I know Ellie. Clearly. I stole her boyfriend from her and she’s kind enough to not blame me for it.
I think June is related to Cash Rivers. I saw a news article that mentioned her as part of the coverage of Cooper and Waverly’s wedding.
But Vanessa—I don’t know who Vanessa is. “Is Vanessa your sister?”
“One and only.”
“I forgot you have a sister. Even though you told me you married her. Which I don’t believe, by the way.”
He shifts a look at me.
And this one isn’t blank.
This one issomething.
“What?” I say.
He lights the burner beneath the cast-iron skillet. “You don’t trust me.”
Huh. I have the perfect view of Davis’s ass. Which shouldn’t matter, because Smart Sloane knows that Teenage Sloane’s crushes are still men, and men are bad. Men lie, steal, and cheat.
“I don’t trust most men anymore, but honestly, with the Mr. Mysterious routine you have going, I trust you a little less. And a little more at the same time since I know I can’t trust you.”
“Smart.”
“At least I don’t have to worry about you stealing my savings before you disappear into the night.”
He doesn’t blink, which makes me wonder if he knows about that one too.
I don’t talk about it often.
Don’t like to.
When I do, I usually play it off like I’m joking.
But I don’t usually talk about it after tequila.
He switches his attention back to the grilled cheese. “The blond caveman fucked over Vanessa before he met Ellie. Ellie doesn’t know. None of them know. So I’m lying when I say I’m fighting to find the treasure before him just for Ellie. I’m doing it for my sister too. And nowyouknow.”
Did the tequila just say that, or did he?
“Ellie doesn’t need to know either,” he adds. “But you do.”
“Because I don’t trust you.”
“Because I need things from you, so I know I have to give things to you.”
“I don’tlikebeing suspicious. But even when I’ve dated people in Shipwreck with Tillie Jean’s seal of approval, they still did things that were red flags in my world.”
“Not wrong to be suspicious.”
“What if I want to talk to your sister?”
He pulls his phone out and thumbs over the screen, then pockets it again. “If she wants to talk to you, she’ll call.”
“So thisman of mysterything is hereditary.”
He doesn’t smile again, which is disappointing. “Ever been famous?”
