“They’re staring?” I ask, clueless.
She nods. “I swear, you’re oblivious to so many things.”
“Why are they staring?”
She looks at me like I’m an idiot for asking such a question. “Are you serious?”
Yep. Idiot vibes. “Yeah, princess. I don’t ask questions I already know the answer to.”
She ticks her chin toward me as her eyes move across my exposed arms. “All of our decorations are causing a stir.”
“Ridiculous,” I mutter.
“Do you think anyone here has a hidden tattoo?”
I look around the room, taking in all the flannel and perfectly pressed blouses. “Nope.”
“Me either,” she whispers before shoving another hunk of bagel between her lips.
My phone buzzes on the table, and I glance down, seeing Thumper’s message. “He’s a few minutes out.”
“Great,” she mumbles, looking just as happy as I am to see my brother.
“At least we’ll be back in the city soon and away from this.” I tip my head toward the other guests. “We’re not small-town people.”
“I could never live anywhere except the city. I woke up in the middle of the night and lay there. You know what I heard?”
“What?” I ask before taking another sip of the too-weak coffee.
“Absolutely nothing. I thought for a minute that I maybe died, but then you moved and I knew I was still alive. It’s way too quiet around here. I don’t know how people sleep. They should offer white noise machines in each room.”
“Only you would think it’s too quiet.”
“Well, you started snoring, and I immediately fell back to sleep.”
“I don’t snore.”
She leans forward, touching my cheek. “Baby, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you do.”
“Liar,” I whisper, playfully nipping at her fingertips like I am going to bite them.
She giggles but doesn’t argue back as my phone pings again.
“He’s here.”
6
TATE
Thumper looks exactlylike he did the last time I saw him—like an asshole. He isn’t a bad-looking guy. I’m sure the ladies who hang out at the club are all too willing to spread their legs for him.
But his attitude makes him ugly. The man is full of himself. He thinks he’s the creator’s gift to the world.
Bleh.
He lifts a leg, climbing off the back of his bike like he’s the hulk. “I made record time,” he says without making eye contact with me.
Had Wylder told him about me? He has to know we are dabbling in some sort of relationship, right? I mean, no one in my family does anything without everyone knowing. I can’t imagine word doesn’t spread from Cheryl’s lips like wildfire.
