave know? I'm sure he'd want to come."

"I haven’t talked to him about it
,
but he can come if he wants."

"Have you already picked out what you want to get? Oh
,
and where do you want it?
This is so cool
. G
o
,
Mrs. Logan!
"

"Call me Claire
,
s
weetie. I have a picture
.
Here,
it's in my purse
.” She undid the clasp of her purse and began rummaging through it. “L
et me
…
It
should be right
—
it is just so dark in
—
oh
,
here it is."

Mrs. Logan produced a
n
index card
-
sized piece of paper with a
picture of a parrot and a margarita
.
She was a big Jimmy Buffett fan.

"What do you think?"

"I love it. Hey
,
you didn’t tell me where you want it
.
"

"I was thinking either on my calf or my shoulder
.
Which
do you think is better?"

"Uh
,
I would do shoulder."

Dave
was
a little weirded out by the idea of his mother getting a tattoo but only because it would conflict with his philosophy that chicks with tattoos were hot
.
Kinda gross when your mom has one
, he said
.
Either way Dave was supportive and wanted to go with Mr
s
. Logan as well.

Dave
already had a couple
of
tattoos and used the opportunity of his mother getting one to get another
.
Becka took a couple of pictures of the two of them side by side getting their tattoos to post to Facebook
.
Dave's new tattoo was a
tribal dragon
,
and he got it on his left peck
.
Looked pretty sexy
,
Becka had to admit
,
watching him get it.

Becka had always thought about getting a tattoo herself but could never decide what would be important enough to put on her body permanently
.
She thought they were sexy on other people. It made her think of Kyle and his Celtic tattoo.
Becka always felt a bit guilty when she thought of Kyle
.
God,
she had been an asshole to him.

The rest of Dave's parent
s’
visit was uneventful
.
Becka was sad to see them go but happy to have a house empty of guests again
.
She had felt like she always had to entertain them
,
e
ven when Becka just wanted
lay down or take a bath
.
Which is exactly what she did once they left
.
She had a l
ong hot bath
, and
then
she
la
y
down in her room to read a book until she went to bed
.

At work
,
when someone remarked that they had been live as a team for
two
months
,
it hit Becka that
,
other than a random text
,
she had not heard from
Nate
in a long time
.
Again
. Becka wondered if he had a schedule, like a little phone alarm that went off every couple of months with a reminder to fuck with her head.
Becka still
was not going out as much as she used to
.
Part of her was just tired of the whole scene
.
Becka was officially becoming a homebody
.
There were two perks to staying home
:
l
ess chance she would run into Kyle or
Nate
.
Not that Becka would not have loved to see
Nate
.
She
just wanted him to come to her and not just for
,
well
,
whatever she was to him.

H
er feelings for
Nate
were a contradiction
.
The main reason she was doing her best to avoid him was pure self
-
preservation
.
He was an addiction to her
,
and if she could keep her distance long enough maybe, just maybe
,
she could move past the power he seemed to have over her
.
The universe had different plans
,
though
.
It
was almost like he could sense she was so close to breaking herself of his habit
,
so he called.

"Hey
,
kid."

"Hi
,
Nate
."

"What's wrong? You okay?"

"What do you want
,
Nate
?"

"I want to see you."

"Why?"

"You know why
.
"

"I just don’t think it's a good idea."

"You don’t want to see me?"

God
,
she hated him
.
Of
course she wanted to see him. She wanted to feel his arms around her and his lips on her. Becka wanted to lose herself in his beautiful hazel eyes again and again. It was the next day when he would leave again
,
and she would have no idea of when she would hear from him
again.
That
is what she did not want.

"Becka?"

"I just can't do this
,
Nate
."

"I see."

"I should go."

"Wait."

"What?"

"Are you sure?"

"You are killing me."
She sighed.

"You know you love it."

"
It doesn't change anything."

"This is who I am."

"When we met
,
you had a girlfriend."

"Yes, and that is why I am certain I do not want another one."

"Thanks."

"That's not how I meant it. It's just that it's my birth
—
"

Becka was so upset she hung up on him before realizing what he was saying. It was his birthday, and he had wanted to see her.
Nate
called back right away
, but
she sent it to voicemail. To get over him
,
she needed to stop seeing and talking to him. She waited a
minute
to see if he
had
left a message
,
but he
hadn’t
.
Becka looked at her calendar
.
It
was Dec
ember
1st.