Page 50 of The Fast Lane

“Obviously, me. That’s how these things work.”

“Because you’re a woman?”

“Um, no, because I’m me.”

With a snort, he settled back in his seat, shoulders relaxed. But before long, he was back to his drumbeats, then fiddling with the radio, and shooting several anxious glances in my direction. I pretended to ignore him. If he didn’t want to share his secrets with me, fine. Whatever. It was?—

“Can I talk to you about something?” he asked. Finally.

“Maybe.”

“I haven’t talked to anyone else about this.”

I side-eyed him. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“Is this bribery?”

“Kind of?” He sounded serious and a touch nervous. “Please.”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“After Mom passed, I put all her stuff in storage.” He stared intently at the road. “I wasn’t in a good headspace to deal with it.”

I murmured a soft encouragement for him to continue.

“So, I’ve been going through it lately. It’s been a couple of years and…it was time.” He swallowed. “I found information about my father.”

“What kind of information?”

“Things I didn’t know. His birthplace, his parents’ names, his high school diploma. Hell, I didn’t even know his birthday until I found all that stuff.”

Theo hadn’t talked much about his father growing up, mainly because he didn’t know anything to talk about. The man had left his wife and son somewhere before Theo turned two. Becky had taken on the job of mother and father from then on. But she never talked about his father. Ever. He was a taboo subject in the Goodnight house. It never seemed to bother Theo, but there had to be a part of him that always wondered.

“That must have been weird.”

“It was.” He frowned. “It is. There was his last known address, too. I guess Mom had someone track him down for child support and stuff. So, I did some searching online and contacted a private investigator. I guess I’m curious about him, you know. He’s lived around Las Vegas, for over twenty years.”

“Oh.”

“I’d always assumed he’d been a drifter or a junkie, or maybe got in trouble with the law and has been in prison this whole time. Or he was dead. Some reason he never came back.” He took one white-knuckled hand from the steering wheel and shook it out. “I guess that was easier to believe than he didn’t want us.”

My heart cracked right down the middle for him. I didn’t think, just took the hand he’d dropped to the console between us and cradled it between both of mine.

“It’s his loss,” I said fiercely.

“Yeah.” His jaw ticked but he laced his fingers through mine and squeezed. A few dragons stretched their wings, and I ignored them. Now was not the time to fangirl over Theo. He needed a friend.

“Have you tried to contact him?”

“I don’t know if I should. I’ve lived my whole life without him. Do I want to open myself up to that? I don’t hate him, but I don’t love him.” He frowned. “I don’t feel anything for him; he’s a stranger.”

I worried my bottom lip. “Do you want to know what I think?”

“Yeah. I do.”

“I think you should see him.”