She narrowed her eyes at me in response. “No.”
“Van’s tone implies otherwise.” Emma smirked as she pulled her phone out of her back pocket and widened her eyes at the screen. “Shit! I lost track of time!” She threw her apron off and tossed it at me before hopping over the counter, “Bye!”
“Bye!” I laughed as I folded her apron and set it on the counter in front of us. The shop would be closing in an hour or so, and that meant it was going to be slow beyond the handful of customers who had already ordered something and were set up at random tables with their computers.
“I have a question for you.” I steepled my fingertips together as Audrey dropped her elbows onto the counter.
Audrey copied my pose and grinned. “Hit me.”
“Want to go out on the boat tonight?” I grinned. She and I had only hung out on the boat by ourselves a couple of times since I got it during her “I need to keep Van at arm’s length” phase.
“Sure.” She grinned. “Can Liam come?”
I immediately frowned. She immediately frowned back.
“Sorry, it’s just that he already planned—you know what? I’ll just tell him to go home when he shows up.” She waved it off, clearly disappointed in my reaction, but humoring me anyway. I crossed my arms and cocked a hip out.
“Just text him.” I nodded toward where I assumed her phone was in her pocket.
“I can’t, well, not on this phone. I can only text on my other phone.” Her Hyvenmerian one, I assumed. “But only when he is also, um, here. The signal can’t travel throughrealmsyet.” She lowered her voice to a whisper when she said realms, so I nodded and didn’t push it.
“If he’s going to show up anyway, might as well let him drive,” I grumbled. He was lowkey better at it than I was, based on what I saw about a week ago when he steered us out of Hyvenmere.
Audrey gave me a nervous look. “I’m sorry that he’s so…present.”
“It’s fine.” I was still bitter about it, but beyond being in our space and taking up some of Audrey’s attention, I didn’t see anymajor red flags in him. I just couldn’t get over my harsh feelings toward him, yet.
“It’s just—” Audrey bit her lip and lowered her voice so only I could hear again, “He wants to make sure we’re safe. That whoever wanted to take you that night doesn’t try again.” I quirked my lips to the side at that. I mean, if his intentions were pure, I couldn’t fault him for volunteering to be our personal bodyguard until things cooled down.
“That’s nice of him,” I forced myself to say. I was good at holding grudges. I was decent at identifying when I was being unfair. Unfortunately, I was a petty and prideful woman and didn’t always want to admit when I was being unfair toward someone.
I never said I was perfect.
“He’ll just drive,” Audrey promised with a nod.
“Shirtless,” I muttered. Audrey gave me a quizzical scowl.
“Excuse me?” Her tone immediately lowered to aggravated, which caught me off guard. I blinked at her, startled by her immediate hostile reaction.
“I mean, if Temu-Thor is determined to crash the party, the least he could do is show off his rippling abs and look pretty for us—” Audrey’s nostrils flared, so I raised my eyebrows and changed course. “—or more accurately,you, since blond men aren’t my type.” Audrey deflated at that, her shoulders lowering, and her scowl loosening into one of embarrassment.
“I’m so sorry—I have no idea what that was.” She placed a hand over her heart as her light hazel eyes studied the grain in the countertop, genuinely looking concerned. I waved her off before starting the lock-up routine during the last hour of business. The sun started to set when she and I finally left the Sun Bean, and I locked the doors behind us. We walked toward the harbor where my boat was docked, admiring the pinks and oranges of the sky, when herotherphone vibrated in her pocket.
She pulled it out and let Liam know where we would be for the evening, then looped her arm in mine as we made our way toward the docks for an overdue girls-night.
The sun was below the shoreline, painting the sky in a deep purple with a bright strip of orange, as Audrey and I shared one more drink. We weren’t huge drinkers, but we were tipsy and giggly and having a lot of fun. Even Liam’s presence didn’t sour my mood, and when I boldly suggested he take off his shirt after our first drink, I wasn’t too surprised to see him dart a look toward Audrey and blush.
They just needed to bang it out already.
I wasn’t too far gone to say those words out loud, though. But Liam obliged and even made a show of flexing his arms and abs, which made me laugh, and made Audrey’s eyes widen in admiration. The way the sun reflected off the ocean lit up the subtle streaks of gold in her irises as she ogled Liam.
Then I threw an ice cube at her face, and we’ve been joking around and sharing stories ever since.
“Okay, okay.” I fanned my face, calming my heart after telling Liam a hilarious story of Audrey and I getting lost in Big Bear during college. “Not to change the subject, but I think I’m ready to talk about all of this—” I waved my arms vaguely toward Liam and the direction of Catalina Island. “—more.”
Audrey lit up. “Really? Because I’mdyingto talk to you about this more.”
I snickered and replied, “I guess I just have some questions.” I cleared my throat and tucked my legs underneath myself. We should probably find our way back to the docks soon, but wewere anchored in the water, and I could still see the harbor in the distance, so it wasn’t like we could get lost.
