“Figured this was a necessity,” Rhett said with a smile, handing me a tin mug of steaming coffee. “You know how Jace is in the morning, I’m sure. Coffee makes him a fraction more tolerable.”
I couldn’t even muster up a weak smile in response to that, so I covered my guilt by taking a sip. Then I winced.
“Ah yeah, sorry, no cream or sugar.” Rhett grimaced. “But... caffeine is still a bonus.”
“It’s great,” I croaked, taking another sip. This one went down easier, now that I was prepared for the bitterness. “Um, so, I wanted to ask you something…”
Better now than never, right? Rip that Band-Aid off. Hehadsaid he was “okay with it,” so… maybe I was panicking for no reason?
“If it’s about you and Jace fucking through your problems, I’m going to politely request no details,” he told me with a crooked grin. “Unless it's an invitation to join in, in which case consider me there with bells on. But what you two do in private? It’s private. Just as I’d like to think our private moments are.”
My mouth flapped like a fish out of water for a moment as I tried to switch gears. Then I quickly nodded in response to his statement. “Absolutely. And for what it’s worth, Jace and I… we’re just…” I trailed off, having no fucking clue how I explained that mess. So I shrugged and wrinkled my nose. “We’re just seeking closure.”
Rhett looked unconvinced, sipping his coffee. “Uh-huh. Well, we’re cool. He’s my best friend, and you’re the girl who stole his heart long before we ever met. Whatever you need to do to stop bickering constantly, do it.”
I swallowed hard, my cheeks heating with embarrassment. “So, I guess you know we just—”
“The walls arereallythin, Thorny Rose. Paper thin.” He held my gaze, his expression amused and warm.
Taking a gulp of coffee to cover my awkwardness, I tucked my knees up to my chest. The seats we’d found in the trailer weren’t amazingly comfy, but they were better than sitting on the ground.
“Cool,” I murmured, at a loss for what else to say. This was all new territory for me… kind of. Jace and I had already been dating when Angelo became involved in our relationship. Angelo and I were never together one-on-one, not until after I’d destroyed things with Jace. Even then, it hadn’t been the same. We tried, but we both missedhimtoo much—regardless of what Jacethoughthad happened.
“So, speaking of the paper-thin walls, I heard you playing my song last night.” I raised my brows at him as he grinned.
“I like it,” he said by way of explanation.
I shrugged. “Tough, I told Jace he can’t have it.”
Rhett laughed, shaking his head. “You don’t mean that. If he apologizes for being a turd, can we have it? You must have heard the lyrics Jace put to the tune last night. It’s a fucking number one hit just begging to happen, and you know it.”
He wasn’t wrong. But I couldn’t make thingsthateasy. “He has to apologize, admit that he’s a stubborn, prideful fuck, and kiss my ass. But we both know that’s not happening.”
“You’d be right about that,” the sour-faced dick himself agreed, striding back into our little camp looking fresh with damp hair all sticking up in spikes. He’d opted for the freezing river bath. “The song isn’tthatgood. Rhett and I can write better shit while he’s tripping on acid.”
Rhett just shook his head and held out the spare mug of prepared coffee. “Sit down, shut up, and drink this.”
For several minutes—painfully awkward ones—no one spoke. I buried my face in my mug and tried to take small sips to make it last. Then my stomach rumbled louder than a stomach had any right to rumble, and both guys stared at me.
“What?” I murmured. “I got used to the Ricci staff making breakfast, I guess.”
Jace rolled his eyes—of course he did—but Rhett just smiled and pushed up from his seat. “I’ll grab you something. I would have cooked but didn’t want to interrupt anything.”
I cringed at the reminder that Rhett had known we were fucking, but Jace choked on his sip of coffee, which entertained me to no end.
“So, what do we do today?” I called out to Rhett as he ducked into the trailer to fetch food. “Just sit around and pick fights with Jace over his crappy tattoos or…?”
“Hey!” the abrasive wanker protested. “These were done by—”
“No one cares, Adams,” I drawled. “Literally no one. I was talking to Rhett.”
His glare was hot enough to power up the sun a few notches, and I found myself smiling in joy overthe little things in life.Like ensuring that Jace Adams never got to exist in a pool of admiration, as per the last ten-ish years of his life.
“I don’t remember you being such a snarky bitch, Billie,” Jace snapped, leaning back in his chair.
“Your memory isn’t as great as you think it is,” I replied flatly. “Neither is your reasoning ability. Let’s take our breakup for example. I mean, fuck, a comatose person would have been able to read through the lines of my pathetic excuses that day, and yet you just flipped me off and walked away.”
I shrugged like it didn’t bother me any longer. More lies he wouldn’t see through, no doubt.
