Jo shook her head, distracting herself not for the first time by forcing her mind to shift to somethingelse.
“Hey, Sam?” Jo said suddenly, putting down her sandwich and glancing to her right. Samson glanced back, eyes less nervous and more curious, which Jo had learned to accept for the triumph itwas.
She probably should have thanked him sooner, she realized. While it had been Wayne’s idea, and while Eslar had played messenger, it had been Samson who had made them for her after all. He deserved just as much thanks as the rest ofthem.
“Thank you for making me the mug. And thesopapillas,” she said, making sure Samson could see every ounce of genuine appreciation in her eyes. “I really needed them. And they wereperfect.”
Samson’s face fell from surprised to embarrassed to proud much more quickly than usual, but this time, instead of merely mumbling a quiet apology into his lap, he forced himself to look back up ather.
His smile was warm and gentle, in many ways the perfect smile for a man likehim.
“We wanted you to know it wasn’t gone,” Samson said, voice soft but more pronounced than Jo remembered ever hearingit.
“That what wasn’t gone?” Jo asked, subconsciously keeping her voice level with his. It felt like keeping asecret.
This time, Samson looked back at his lap, shrugging a bit, but his smile stayed firmly in place. “A little taste ofhome.”
For a long moment, Jo didn’t know what to say. She watched, stunned, as Samson’s blush faded and he even began eating again, finishing off his own sandwich before rising to take his plate to the sink. Before he could get too far away, Jo called back tohim.
When he looked over his shoulder at her, she could have sworn she saw a different man, one filled with more complexities than she’d given him creditfor.
“Thank you, Samson,” she repeated, heart swelling when he smiled and nodded inresponse.
The rest of her meal would go unfinished,apparently.
For the first time in a month, Snow announced his presence in the kitchen with another quiet, looming arrival. Only this time, when he looked at the crowd at large, his gaze settled on Jo for a brief but warily knowing length of time. His eyes—now back to normal—still held secrets, and Jo found her heart stumbling over itself at the thought that she might be the only one privy to just how many. A fragile, collapsing bridge between them had been crossed, whether or not either of them liked it, and there was no goingback.
“Everyone is to meet me in the briefing room in five,” he said, his voice laced with the stoicism of protocol. But his eyes never left Jo’s, and when he made to leave, it wasn’t without a quick nod in her direction. Jo nodded back, even if he’d already turnedaway.
Another wish. Business as usual. Like nothing had happened between them. Jo couldn’t help butfrown.
“Everybody ready?” Pan grinned, practically skipping into the hall.What a coincidence that the first morning she took breakfast with them in a month was the same morning they had a wish, Jo couldn’t help butnotice.
Nico trailed behind her, crossing his arms over his chest and saying nothing, but Eslar merelyshrugged.
“We’re not far off of the wave from our last wish. Perhaps this one will go smoothly.” As he said it, he spared a glance in Jo’s direction, offering her a smirk. Jo smiled rightback.
“Mulberry fields,” Takako mumbled as shepassed.
Jo paused, unsure what mulberries had anything to do with anything, but suddenly, Wayne was next to her, whispering in herear.
“I think it means knock on wood,” he said, laughing when she swatted at him to back up. “So, what say you to partnering up for this one, eh, dollface?” Wayne asked once the both of them were trailing behind the pack. “A gambler and a hacker—already know we make a goodteam.”
Jo scoffed, but even she could hear the lack of venom in it. “We don’t even know what the wishis.”
Wayne leaned in close again, lips brushing her cheek. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be for thewish.”
The comment was obviously suggestive, his tone verging on pornographic, but despite the bubble of heat that settled low in her stomach at the sound, there was also a sense of calm. Wayne still had a way of getting her blood boiling and her heart picking up speed, but attraction ended there, and she felt almost closer to him for it. Jo had yet to act on the open, casual invitation that remained betweenthem.
“What’re you going to do when the hacker is needed for field work and the gambler is sent back to his room?” Jo teased. “Might wanna get well acquainted with your hand just incase.”
“Ol’ Righty is already a pally of mine, doll.” Wayne straightened up, grin stretched wide. “No need to worry aboutthat.”
“I’ll try not to,” Jolaughed.
As they passed the Four-Way, Jo noticed something out of the corner of her eye, a silver-haired figure walking, not towards the briefing room, but to his own. Before she could put much thought towards potential consequences, Jo slowed herpace.
“Dollface?” Wayne called out from a few feet ahead of her, once he noticed she was trailing behind. She almost startled, unaware of where her feet had been starting to carry her. Still, she let them lead theway.
