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“What’s the question?”
“The rib. The one you picked up. Were you going to say that it was the good one, and then you changed your mind when you saw Peeb celebrating?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“No shit?”
“No shit.”
“You didn’t like the other one?”
“It was kinda weird. They were both gross, but the other one was more gross.”
He twisted his mouth to the side. “Fuck.”
“Fuck what?”
“I’m going to have to give him his money back.”
I shrugged. “Maybe wait till tomorrow. It’d be more fun.”
“I’ll probably do that.”
“Thanks, by the way. I don’t remember if I told you that. But thanks.”
“For?”
“Letting me come.”
“I didn’t let you come,” he said. “I asked you to come. There’s a difference.”
It seemed like splitting hairs to me. “Thanks for asking me to come.”
He grinned, but I was left wondering what he meant by what he said. It gnawed on me for a minute, and then I asked.
“What’s the difference? Between letting me and asking me?”
“Letting you would be agreeing to allow you to come if you asked if you could. If you said, hey can I come to your barbeque? Asking you to come means I wanted you to come, and I asked you, because I wanted you here.”
I liked the difference that he explained, but I wanted to know more. There was no way that Navarro and I would ever amount to anything more than elbow-rubbing associates, but it was nice to dream.
Now that I knew him better, I found him to be so much more than an intriguing biker. He was caring, could be kind, and most of what others saw in him was a hard outer layer that he used to protect his significantly more sensitive inner being.
Getting through the outer shell wasn’t easy, though.
“Why’d you ask me? Or why’d you want me?”
His response was quick and without thought or hesitation.
“I like you,” he said.
It wasn’t much.
In fact, I’d been told a lot more than that from lesser men over the years. But, coming from Navarro, it was pretty fucking significant.
At least to me.
The sound of the people, the music, and even what I could see of my surroundings all became insignificant. Elizabeth told me to always be aware of my surroundings, but at that moment I wasn’t.
