“Was a long time ago.” Lucas removed his cap, dragged his fingers through his black hair, then screwed the hat back on. “Look who’s staring now?” Lucas said, one corner of his mouth tiltingup.
Sarah spun back towardme.
Lucas flexed his arm. “Want to cop afeel?”
“Seriously?” She wrinkled her nose, seizing the laminated menu, which I was pretty certain she knew by heart. “I’d rather pet a rattlesnake than yourbicep.”
“You like snakes,huh?”
“Leave her alone, Lucas,” Iwarned.
He flashed me a cocky grin before raising his eyes to the TV broadcasting a tennisgame.
A waitress with thick bangs, a perky smile, and an even perkier voice arrived to take our order. While I asked for a BLT and water, Sarah and Lucas ordered cheeseburgers and Cokes. I wondered if Miss Perky had been the girl Lucas had alluded to the day August had helped fix stuff up in the inn, the one who’d be really glad that he’d stayed in town. I was tempted to ask, but feared it would make me sound jealous instead of what I truly was:curious.
As though thinking of August activated the link, my stomach tightened. I rubbed it while Lucas and Sarah bickered about the music she’d played at The Den last Saturday, and the waitress returned with a pitcher. As she poured water into my glass, the door of Tracy’sopened.
The water overflowed from my glass, spilling onto the table and dribbling onto my lap. I backed away from the table so fast my chair legs scraped against the worn wooden slats. She righted the pitcher, then apologizing profusely, she grabbed a handful of paper napkins from the dispenser on the table to clean up themess.
“It’s okay,” I said, following her line of sight, which had returned to the entrance of theplace.
To Cole andAugust.
August was absentmindedly rubbing his abdomen. When he spotted me behind the blushing waitress, his hand froze and then lowered, fingers balling into afist.
Yep, itsucked.
For both ofus.
Cole elbowed August and pointed to our table. From August’s reluctant strides, I sensed he wanted to go anywhere but nearme.
“Hey, Ness.” Cole smiled, then nodded at Sarah and Lucas before greeting the waitress by her first name:Kelly.
Kelly barely registered his greeting, her entire focus on August. “I thought you’dleft.”
He scratched the back of his neck. “I’ve had to delay my departure.” His face was all tensed up, which I imagined had more to do with our bothersome link than with Kelly’sattention.
“Heard you and Sienna broke up.” She said this very softly, so softly that if I’d been human, I would probably have missedit.
August’s fingers stilled, and his eyebrows drew together. His expression, coupled with the relentless throbbing in my navel, screamed ofdiscomfort.
I caught Sarah sniffing the air. A frown ghosted over her face. Could she smell our link? I remembered Liam saying that August had smelled like me or me like him . . . or something along those lines, but I assumed the smell hadfaded.
Thankfully, Sarah shattered the awkward silence. “Don’t any of you havejobs?”
The three boys glanced at eachother.
“Nessismy job,” Lucas said, which made August swing the full force of his gaze from Kelly to the shaggy-hairedshifter.
“And we’re taking a break. Weather’s way too brutal,” Colesaid.
Unlike my jeans that were sticking to my skin, neither his nor August’s clothes were drenched, so they must’ve changed before coming in here. Or maybe their bodies heated at a higher temperature than mine and had already made the moistureevaporate.
Cole gestured to the pool tables in the back. “Want to join us for a game ofcutthroat?”
“Thought you’d never ask.” Lucas all but bounded out of hisseat.
“Ness?” Cole didn’t say Sarah’s name, but he looked at her, which surely meant he was extending the invitation to myfriend.
