I smile because I know she bought it in case I visited unexpectedly.
“Coffee’s fine.”
“Trick?”
“Yeah, just coffee, Z. I’m going to walk through the apartment, all right?”
“Yes, of course. Anything to help you figure out who he is and how he’s getting in.”
She makes coffee and brings mine to me. It reminds me of all the times she cooked for me or made coffee for me in the morning. The crue house in Coins has felt like a massive mausoleum since she left. Anvil and Trick come over every day so we can work as a crue, but when they leave, it’s too fucking quiet without her.
“Do you like it?” she asks.
“Yeah, it’s good.” My response is automatic. The way the coffee tastes is irrelevant to me.
“It’s Kona from Hawaii. The guys who live here hand-carried it back after one of their vacations. I don’t use it for just morning coffee for me, but…can I have a taste?”
I hold the mug out, and she takes a sip.
“So good,” she whispers. “One day.”
I can’t tell if that’s a hint for me to offer to take her there on vacation or if she’s just making a mental note that she wants to be successful enough to take herself.
“Z, I need to ask you something.”
“I want to check the stairwells,” Trick says as he comes down the hall.
“Sure,” I say, then turn to look at him. “Could be pitch black. Let’s make it a two-man job.” I stand, but he holds out a hand to stop me.
“Nah, I’m good,” he says, sliding his gun out from under his sweatshirt and putting on a pair of night vision goggles. “When I’m dead fucking sober, no one’s fast enough to take me if I’m looking for it.”
I’d tell him not to get cocky, but what would be the point? If Trick says he’s got it, he’s got it. He goes out without another word. I wait until the door closes before turning back to her.
“So what did you want to ask me?” Zoe asks, leaning closer.
“If you didn’t want to call me first, why didn’t you call Rachel and ‘Vil?”
“Because I know what Sasha would say. He’d say if I need a safe place to stay, I can stay with them. But if I want C Crue’s help, I need to talk to you.”
“And how is that different than what would Trick say?”
“I figured Trick being Trick, he might just listen to me and then figure out who it is in a night using some computer magic.”
“Did you think Trick wouldn’t tell me?”
“No, of course not. I knew he’d tell you.”
“So then why didn’t you just call me yourself?”
“Because! I wasn’t sure whether you wanted me to. I sent you that text after the night we spent together, and you didn’t respond. You don’t seem to miss me very much, so I didn’t want to assume you’d be interested in helping me. I figured that Trick would mention it, and you could avoid talking to me if that’s what you wanted to do. If I’d called you directly and you’d said you wouldn’t help me, it would’ve made me cry and turned things so awkward. On the other hand, if he told you, and you were worried about me, you’d call to check on me, which is what I was hoping would happen.”
“Don’t ever call Trick instead of me again.”
She tilts her head, sending her curls swaying. It makes me want to bury my hands in them to pull her head back and kiss her until there’s no question about who she belongs to.
“C, you know there’s nothing between Trick and me, right? We’re just friends, and not close ones. This was the first time I’ve ever called him.”
“You sure you didn’t call him to make me jealous?”
