Page 296 of Don’t Say Mafia

I stepped back and left the room, knowing if I stayed for another second . . . I wouldn’t.

I watched her padding around my bedroom on my iPad, her hair wet from her shower and my shirt hanging off her shoulder sexily in a way that would have sold a billion of them if I’d ever allowed the company to use it for an ad. I leaned back on the couch, my beer untouched, and my eyes locked on the screen.

Making sure there were cameras installed in my room before she got here had been the idea of a century.

My phone buzzed.

Then buzzed again. And again.

I sighed and picked it up.

Gage: Did you seriously burn down her apartment today?

I smiled.

Me: Why? Impressed?

Gage: I mean, maybe a little.

Cruz: You can thank me for the idea later with flowers, Jags. I prefer the black ones.

Me: You know Daniels likes black flowers, too. You have much more in common than you think.

Lawson: Lincoln Daniels?

Cruz: Why are we talking about him again?

Me: Aww. Cruzy’s jealous.

Cruz:

Maddox: By “did you seriously burn down her apartment today,” did you mean “thank you, Maddox, for your elite fire-starting services”?

Maddox: You can thank me with Dallas Knights tickets, by the way. Not flowers. Because that’s fucking weird.

Lawson: Before Cruz murders Maddox, can we circle back to the part where no one invited me?

Cruz was being oddly quiet considering Maddox’s shit-talking. Hopefully, he wasn’t actually murdering him. I needed Maddox’s burrito-procuring skills.

And I guess his fire-starting skills as well.

Gage: Invited you to what? The bonfire? Is that a real question?

Lawson: Yes. How come no one ever asks me to burn down buildings with them? Or hit people with my car?

Lawson: I have a very nice car. You assholes know that. I definitely could have done the job better than Zachary.

Maddox: Don’t worry, boys. That wasn’t a real question.

I glanced at my iPad screen. Eden was standing beside the bed, staring around with a surprised look on her face, probably questioning how she’d gotten here.

My phone buzzed again, reminding me there was still an inane conversation happening.

Gage: Not sure hacking the thermostat would have helped in this situation, Lawson.

I smirked. Gage was brave talking like that to him. Or stupid. Maybe we’d go with that.

There was a long pause in the chat.