“I know absolutely nothing about basketball,” I admitted. The truth was usually the best way to get away with lying anyway. I extended a hand. “I’m Susan.” Vero snorted, but my mother’s name was easy for me to remember and just common enough to be forgettable.
“Theo,” he said, reaching across the bar. Ramón watched as Theo and I shook hands, but Theo didn’t seem to notice. He pulled a flyer from a cardboard box on the shelf behind him and slid it toward me. “We’re having a special—fifty-cent wings,” he said, tapping the coupon. My gaze drifted past him to the logo on the box. It was a black-and-white printer with a dollar sign coming out of it, the same one I’d seen on the box of flyers Jackson had delivered to Ava the day before.
That could explain what Jackson had been doing here earlier. Maybe he’d only been delivering flyers. It was possible Ben hadn’t spilled the beans after all.
Theo leaned on his elbows, bringing his face closer to hear me over the din. “Tell me, Susan. If you’re not into sports, what are you doing in a sports bar alone on a Saturday night?”
“Would you believe I only came here for a drink?”
“If you only came here for a drink, you should at least make it count.” He frowned at the pale excuse for a beer in my glass.
“What wouldyouhave picked?” I asked.
“None of that watered-down diet crap.Iwould have gone for the Johnnie Walker Blue.”
Ramón snorted. “Sure you would. If she was buying.” He chased the insult with a long swig of his beer.
Theo cut his eyes at him. “Are you suggesting I can’t afford it?”
Ramón spared him an indifferent glance. “I’m suggesting you probably didn’t roll up to this gig in a Maserati, so maybe lay off the lady’s beverage choices while she’s in here paying your rent.”
Vero groaned. “Tell me Ramón did not just say that.”
Javi sidled to the bar and claimed the stool beside me. “Sounds like the guy’s trying to compensate for something.”
Theo glared at him. “What’s your problem?”
“No problem,” Javi said. “I just think you talk a big game for a guy who’s probably got nothing to show for it.”
Theo’s eyes narrowed at each of them in turn. “What are you two assholes driving? I don’t see either of you ordering from the top shelf.”
Ramón pulled a set of keys from his pocket and tossed them onto the bar.
Theo eyed the Chevy logo. He studied Ramón, as if he was searching for a tell. For all Theo knew, those keys could unlock a souped-up vintage Camaro instead of the old white repair van I knew they belonged to. Ramón’s poker face gave nothing away.
Theo reached under the bar for his own keys. He held them up, showing off the shiny BMW logo on the fob. “Can your Chevy compete with three hundred and eighty-two ponies?”
Javi and Ramón exchanged a look.
“She’s got what counts under the hood,” Ramón said. “If you want to put your money where your mouth is, I know a place.”
What was he doing? Drawing Theo to a remote location under the guise of an illegal street race was not in the plan.
Theo glanced at the clock like he was actually considering it. The two men locked eyes for a long moment before a long-legged brunette bombshell in low-riding shorts and an even lower-riding tank top rushed the bar. “Hey, what’s a girl got to do to get servedaround here?” She planted herself in front of Theo, folded her arms over the wooden bar top, and leaned toward him, giving him a better view of her cleavage. Theo was too busy playing chicken with Ramón to notice her.
“Hello?” She knocked on the bar. “Earth to Theo.”
“Yeah, Sophia. What can I get you?” he asked her impatiently.
Ramón gritted his teeth at the interruption as the woman placed her order. He looked at her askance. His eyes widened a fraction, and he shifted sideways on his stool, angling his face away from her.
When I glanced over at Javi, he was covering the side of his face, too. He began to pivot, as if intending to sneak away.
Sophia caught sight of him. She tipped her head, gasping as she got a better look at his face.
“Oh my god! Javi! Itisyou!” He winced as she threw her arms around him. “Ramón came by my place earlier, but he didn’t mention you were in town! We should go out sometime and catch up. Unless you’re on house arrest, too,” she teased him.
“Who’s that?” Vero asked urgently. “I thought I heard—” I disconnected the call, instinct telling me it would be a bad idea to let her hear any more.
