“Sorry,” I whisper, snatching it off the nightstand and silencing it.
JAMIE: Ry is in Denver with The Assignment?!
JOS: Yep. I flew them out. You know what this means.
VAN: What’s in Denver?
JOS: The Assignment’s family.
LYLA: WHAT?!
VAN: Since when can you keep a secret, Jos?
JOS: I was on duty, duh?
LYLA: Van, tap into the security system so we can watch.
I stifle a laugh with the quilt.
“Something funny?” Cole yawns and sits up, stretching.
“Nothing.” I drop my phone as it buzzes again.
Cole’s sleepy eyes study me closely in the dim light, and a warm sensation creeps through my belly and spreads.
Ooooohhhhh, shit.
Everything is fine. Be patient.
I turn on the lamp and climb out of bed, pulling clothes from my suitcase. “So, what are we doing today?”
He stands, lifting his arms over his head and rolling his wrist. “Maggie said we’re having Thanksgiving today, but she’s ordering pizza.”
I pull a T-shirt and jeans from my suitcase. “What does Thanksgiving entail?”
He sits on the end of the bed. “Probably more of the same. We stopped having turkey a year or two ago. The big traditional meal is too much with everyone’s schedule. My brother Hank has a match, so we’ll stream that and play Bingo. Sometimes, we play football in the yard or have a Nerf gunfight.”
I turn toward him, raising an eyebrow at the thought of a gunfight.
His lips curve upward, his chin bobbing once in my direction. “I’ve got dibs on you.”
My stomach does a little flippy thing.
Damn him.
I bend down to find a bra, squashing it. “Bingo?”
“Yeah, it’s a tradition. It gets a little crazy, though. My mom started it when Maggie and I were kids.”
Cole has only spoken of his mom once, when he told me she was a dancer. I didn’t ask questions, but being here has made me curious. From news articles, I learned she died when a car lost control and ran her down on the sidewalk when Cole was only six-years-old.
I peek at him over my shoulder, easing the question out. “Your mom, huh?”
He braces his arms on his legs. “Yeah. She thought it was fun to collect the stuff that we didn’t pick up. We had to win it back. We didn’t play for years after she died, but when Maggie becamethe kids’ guardian, she brought it back. It gets heated when there’s good stuff in the box.”
I want to ask more, but not push in an area that is none of my business. I also know asking questions leads to tables being turned.
I drop down beside him, my stomach slapping my insides in warning.
