“How could I?”
Nathan scowled at Connor. “Did you do this on purpose?”
Connor’s face was blank as he met Nathan’s gaze.
Unsatisfied, Nathan spun back to me. “What did you mean earlier by ‘handle it?’”
I tried to appear unaffected. Probably not very well since a smile kept trying to break out on my face. “Nothing much.”
Nathan squinted at me, trying to see through my facade. His eyes widened in realization. “He ate something, didn’t he?”
My shoulders started shaking with silent laughter.
He whirled on Connor. “What did you eat?”
Connor’s stare made it plain he didn’t intend to answer. It wasn’t until I made a small “come on” gesture that he deigned to open his mouth. “Triple cinnamon pancakes.”
Nathan’s face held disbelief as he looked at me. “You let him eat that crap?”
I shrugged. “He’s a big boy. And he said he could handle it.”
Which was why it was doubly satisfying to see that no, he could, in fact, not handle triple cinnamon pancakes with a side of bacon and ham.
“Are we going?” I asked after a few seconds when Nathan continued to regard us like we were aliens. “We’re going to attract attention if we keep sitting here.”
Nathan faced front in his seat, muttering to himself as he put the car in drive again. “He’s going to clean that up when we arrive. You know that, right?”
Connor’s silence spoke for itself as he stared out the window at the passing scenery.
“No can do,” I answered for him. “We have a meet and greet, remember? It’s why you interrupted our evening in such a rude fashion.”
“You’re enjoying this,” Nathan snapped.
“So very much.”
Words could not describe how happy Connor had made me. It was so perfectly timed that it made me wonder if he’d done it on purpose. A tiny revenge for Nathan’s high handedness.
If so—bravo, brother.
I chuckled at the idea of it.
“You realize payback is coming,” Nathan warned me. “It’s going to be hard payback.”
“But not before you have to clean out your ride,” I returned gleefully.
And that was going to take a lot of effort and time. The stench of throw up was as pervasive as death and would cling to everything. I was betting he’d have to detail the car several times to be get rid of it.
A vampire’s senses were heightened, after all.
The thought was oh so sweet.
“Enjoy it while you can, A,” Nathan rumbled. “I’ll be sure to return the favor in kind.”
But not before suffering for a while. I was petty enough to think the tradeoff worthwhile.
“How did you know where I was?” I asked as we headed south on Grandview Avenue toward Goodale Blvd.
“Do you really think I’m going to answer that?” Nathan asked with a sidelong look that told me he was still sore about the whole throw up situation.
