Where’s a bowl of popcorn when I need it?Suddenly, his appetite had returned.
“Look,” Mason said. “It’s just a fact that it’ll be better for everyone if you ladies stay out of the way where we don’t have to worry about you.”
Oh, it’s like watching a slow-motion train wreck!
“Um, yeah.” Maddy’s eyes flashed, her cheeks going rosy red. When she was in full-on pique, she was that kind of beautiful. The discombobulating kind. “If we’ve suddenly changed the definition of the wordfactintoshit you just made up. I’m done being told to sit in the corner and paint my toenails.”
“Huh?” Mason shook his head in confusion.
“It’s like you canseethe stupidity cloud handing over his head, am I right?” Alex lisped. A sure sign she was really enjoying herself.
“I don’t understand,” Mason said, a muscle ticking under his left eye.
When Maddy said, “Obviously,” two of the teenagers snickered.
“We could take him out back and try to beat some sense into him,” Alex suggested.
Bran snorted. The idea was so absurd. Like hearing a second grader challenge a senior to a fistfight.Jungle gym. Threep.m. No backsies.
He sobered immediately, however, when Alex turned on him. “What’s that, Bran?”
“Yeah,” Maddy demanded, her gray eyes sparkling. “You want some of this?”
Oh, she had no idea howmuchhe wanted some of that.Allof that, in fact. Andthatthought was enough to convince him it was past time he put an end to this incredibly entertaining tête-à-tête. “So what would you ladies suggest be your jobs for the next three hours?” he inquired.
“Alex can help Mason man the radio, and me and the girls will join you and Rick on lookout duty,” Maddy told him. “Girls, grab some more water bottles. We’re headed to the fort.”
When Mason joined Bran by the front door, he mumbled, “I don’t know how it happened. I thought I was doing a hell of a job in the driver’s seat and thenwham!The wheels went flying off the bus.”
Bran chuckled and slapped Mason on the back.
“I’ll trade you places,” Mason suggested, and it was the first time Bran had ever seen pleading in the big guy’s eyes. “You can sit by the radio and let Alex keepyoucompany.”
As enticing as it was to separate himself from Maddy and all her sweet, curvy, kissable temptations, Bran couldn’t imagine spending three hours alone with Alex. His eardrums wouldn’t survive it.
“I’d rather put on a life jacket lined with razor blades and jump into a pool of rubbing alcohol,” he said.
“But—”
“I’d rather jab sharpened pencils into my eyes.”
“But—”
“I’d rather eat three-day-old road kill.”
“I get it,” Mason grumbled. “You’re not trading places.”
Bran grinned. “What was your first clue?”
“Go fuck yourself,” Mason muttered, shouldering his way through the door.
“Tempting!” Bran called after him. “I do have great legs!”
Mason mumbled something Bran couldn’t make out while he jogged down the three steps.
“He does that so well,” Alex said.
Bran glanced over to see she’d joined him in the doorway. But she wasn’t looking at him. Oh, no. She only had eyes for Mason.
