“This is pure torture,” Rhodes says with a smile.
“Good,” I say, turning to face them with my mug. “Consider it payment for breaking into my apartment.”
“You know we have a key for emergencies,” Ace says, flipping the bacon.
“Which this is not,” I point out, moving closer to the stove. The shirt rides up again, and I catch Rhodes’s sharp intake of breath. “That key is for emergencies only. Breakfast is not an emergency.”
“We wanted to surprise you,” Rhodes says. He is definitely struggling with the fact that I’m standing in his shirt with bare legs. “We made your favorite. And we have plans for today.”
“Plans?” I move to the stove and peek at what Ace is cooking. Bacon, eggs, and toast.
“Plans,” Ace confirms. “But first, breakfast. And you might want to put pants on before I lose my mind.”
“Why would I do that?” I ask, genuinely curious.
Rhodes groans and drops his head back against the cupboard. “Like I said, torture.”
“Good torture or bad torture?” I ask, definitely playing with them now.
“Depends on how much self-control you think I have,” Rhodes says, lifting his head to look at me. “Because, spoiler alert, it’s not a lot right now.”
Vander stands up and walks over to the stove. “Eat, then get dressed.”
“You’re no fun,” I say to Vander, but I smile so he knows I’m teasing him.
“I’m a lot of fun,” Vander replies. “You’ll see.”
We eat breakfast together at my kitchen table. They ask about the tour, I ask about what they’ve been doing, and there’s easy banter between us that doesn’t feel weighed down by everything.
After breakfast, Rhodes leans back in his chair with a dimpled smile on his handsome face. “So, the plans. We need your camera.”
“My camera?” I ask, already suspicious. “What kind of plans are these?”
“It’s a surprise,” Ace says.
“I hate surprises,” I say with a pout.
“We know.” Rhodes grins. “But go get dressed, bring your camera, and wear something comfortable.”
Twenty minutes later, I’m in jeans and a crop top, my camera bag slung across my body, and I’m sitting on my couch with all three of them standing in front of me.
“Okay, what’s going on?” I ask. “Why do you all look like you’re about to ask me to prom?”
Rhodes laughs and offers me his hand, helping me to my feet. “All in good time. Let’s go.”
I complain all the way down to the basement and as we get into the SUV.
“So are you going to tell me where we’re going?” I ask, looking between all three of them as Ace pulls out of the parking garage. Rhodes grins at me from the passenger seat, refusing to answer.
We drive through the city for about twenty minutes, taking turns I don’t recognize, heading away from downtown and toward the industrial section. The anticipation is killing me.
“Seriously, guys, someone tell me where we are going.”
Ace takes another turn, and suddenly we’re pulling up to a massive, deteriorating building. The abandoned mall. I’ve been wanting to photograph this place for months—the broken windows, the decay, the way nature is reclaiming the space.
“Oh my god!” I’m giddy, already unbuckling my seatbelt. “How did you know?” I turn to look at them and find all three already watching me.
“Ace knows a guy who knows a guy,” Rhodes says. “We have the place to ourselves for the day.”
