“I’m going to split them into a batch for each day, and you’re taking them.”
“Jess.” My voice is quiet, and she pauses for a second before her shoulders tighten, her back to me as she carries on. “I’m not sure—,”
Her eyes are bright, too bright, when she turns around.
“I can’t sit here and do nothing, Si,” she says fiercely. “You expect me to just watch you fade away in front of me – and what? Twiddle my thumbs and make sad faces? Not. Happening.”
She points to the bed. “Sit your ass down and take your vitamins.”
I sit on the bed, and I take every one of the endless vitamins Jess shakes at me threateningly.
Every little helps, right?
When we’re done, and my stock for the next week is packed into the little tabs of my new vitamin box, Jess stands up and dusts her hands.
“Just one more thing,” she says firmly, throwing another packet at me. I catch it, peering down at the text. My heart thumps painfully. “Hair dye?”
“Those men are looking for someone with pink hair,” Jess points out. “We change your hair color, it’s one less thing to make it stand out.”
She’s right. I know she’s right. But it still hurts.
“Great,” I force a smile and a nod. “Let’s do it.”
Jess rolls her eyes at me. “Liar. It’ll wash out. I bought plenty to keep us topped up.”
My breath leaves me in a whoosh. “Oh, thank god.”
I’m messing with my newly-dyed brown hair when Jess clears her throat.
“I told Emmett we’d come down and do some work,” she admits. “Well, I will, anyway. You need to rest, Si.”
“I can work,” I protest. I need something – anything – to get my mind off recent events. Jess eyes me dubiously, but she doesn’t protest when I follow her down the stairs, her pace slowing to keep up with mine.
“We’re heeere!” she sings out. “Two wenches, at your service.”
Emmett’s head pops up from behind the bar. His curls look a little rumpled and his eyes widen as he takes us in. “Right. Nice hair. You still want to do a shift?”
Jess strikes a pose, her hand on her hip. “Of course. Your regulars will love us.”
Emmett stands, wiping off his hands on a cloth with a frown. “And if those men come back?”
Jess smiles sweetly. “I’ll shoot them.” She turns and yanks up her top, showing off the sleek handgun tucked into her waistband.
Emmett and I both stare at her, open-mouthed. “What?” She shrugs. “You think I’m stupid enough to let us wander around here without protection?”
My best friend is a badass. A slightly petrifying, tiny, wild-haired badass.
I’m feeling mildly smug about it as I shrug at Emmett. “What do you need us to do?” I ask.
With a sigh, he gestures at the bar. “Have you ever done this before?”
“No,” I consider the idea. “It can’t be that hard, though, right?”
* * *
“Motherfucker.”
I grin smugly at Jess as she swears at the pieces of glass on the floor. She actually stamps her foot at me, and I snicker as she grabs the dustpan Emmett put close to us ‘in case of any more accidents’.
