“You could have said something when you were at my house. I love her show. I could’ve put it on.”
He huffed, facing forward again.
I pressed my lips together for a second. “What do you like to watch?” I asked him, my best friend number 20.
“Shows that teach me things,” he replied.
“Nerd.”
His sudden snicker made me smile as I looked out the window again. We still hadn’t made it through the main gate, and I wasn’t totally sure what kind of neighborhood this was, other than a very, very secluded one, but what did I expect from one of the greatest secrets of the century? A member of the Trinity to live in an apartment? Please. That wouldn’t exactly work.
“It’s my grandmother I don’t want to see,” he explained after a moment, surprising me again.
“Oh.” There went that mystery grandmother again. “Is there another door we can go in that she wouldn’t take?”
Those purple eyes flicked toward me. “No, but that’s a good idea.”
“All my ideas are good ideas.” Most of them anyway. “I don’t want to put you into a position you don’t want to be in. I might be able to get away with not contacting the police. It isn’t exactly a crime, is it? I didn’t do anything, and I know the owner had homeowner’s insurance. And it isn’t like I’ll be able to use Gracie Garcia for much longer.” The only problem would be trying to file a claim with my car insurance; I really needed that money to get a new one even though it had been old and not worth a whole bunch. I had some savings but definitely not enough to buy one outright, especially with needing a new computer.
He shook his head again. “You need to deal with it. It’s fine.”
I eyed the grumpy side of his face. “It doesn’t look like it’s fine.”
“It’s fine.”
“Your neck is turning red.”
Even from the side, I could tell his eyes glowed, and I gave him my best angelic smile when he peered over, which wasn’t really angelic at all.
“It is. Don’t get mad. I don’t want to make you do something you don’t want to,” I started to say before trailing off. “But okay, fine. All I’m saying is that it’s okay. I can figure something else out. I just don’t want to put you in a bad situation.” He was trying, and I could too. I appreciated it.
He said nothing, but a muscle in his face twitched. “It’s fine,” he eventually muttered.
If he said so.
* * *
Half an hour later, Alex pulled his car into the parking lot of a big business building that was basically a mini skyscraper. He had been tense the whole ride, and I hadn’t bothered trying to get him to talk more than necessary, not when I knew he was dreading the visit.
And not when there was so much to see while I wasn’t clinging to the steering wheel of a car that didn’t belong to me.
I’d never really pictured what North Carolina would look like, but even if I had, I didn’t think I would have expected it to be likethis.There were a lot more trees and steep hills than I would have ever expected. It was actually really pretty. I was going to ask him later if we were in the mountains.
I could see myself living here, even though my grandparents had always ruled out cities. It was something to definitely think about. First, I needed to start getting things sorted, and that included meeting with this “legal department” Alex and Selene had been talking about. In the meantime, I would try and make this as less of a hassle as possible for Superbutt.
I appreciated his sacrifice.
I appreciated it a lot.
So I was on my best behavior as we made our way from the parking lot, across a bridge, and into the nondescript building. We rode up the equally no-nonsense elevator to the twelfth floor, and it was when we were going down a hall with expensive-looking carpet and lots of wood paneling that he said, “Let me talk.”
I couldn’t help it. I snorted even though it made my nose hurt.
That got me a long look.
I gave him one right back. “You talking. We’re going to get thrown out of the building now.”
His grunt made me smile as we kept walking down the hall.
