“Who are you?” he asked. His booming voice radiated the same power as his intense brown eyes on me.
“I’m...” My voice box squeaked. “I’m Sang.”
His face softened but it looked like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to believe me yet. “How did you get in here?”
“Luke let me in.”
His lips pursed. Was he mad at me? Maybe I should have gone with Luke for the breaker box.
The overhead lights above us turned on. They were dim but revealed the large expanse of black and white tile on the floor. Most of the tiles were cracked and there were a few missing completely. There was a collection of old mops and brooms covered in cobwebs in the corner. The yellow Formica counter tops went around the entire room, leaving a large space in the middle. There was a normal-sized fridge sitting open and empty, and a single stove, and a double sided sink in the middle. There was plenty of counter space, but I knew no one could run a diner with just one fridge and one oven.
I turned back to the guy, who was looking me over. His eyes went up from my hips to my eyes again. “Sorry I scared you. I’m North.” He was wearing black jeans and boots with a plain black t-shirt. There was a cord around his neck, dangling from it was something in Japanese that I didn’t understand.
“Luke’s brother?” I didn’t mean to sound like I hadn’t heard of him, only he didn’t look anything like his brother.
“We’re step brothers,” he said. “We’re still family.”
I nodded. “No, I get it. I just...” I felt like I was fumbling. His eyes were so intense that it made my knees shake. “He told me about the diner. I think it’ll be great.”
“My brother has unrealistic ideas,” he said, turning around and walking toward the stove. He bent over, opening the door to it and checked the inside.
I stepped up behind him, looking in from behind his shoulder. The oven had a layer of ashes at the bottom. “It could be fixed up,” I said.
“It’ll take a lot of work.”
“But once it was done...”
He let go of the oven door and it closed with a bang. I leapt back, holding a hand to my chest.
He turned to look at me. “It might not work. Most restaurants fail within a year.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. His face was so serious. His eyes held mine. Did he want me to agree with him? To say that there was no hope?
“A good one can stay open for a long time,” I said softly, my fingers lightly touching the base of my neck. “I supposed it depends on how good the food is.”
He blinked at me. “My uncle’s the best.”
“Then what are you worried about? People will taste how good it is and they’ll love it. I mean if you work hard and put your heart into it, who wouldn’t love it?”
His head tilted back sharply and he squished his lips together.
“Hey! You found her,” Luke’s voice drifted in behind me. I turned to see him coming in, his smile still on his face. How different he was from his brother amazed me. “What happened to the curtain?”
“She broke it,” North said.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to.”
North blinked at me again, looking perplexed as to how to accept my apology. “It’s no big deal,” he said in a quieter tone. “Just be more careful next time.”
“I like it like that,” Luke said. “I wouldn’t want anything blocking the natural light.”
Having Luke back in the room eased the tension. I felt my heart calming down a little but I still felt my skin tingling as North continued to shoot glances in my direction.
The phone in my pocket vibrated to life. I had forgotten all about it. I pulled it from my pocket and looked at it.
“Who is it?” Luke asked.
I wondered how much the two of them knew about me and my situation. “It’s Kota. He’s wondering if I can come over.”
“We should go talk to him,” Luke said to North. “There’s not much else to do here. We’ll have to start with cleaning it up.”
“We need to take a few walls down,” North said. “We probably should gut the place before we spend too much time sweeping the floor.”
“Yeah,” Luke said, sounding excited. He pumped a fist in the air. “Let’s break some walls.” He started out of the kitchen.
North rolled his eyes and followed.
I poked at the phone to let Kota know North and Luke were with me and we’d be there in a second.
We found our way out of the building. There was a motorcycle parked near the jungle gym. It looked like the bike had been a custom job. I didn’t see a logo.
“Is that yours?” I asked North.
A dark eyebrow lifted. “Uh huh.”
“Take her for a ride,” Luke said. “I’ll walk.”
“What?” I blushed. “You mean, you’d let me?”
North looked uncomfortable. His hand lifted to the back of his neck, rubbing. “If you want...”
I smiled, nodding. I’d never been on a motorcycle before.
The corner of North’s mouth went up a little. It was so slight but it softened his scary face. Just a twinge. When he did it, he was actually really handsome.
Luke smoothed a lock of blond hair from his face and shoved it behind his ear. “I’ll turn the lights out and lock up.” Luke turned back to the church, disappearing behind the door.
North headed toward his bike. I followed behind him. He stopped short and turned to me. “You’ll have to hang on to me,” he said.
“Is that bad?” I asked, not understanding.
His lips twisted and he shook his head. “I was just warning you.”
“Why?”
Again he seemed confused by my response. I felt like an idiot. I had no idea how to talk to people. He said nothing but moved to the bike and then got on it, kicking back the stand and balancing the bike between his legs. “Come on,” he said, holding his hand out.
He instructed me on how to get on the bike. I dropped my hand into his. Compared to my hand, his was massive, but also warm and in a way, I felt safe that it was him driving. I slid into the seat behind him. It felt awkward because I was wearing the skirt, but the material became tight against my butt as I sat and it wasn’t going to fan out.
“Wrap your arms around my waist.”
I blushed but felt with my hands around his stomach. My palms pressed up to his abdomen. I could feel his smooth strong body through the material of his t-shirt. When I leaned in to press my stomach and chest to his back, I could smell a light, musk scent. It tingled my nose when I inhaled, warming me. My stomach flipped and my nerves jumped. Touching was difficult.
“Hang on,” he said, and he started the bike, the engine roaring to life.
The vibration rattled right to my bones. My fingers dug a little into his stomach, but I tried not to claw him with my fingernails. He felt so big in front of me. My face pressed below his shoulder blades.
He turned the bike in the lot. I hung on with my legs and he took off.
I could only see to the left or right as we passed by the homes as I couldn’t see around him. The strands of hair near my ears fly out behind me.
When he neared the bend in the road, my grip on his stomach slipped as he angled his body. I wasn’t prepared for it.
He moved one hand away from the handle of the bike, grabbing my hand. He pulled it in front of him until he had my palm pressed to his chest. He kept his hand covering mine for a second and then let go to make the turn into Kota’s driveway.
My heart was pounding as he shut off the bike and it leaned as he stepped to hold it up.
“Swing your leg around to get off.”
I did, probably revealing way too much leg from my skirt to do so. I used his arm to hang on to until I was standing and then let go.
He got off the bike, putting the stand into place. He turned to me. “You okay?”
“My legs are tingly.”
He smirked. The sight of his lips like that made my heart stop. “Mine, too.”
I sat on Kota’s bed with my ankles crossed, the only place I thought I could really sit in the skirt I was wearing. North sat next to me, so close I could feel the warmth of his side on my arm. He leaned back a little. I couldn’t see as I was too nervous to look but it felt like his arm had crossed behind me and part of his arm was very close to nearly supporting my back.
Kota and Luke sat on the floor. Luke was sitting near my feet, almost on top of my right foot. Luke just finished filling Kota in on what they were planning.
Kota seemed particularly interested in this, asking a lot of questions about capital and marketing plans. “It sounds like your uncle has it figured out,” he said, sliding his glasses up his nose. “I suppose you’ll ask the rest of us to fill in shifts.”
Luke beamed. “So you think it will work?”
The question surprised me. Were they seeking his approval?
“You know it means working during the school year. Are you going to keep up with classes?”
Luke nodded fervently. “No problem.”
Kota looked at North. “What about you?”