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Savannah giggled. “Well, according to Dakota, it’s definitely not gross but maybe the details need to be kept under wraps in public places.”
Cody groaned again.
My grin was slow. I probably liked it a little too much that Savannah didn’t mind busting his balls. She was only just meeting everyone, and she was acting like she was a part of the crew.
“How about you?” She looked at Caleb. My older cousin was dressed in a thin flannel and jeans, which was a mindfuck considering he used to prance around in five-thousand-dollar suits. His blonde hair was shaggier than it’d been, and there was a casualness to him that had never existed before.
“I’ll do an unsweetened iced tea.”
It was a huge relief that he was here in Time River permanently, engaged to Dakota’s best friend, Paisley. He and his daughter Evelyn were safe, and the three of them had ended up right where they belonged.
Together.
“Got it.” Aqua eyes dipped to the mug that I still hadn’t taken a sip from. “And how is that coffee treating you?”
“I think I’ll switch to a regular iced tea. I already drank a pot of the good stuff at the station this morning. Better cut myself off.”
Her gaze raked over me, and a flash of that awareness radiated from her. Both knowing and curious.
Her expression went straight to my cock.
She finally peeled herself from where we’d been stuck, and she cleared the roughness from her throat. “I don’t know if you read the specials out front, but we have a five-cheese grilled cheese with tomato soup for the lunch special today. I haven’t tasted it yet, but based on the way my stomach growls every time I walk into the kitchen and smell the scent coming from the pot, I’m pretty sure you can’t go wrong with it.”
“You can’t go wrong with anything that comes out of that kitchen.” Pride filled Ryder’s voice.
“I’m hearing that a lot, and believe me, I plan on partaking.” Savannah’s smile was soft. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”
She strode across the dining room, weaving through the tables on those long, bare legs, light denim stretched over her pert, firm ass.
My stomach twisted, held in a twine of lust.
“Hottest damn thing I’ve seen in Time River in years.” A low whistle rolled from Cody as he watched her round the long counter where she started to make our drinks.
Didn’t mean for the growl to get out.
“Down boy.” Ryder smirked, fucking smug.
“I didn’t say anything,” I rumbled.
Caleb laughed from beside me. “No words needed to be said with the sound that came out of you, Ezra. That was pure beast. Goddamn grizzly over here. I’m shaking in my boots.”
“Run, brother,” Ryder told Caleb, a full razzing.
“Nah, that shouldn’t be necessary. Ezra already said he wasn’t sweet on her.” Cody lifted his chin my direction. “She’s fair game. You’ve got no problem with that, do you, Ezra?”
I didn’t even realize my hands were fisted on the table until Ryder cracked up.
“I would say he might have a small problem. A tiny one, maybe? About the size of Cody’s dick.” Ryder lifted his fingers in a pinch. “But still a problem.”
“You wish, asshole.” Cody shoved Ryder in the shoulder at the same time as I grumbled, “Screw you all.”
It didn’t take much to surmise all three of them were ganging up on me. Proving a point. Knew it for sure with the way they went quiet, assessing me through the tension, wondering if they’d pushed me too far.
Wondering if I was going to crack.
“Just messing with you, brother,” Cody said. “I won’t deny it, though, I am happy to see something different in your eyes.” Then his grin split into something salacious. “But she is fucking hot. That was no lie.”
A sigh pilfered from my nose. “It’s not like that. I just found her sleeping in her car out on Landers’ property, and I brought her in because I had a sense that she needed a hand. I want to make sure she gets set up on her feet. That’s it.”
Now who the fuck was lying?
Because there was something inside me that urged me toward her. This prickling that ran along the length of my spine.
It never faded through the entire meal.
It only grew each time she came to our booth.
When she leaned over the table to place our food in front of us. When the air shifted when she refilled our drinks.
She kept watching me every time she stopped by, gaze raking over me in slow perusal.
Not furtive.
But like she was the one who liked looking at me and she didn’t care a thing about hiding it.
And maybe I was watching her too closely, too, because there was no mistaking the way she continually scanned the restaurant’s occupants, even though I could tell she was trying to keep the action secreted.
