Loving Lewis

Chapter 6

"You're really good with kids," I told Lewis as we made our way back up the boardwalk toward his truck.

"You're surprised."

I shrugged. Not really, I thought. Especially considering Lewis acted like a kid himself. A big, grownup little kid. But I didn't say any of that out loud. Instead, "How do you know them—Henry, Chip, and Carmen, I mean."

"Short explanation or the long one?" he asked, as we passed by the cluster of food trucks.

"Long," I decided. After all, we had a ten-minute drive back to Paws Crossed.

He nodded his head. "Okay then, long one it is." Lewis unlocked his truck, and we both climbed in before he started speaking. "Growing up, I barely had any friends around here because I went to school in Tennessee. My dad didn't have money to send me to summer camp to meet other people my age, so I spent a lot of time at the arcade while he was working. I had this huge glass jar at my mom's house where I'd save up as many quarters as possible during the school year, but the first few times I came, I blew through all my money. I realized if I was really good at one game, my money would last longer, so I decided to pick one and practice it. I chose Space Monkey because I liked the purple gorilla painted on the side," Lewis said. "When I was old enough to get a job, I started working in the food trucks and at my aunt's animal shelter, but I'm the sentimental type, so I'd still go to the arcade and play a round of Space Monkey after my shifts."

I chuckled at Lewis and said, "Wow. You weren't joking about this being a long explanation. We haven't even got to the kid part yet."

"Hold on, I'm getting there," he said, pulling out of the parking lot. "So two summers ago I found this kid playing my game, which was beyond crazy. All those years I spent in the arcade, and I never once saw another soul playing Space Monkey. It's super retro, so most kids don't like the old graphics. Anyways, he was good. And I mean really good. Bit of a loner, but he reminded me of myself."

"Henry?" I guessed.

"Yup. His uncle owns the arcade," he responded. "When he realized I held the high score for Space Monkey, he begged me to teach him my strategies. I've always thought it would be cool to have a protégé, so obviously I agreed. The rest is history. I don't have any siblings, so he's basically like a little brother to me."

"What about Chip and Carmen?"

"Their mom works at a boutique a few shops down. They go there to play to play when she can't find a babysitter."

"Carmen seems pretty smitten with you," I teased.

Lewis was doing that single-handed grip of the steering wheel that guys were so fond of, and he glanced over at me and smirked. "Jealous?"

"Of a ten-year-old?" I asked. I had no clue how old Carmen really was, and since I didn't have any siblings or spend much time around kids for that matter, I wasn't good at deducting ages. All I could do was take a guess.

"She's six," he said with a snort.

"Oh, well, that makes all the difference. Now I'm definitely jealous," I said and tried my best not to roll my eyes.

Turning into the parking lot at the animal shelter, Lewis smiled and said, "Good. I'm glad."

I didn't know what to say in response to that, so instead I chose to keep quiet, and as he pulled into his spot, I noticed a familiar blue convertible double-parked a few spaces down.

"Quinn! Quinn! Over here!" Olivia waved frantically when I climbed out of the truck.

"That your friend?" Lewis asked me, glancing at Olivia in curiosity.

"Yeah, give me a minute. I'll be right back," I told him, and then I jogged over to her car. "Hey, Liv. What's up?"

"Thank god you're here. It's an emergency," she exclaimed.

I grinned at my best friend. An emergency for Olivia was running out of her favorite lip gloss. "Okay, spill."

"Liam asked me out on a date," she said in a rush. "And while that normally wouldn't be a problem, he's taking me to La Fonta. Can you believe it?"

I nearly gasped. La Fonta was a super upscale restaurant that had just opened in New York and was known for celebrity sightings. Apparently, the waiting list for a table was over four months long, and I wondered how Liam managed to get a reservation. "He's driving you all the way to New York?" I asked.

She nodded. "It's our three month anniversary. We're spending the weekend there. I need your help, Quinn. I have nothing to wear. You need to come shopping with me to help pick something out."

"You know I want to, Liv," I said with a frown. "But I can't. I've got work at the animal shelter to get done."

"I know, but isn't there another employee or someone who could do it for you? You've already spent the whole morning working. Can't you have half a day off? It not fair that you have to suffer here in the slums everyday. I miss you."

"Everything okay, Quinn?" Lewis asked, coming up beside me and glancing into the car at Olivia.

Oh my God, did he just hear what Olivia said? My cheeks turn red at the thought, and I silently prayed he hadn't.

"Everything is certainly not okay," she told him. "I'm in the middle of a crisis and am in serious need of my best friend. Do you work here, because I would really appreciate it if you could just finish Quinn's work for the afternoon or something."

"Is that so?" he mused before turning to me with raised brows.

"It's not that big of a deal," I started to say, but Lewis cut me off.

"If it's an emergency, by all means. Feel free to go help your friend. I've got things covered around here."

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily call it an emergen—"

"Quinn Taylor Carmen, get your non existent butt in this car before I run you over and throw your body in the trunk!" Olivia demanded.

Lewis snorted. "I'd do as the lady says. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" I asked skeptically.

He nodded. "Positive. I gotta cut the grass anyways, remember?"

"Right," I said. "Well, thanks a bunch. For lunch and for letting me leave early. Guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Who was that?" Olivia asked once I'd climbed into her convertible and she'd sped off.

"Holden Lewis. His aunt owns the shelter."

"He'd be cute if he didn't dress like a complete slob," she commented. "Did you see the shoes he was wearing? Looked like were falling apart. And what did he mean by lunch? You're not seeing him or anything like that, are you?"

I knew there was an underlying question to her words, so I quickly said, "God, no! I just work with him. He showed me a good place to eat on our lunch break, that's all. I'm still with Kabel."

"Okay, good," Olivia said. "Because I know Kabel would be absolutely crushed if you dumped him over some dog dork."

You wouldn't though, I thought to myself as I stared at Olivia. Would you?