“You sure?” I ask, worried.
But embarrassment flickers in her pretty green eyes, visible even in the dark.
Simon yips, and she bends to pick him up. “It’s fine, buddy.”
The little brown and tan guy snuggles against her chest. Lucky dog. But I force myself to look up at her, not at the burrowing critter.
“Skylar.” My tone is stern. I want her to tell me what’s going on.
She draws a steadying breath, meeting my gaze with a cheery, “How are you? Great game. Thanks again for the tickets. It was so fun.”
Ah, hell. She’s trying to cover up her feelings. I appreciate the put-on-a-game-face routine, but the fact that she’s not sassing me about anything says what her mouth isn’t saying. She’s hurt.
I nod to her pocket where the phone is out of sight but not out of mind. “What’s going on with your ex and hisdream board gamestore? And do you want me to have him poisoned? I can arrange for arsenic just like that.” I snap my fingers.
A small smile teases at her pretty lips, and then she lets out a long sigh. “He talked to some local neighborhood site about his new store, that’s all. I came across it on my social feed. It’s opening soon, and it’s honestly not a bad idea for a business.”
She’s right, especially with game nights becoming more popular. But I hate her ex on principle, so I am not going to concede this point.
“Would you like me to poison a game of Chutes and Ladders for him?”
“I have no idea how you would do that, but I love that you’re thinking this way because—” She hesitates, weighing whether to say the next thing, then she gives in, “fine. He brought me up in the video. He said he appreciated how supportive I was of him and his dreams, especially because he’s opening the shop now with his new girlfriend. That’s what I was watching.”
Anger lashes through me. My jaw tightens. I want to find this guy and throttle him. I don't even know whathappened in their breakup, but I’m certain of two things—it was his fault, and he’s an asshole. “Why did he bring you up in the video?”
“I was very supportive of him when we were together. His plans, his ideas,” she explains, but it’s clear from her tone that the memory hurts. “When we lived together, he kept saying he wanted to open this store, and I encouraged him to. But he never did. We were in a relationship for a long time, and then he broke up with me when he met someone else.”
My own chest aches. I understand her situation too well. But I shove my feelings aside. “His loss,” I say sharply, biting out the words as I clench my fists.
Zamboni looks up at me, thumping her thick tail in worry. She’s always been an empathetic dog. I stroke her head so she knows I’m not mad at her. Never mad at her.
I lighten up on my frustration as I motion for Skylar to go on. “So they opened the storetogether?”
“It seems so,” she says, lifting her chin, trying so hard to be tough. “And he said in the video that they appreciated my early support so much, they wrote my name on the floorboard in the vintage corner under the carpet in his shop. Said he hopes I find my own happiness like they have.” She rolls her eyes. “I wish a cat would pee all over their store.”
That’s the Skylar I know. Completely exasperated and frustrated.
“I amone hundred percentgoing to poison him,” I announce, meaning it. I’m ready to brew something deadly in a basement I don’t have.
“Poison’s too good for him,” she says.
“You're right. He should suffer. But I’m positive some poison could do the trick. Something that guarantees anice, long, painful death.” I pause for a second to think. “We were talking about plants the other day. We could give him a potted poisonous plant as a store-opening gift and tell him it’s edible.”
And just like fucking magic, her frown disappears, replaced by a devilish grin I want to kiss right off her lovely lips. “I had no idea you were secretly—well, I knew you were secretly mean—butsecretly evil? This isreallysomething.”
“Wait, it was a secret that I’m mean?” I ask, mock offended that she thinks I try to hide it.
“You’re right. It’s not a secret. It’s obvious.”
“I was hoping it would be.”
“Terribly obvious. But this is actually kind of exciting.” She steps closer to the fence, curling her hand around a wooden post. “What are some other ways you might poison him?”
“Well, considering I havejustbegun the assassin phase of my life, I need to do some research. But I’m good at research and incredibly committed to follow-through. When I say I’m going to do something, I do it.”
“Like with your conditioning,” she says, then dips her face and kisses the dog’s head.
Simon peers up at her like she hung the moon. It’s so endearing, their relationship. So familiar, too, though mine with Zamboni is different. But Skylar and I, we both seem to rely on our dogs. “How long have you had him?” I ask.
