A Restored Man (21 page)

Ty laughed nervously. He grabbed Cole's wandering hands and pulled them to his chest. "I'm not ready to talk about certain things. But when I am, you'll be the first to know."

"Promise?"

"Swear."

"Lasagna," Cole blurted out.

"Huh?"

"You asked what I was making for dinner tomorrow. I'm making lasagna," Cole said, withdrawing his hands from Ty's hold and placing them back on Ty's hips.

"You're trouble, you know that?"

Cole's fingers traveled over Ty's ass again, more deliberate. "I can be. But you want to go
slow
," he said, stretching out and dragging each letter of the small word.

Ty chuckled and leaned in to place a quick peck on Cole's lips. "Yes. And we need to get back to work."

Cole gripped Ty's ass hard and pulled him forward, flush against his body. He leaned up and whispered in Ty's ear, "Yes, boss."

Ty closed his eyes and tried to control his racing pulse. He wanted nothing more than to submit to whatever Cole wanted to do to him. "You're real trouble."

Cole patted Ty's ass and chuckled. "I can't wait for you to finally shift into gear. This whole cruising in neutral shit is making my balls hurt."

Ty shook his head and smiled. Cole took a few steps back before turning to resume his work. He quickly spun to face Ty again. "You're seeing a physical therapist?"

Ty nodded.

"Good."

Ty cocked his head. "Why's that?"

Cole waggled his eyebrows. "Makes you bendy."

Ty just shook his head and laughed as Cole walked back to the door to finish his work.

Cole was trouble all right. And Ty couldn't wait to take a chance on finding out just how much trouble Cole could be.

* * * * *

Cole removed the distributor cap from the box and inspected the new part before walking over to the engine. He should have picked the car he would service rather than let Ty assign it to him. Cole only needed ten more minutes to wrap up his work—Ty's ticket, a classic car with the service record from hell, would take a lot longer.

"Hey, Cole. Can you come on over here and start the engine for me please," Ty said. "Something's not right and I need to see what it is when it cranks up."

"Sure," Cole said, setting down the part on the fender pad. He sat in the driver's seat and turned the key. The engine kept turning, but wouldn't start.

"Did you check the belts?" Cole asked, sticking his head in between the open door and the car's a-pillar support.

Ty nodded as he stared under the hood. "Changed belts, plugs, and all the fluids. Try it again."

Cole turned the key again with the same result. "What about the alternator?"

Ty walked over to the tool chest and looked over the sheet on the clipboard. "It's new. Give me a sec and try it again," he said, dipping under the hood again. "Go ahead."

Cole turned the key again. He didn't know what sounded louder. The boom he heard coming from the front of the car that shook the driver's seat, or the sound of his heart beating in his ears when he realized Ty had been close to the explosion. He raced out of the car and found Ty lying on his back on the ground, shaking his head. "You okay?" Cole breathlessly asked, looking over to the car's engine. He leaned over and saw the battery housing had exploded, burned parts scattered and some melted. He looked back at Ty, still dazed on the ground as Jeff and two other techs came running over.

"I think I'm okay," Ty said, trying to get up from the floor.

Cole reached out to help him off the ground and noticed fluids splattered on the front of his coveralls and under his forearm, as if he had used his arm to block his face. "Get to the washdown now."

"What the hell was that!" Jeff said, racing over to them.

"Go, now!" Cole said firmly to Ty, trying to control the panic in his voice. He pushed Ty to leave and shifted his focus to the arriving techs. "Battery exploded." He glanced back at Ty walking quickly through the bays.

"This is a mess," Jeff said. "Wayne, grab some baking soda and let's get this all neutralized and cleaned up ASAP."

"What the hell," Cole whispered to himself when he saw Ty walk past the emergency washdown and head toward his office. "Fuck!" He began walking at a brisk pace through the bays and found himself racing until he reached Ty's office. He pushed open the door without knocking and found Ty with his coveralls hanging by the waist and his white T-shirt pulled halfway up, over his head. "Oh my God."

Ty threw the shirt to the side and was startled to see Cole. "What the hell are you doing here?" he said, his tone both angry and worried.

"Fuck! It's not supposed to happen that fast," Cole said, reaching out to touch Ty's torso grazing over the leathery skin with his fingertips. The texture was tough, firm, not new. He looked up. "I don't understand?"

"Get out," Ty said, his voice barely above a whisper and unsteady.

Cole shook his head. "You need to get the acid rinsed off. I don't get it. It shouldn't have caused this much damage this fast," Cole said, his fingers unable to stop touching the side of Ty's marred torso.

"Get out!" Ty yelled at Cole just as Jeff entered the office.

"Cole, you should probably leave," Jeff said, pulling Cole by the shoulders, herding him toward the door.

"I don't understand…" Cole said. "It's too fast for it to have done that." He stopped in the doorway.

"Get out!" Ty yelled again, his voice cracking. He turned his back to Cole and picked the shirt up off the ground.

Jeff grabbed Cole's face to draw his attention. "Go," he said, his eyes pleading.

Cole looked at Jeff, his heart still racing a mile a minute. "Make sure he gets under the wash for at least fifteen minutes and…" Then he saw Ty's back and lost his train of thought.

"Cole, go. I'll take care of it. I promise," Jeff said, placing his hand on Cole's shoulder, gently pushing him out the office.

Cole curtly nodded and closed the door on his way out. His heart had been beating so fast and his brain on auto-pilot, he hadn't connected the dots that Ty's torso
hadn't
been burned from the battery acid. Until he saw the scar running along Ty's spine. In an instant, the dots connected—the doctor's appointments, the physical therapy, the stretching exercises, the flinch of pain. Everything. Something had happened two years ago. An accident? He stalked back toward the bays, trying to sort the thoughts racing through his mind. He had to focus, he couldn't risk letting his mind wander faster than it usually did. He immediately worked with Wayne and the other tech to finish neutralizing the battery acid and clean up the area.

"Do you need us for anything more here?" Wayne asked with the other tech standing alongside him.

Cole shook his head. "I've got it. Thanks."

He returned to work, finishing his car then moving on to check the ticket for the other. He surveyed the inventory and pulled a new battery. He focused on his work, mentally repeating each step of the task he was undertaking—trying to avoid the music from playing in his head or his mind from steering toward negative thoughts. He looked up in the direction of Ty's office. The Calloway temper had finally made an appearance in Ty and Cole knew better than to push. He'd finish the work then get an update from Jeff.

He returned his focus to his work, trying like hell to block out the crack in Ty's voice when he had yelled.

* * * * *

"Get your hair, too…just in case," Jeff said.

Ty closed his eyes and looked upward toward the showerhead, letting the water sluice through his hair and down his body. He didn't want to think about how embarrassing it was to stand completely naked in the employee showers in front of a man who had been like a second father to him. Instead, all he could think about was Cole, his warm hands on his skin and the worry in his eyes.

"Shampoo it while you're at it," Jeff said.

Ty could follow instructions. It seemed as if that was all he did lately. The physical therapy, the appointments with the half dozen doctors for follow-ups, the take-home instructions he had to follow. He was scarred, both physically and mentally. After everything he had gone through with the recovery, the intense physical therapy, the skin grafting, the uncomfortable pressure garment, the doctors who kept telling him his recovery was a miracle. He wondered, still, after everything, why he had been spared if he had such a hard time moving forward. Everything had changed that day. He had lost his parents, his relationship with Aidan wasn't the same, he had to do these repairs or risk losing his shop and customers. He wasn't the same man he was before.

He was broken.

Lately, there was only one thing that managed to get him up in the mornings. The one glimmer of happiness in his life wore a beanie to the shop every workday. He craved the laughter, the brash humor—regardless of how crass it may be. It was genuine. Unguarded. Uninhibited. Unmeasured.

And exactly what he had been missing for the past two years.

Cole didn't measure his comments or his actions. How could he? He didn't know what Ty had been through. He didn't know about the accident, the scars, or the numerous metal parts in his body that held him together like a jigsaw puzzle.

He leaned his weight on his arms against the shower tile wall. He didn't want to think about the worry he saw in Cole's eyes or the rejection he knew would follow. It was inevitable. Why would Cole want someone as screwed up as him?

"I think that's good," Jeff said, pulling Ty from his thoughts.

He grabbed the towel from Jeff's extended hand and began drying himself.

Jeff casually turned his back to Ty and crossed his arms. "I remember when your father used to bring you to the shop to work. You were a tiny little thing. You'd get this sparkle in your eye when you looked at the cars. You knew you wanted to work with them even back then. They always seemed to make you so happy. You couldn't hide that sparkle." He turned to face Ty. "And you can't hide it now."

Ty wrapped the towel around his waist, trying to salvage a little dignity.

"Take a chance, Ty."

Ty shook his head. His chest tightened at the thought of Cole's rejection.

Jeff placed his hand on Ty's bare shoulder. "That boy is crazier than a two-peckered billy goat but he's got a heart of gold and a sweet tooth for you."

"I can't. I have issues. He shouldn't have to deal with them."

Jeff huffed a laugh. "
You
have issues? Then that boy has subscriptions."

Ty looked up at Jeff. The older man was as stubborn as Cole sometimes.

"You just need a little more time to get a handle on things…to adjust. You've been through a lot and you picked yourself up and you're getting through it. A Calloway never stays down. You're proof of that. Don't bury yourself in this crap. That's not like you."

Ty ran both hands through his wet hair and exhaled heavily. "I'm tired, Jeff. I'm just tired. Every day it all takes so much effort."

"Then stop trying to do it all yourself. That boy is itching for a chance. I'm surprised he's not driving you crazy about it."

"He was."

Jeff crossed his arms again. "And you think all that's going away because of this?" He pointed to Ty's scarred torso.

"I don't know," Ty said, sounding more defeated than he had for the past few weeks.

"That's right. You
don't
know. And you won't know until you give it a chance. Stop playing the victim. It's not good for your color," Jeff said, throwing a clean shirt at Ty. "I'm checking on the guys then I'm going home." He walked out, leaving Ty to dress.

Ty put on the fresh T-shirt and dressed in a pair of work pants. It was so close to five, he knew it was pointless to try to get any more work done before the weekend officially started for his crew. He thought about returning to the service ticket he was working, but he wasn't ready to deal with Cole's rejection. Instead, he decided to leave the bays and walk across to the showroom. He opened the door and flipped the switch. The overhead lights illuminated in sequence, flooding the bay with light and showcasing the beautiful cars lined up on display. He sat on the floor, cross-legged in front of them against the opposite wall, mesmerized, watching the light reflect off the chrome accents and the flecks buried within the paint. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He rested his hands against his crossed legs and leaned his head back against the wall, trying to relax.

After some time, he heard the sound of the door opening to his left. He guessed it was Stacie with her LoJack as Cole usually mocked. Instead, he heard the sound of booted steps approaching. His breath hitched and his chest tightened. He kept his eyes closed. Even if only for a few seconds more, he wanted to avoid the rejection he knew was imminent. He heard a shuffle to his right, guessing Cole had taken a seat next to him.

"Do I have to poke you or something? I know you're alive so open your eyes and look at me," Cole said.

Ty took a deep breath. He finally opened his eyes and pivoted his head in Cole's direction, still leaning against the wall.

"Stacie called Drayton to tell him the rig was ready. He said he'd send a crew over tomorrow morning."

Ty nodded.

"I switched out the battery and cleaned up all the burnt and melted crap and finished up the ticket. Jeff looked at the battery and said something was wrong with the interior cabling on the plate. Anyways, I had Stacie call the owners for both cars to tell them they were ready. They came by right away," Cole said, tugging at the seam of his work pants. "I asked her to call the next two on your list to schedule them for Monday."

Ty watched Cole fidget with the edge of his pant leg then tug at his beanie.

"Say something," Cole finally said, returning his focus back to Ty. "I need to hear your voice."

Ty's stomach churned. He wasn't ready for this, not this soon. He wanted more time with Cole, needed that laughter echoing in the bays just a little bit longer. He didn't have a clue what to say but he imagined Cole would have questions. He always did.