I took the balled napkin in my cupholder and lobbed it at him. “Ass.”
He batted it away, then picked it up and stuffed it inside hiscupholder.
“Besides, according to you, dating and sex interfere with concentration, so you should really swear both off until after the duel.” I smiled, finding a little pleasure in tossing his words back athim.
“Done.”
The smile skittered off mylips.
“How about we grab dinner thisweek?”
“Liam. . .”
“Friends have dinner together, don’tthey?”
“They do,but—”
“But we can’t?” He got up, gripping his overnight bag so tight his knuckleswhitened.
“I’ll have dinner, but not just with you.” I stood and swung my backpack onto my shoulder. “We can go out as agroup.”
“Does that group includeAugust?”
“I would hopeso.”
His pupils pulsed with annoyance. “Fine, but don’t expect me to make small talk withhim.”
“I’m not expecting you to talk to him atall.”
“I’ll ask Matt and Lucas. Some of the girls might come too then. Hope that’sokay.”
“As long as I’m not expected to discuss tampon sizes with them, the more themerrier.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. It barely creased the corners of hismouth.
17
After landing,I asked Liam to drop me off atFrank’s.
I realized I hadn’t even phoned ahead to know if Evelyn was home. I assumed she’d be there. I always assumed Evelyn would be there when I neededher.
Sure enough, when I rang the doorbell a little after three, she was the one to sweep the door open, dispersing her familiar scent of menthol and cookingoil.
“Querida!” Her solid arms came around me, and she drew me into her soft chest. “What a beautifulsurprise.”
After thoroughly kissing my forehead and cheeks, surely smearing her red lipstick all over my face, she pressed me away and looked me over. Seemed like since we’d moved to Colorado, she was always checking for new bruises or cuts or other signs that I’d beenhurt.
When her gaze alighted on my backpack, she asked, “What did Jeb donow?”
“Jeb?”
“You have abackpack.”
“Oh.” She thought I was coming to stay the night. I smiled. “I’m actually just returning from an overnighttrip.”
“Overnight?” She cocked one of her thin black eyebrows. “Do I need to sit down for thisstory?”
My smile increased. “Probably.” The bear hunt returned to me. “Actually, yes. Unless you want me to spare you certaindetails.”
