Cade nodded. “We’ll be there.”
Bliss smiled through the last of her tears. “All of us.”
Easton looked at Ryan, then at me, then back again. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
Charm’s eyes stayed on her plate, but her voice came soft and clear. “Neither would I.”
Ryan’s expression changed for half a second before he covered it with a grin. “Then I guess I better give you something worth watching.”
Briggs leaned across the table, completely solemn for once. “Ryan, my beautiful tattooed literature king, you are going to skate like every scout in that arena owes you money.”
Rider lifted his water. “That was almost motivational.”
“It had narrative structure,” Briggs said.
The table laughed, and Ryan laughed with us, though his eyes went to Charm first.
Outside, November light pushed against the Waffle House windows, pale and cold and harmless-looking, the kind of morning that made a person believe the world might stay gentle if enough people were sitting close together.
I leaned into Easton’s shoulder and let myself believe it.
26
Aura
Easton showed up at seven sharp looking like he had personally declared war on every standard I had ever pretended to have.
Black jeans. Black boots. A dark button-up with the sleeves rolled to his forearms. Short blond hair styled just enough to make me suspicious, jaw clean-shaven, mouth serious, eyes doing that blue-green-gray thing that made him look like bad decisions had been handcrafted into a person and sent directly to my front door.
I opened said door and stared at him.
He stared back.
His gaze moved from my heels to my dress to my face, then paused there long enough for the silence to become deeply flattering and mildly dangerous.
“You look…” His throat worked. “Holy shit.”
I leaned one shoulder against the doorframe. “That was almost smooth.”
“I had words planned.”
“Where did they go?”
His eyes dropped to my mouth. “You’re wearing red.”
“I am.”
“That was aggressive.”
“The dress or the lipstick?”
“Yes.”
I smiled, and the way his gaze sharpened made every minute I had spent curling the ends of my braids worth it. “You look like you’re about to ask my father for a dowry.”
His mouth twitched. “I was going for responsible boyfriend.”
“That outfit says you own a wine key.”
