Page 35 of Fallen Flame

“The Dairy Bar?”

He shook his head. “No.”

That surprised me enough to stop walking. “Then where are we going?”

He motioned with one hand for me to walk ahead of him.

“You’ll find out when we get there.”

I narrowed my eyes playfully. “Mysterious.”

He didn’t answer.

“You know,” I continued as we started down the hallway together, “for somebody who barely talks, you’re surprisingly good at keeping secrets.”

“I’ve had practice.”

There wasn’t any humor in that answer. Just quiet certainty. Something about the way he said it made me glance sideways at him.

There it was again. That tiny glimpse beneath the surface.

Oliver didn’t talk much. He didn’t joke much. He definitely didn’t volunteer personal information. But every once in a while, something slipped through the cracks.

A sentence.

A look.

A piece of whatever life had made him into the man walking beside me.

And every single one of those little moments made me want to know him more.

I smiled to myself. Interesting. Very interesting.

If Oliver wanted to surprise me with wherever we were going, I was more than happy to let him.

Chapter Seven

Oliver

I shut off the bike and looked up at the familiar brick building.

The Social Club looked exactly the way it always did. Big front windows. Black awning. Fallen Lords sign hanging above the entrance. A line of bikes already filled the curb, making it obvious we weren’t the first ones there.

Behind me, I heard Lark climb off my bike.

She slipped the borrowed helmet off, tucked it against her hip, and shaded her eyes with one hand as she looked up at the building.

“This...” She glanced over at me. “This was not at all where I thought we were going.”

I unhooked my own helmet and hung it on the handlebar. “No?”

She slowly turned back toward the Social Club.

“I mean...” She pointed toward the front doors. “Did you see how well I cleaned the Dairy Bar yesterday and think I could come clean the Social Club?”

I couldn’t help the corner of my mouth from lifting. I shook my head. “Nah.”

“No?”