Landon frowned. “No offense, but they don’t sound like good friends.”
“No offense taken. And they’re not. Well, Taylor is okay, but Kelly would throw me in front of a moving bus if it meant she’d get the last seat.”
I shrugged, not mad at the girls since it brought me to my current dinner arrangement.
“What else do you guys usually do when you’re in Vegas?” I asked.
A deep laugh rumbled out of Mason. He had fine lines around his eyes, telling me he usually smiled a lot more than he did tonight.
“We usually come here for work. There’s a car expo this weekend we have a stall at.”
“Which means the first night is always a write-off,” Clay said in between taking giant bites of his chicken wings. He had ordered a whole extra-large bucket to himself.
“That’s because we have to get up at four the next day,” Landon complained good-naturedly.
He eyed my salad and held out his basket of fries. I shook my head, and he shrugged.
“What do you do?” I asked, curious.
“Mason and his brother own a garage, and Clay and I work for them. We mostly rebuild classic cars. Brought one with us to exhibit at the show.”
“Which is why we can never fly but have to drive every time. And it’s a killer of a drive,” Clay grumbled, taking another bite of his chicken wing.
“Good thing we got separate rooms this time,” Landon said, eyeing the chicken wing his friend was devouring. “The giant bucket of hot wings will keep you up all night.”
“Shut up. I know what I’m doing,” Clay defended himself.
“So what brought you to Vegas?” Mason asked, wiping his hands on one of the few hundred napkins we brought with us.
“One of my friends won a hotel stay.”
Landon shifted next to me, bringing him close enough for me to feel the heat of his body seeping into mine. I didn’t move, frozen to the spot.
“Those the same friends who left you by yourself in a town you never been to?” he asked, his voice tight.
I waved him off. “They just got excited. It’s all good. I’m sure they didn’t mean anything by it.”
“She’s way too nice for the likes of you.” Clay laughed and threw a chicken bone at Landon.
“Shut up,” Landon griped and flipped his friend the bird before turning to me. “You finished with your rabbit food?”
I glanced at my empty salad bowl, still hungry, and nodded.
He held his hand out, and I put my much smaller one in his. After helping me back up to standing without flashing anyone, he nodded to his friends. “We’re off. You guys okay to walk back to the motel?”
Mason nodded and threw keys to Landon. “Guess this means you don’t want to watch the game tonight?” he said.
“Not tonight,” Landon said, then tugged my hand that he was still holding. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
I followed him to the truck and watched him put the empty food containers in the trash along the way. We got in, and he turned to me. “What do you feel like doing?”
I glanced at the time. It was still early, but he had to get up practically in the middle of the night. “Don’t you want to go to sleep?”
He chuckled. “Trying to get rid of me already?”
“Not at all. I just don’t want to keep you up when you should be sleeping. Sounds like this car show is a big deal.”
He waved me off and started the truck. “We go every year. It’s a long day but easy.”
