She lifted the mug and took a sip.“Twister slept about the same.Which means he didn’t.Swift looks like he wants to murder someone for breathing too loud, and Gramps told Nugget if he dropped one more broom, he was gonna make him eat it.”
“Sounds normal.”
“It’s not normal,” she said, though the corner of her mouth twitched.“You guys are all on high alert and grumpy as hell.”
“That’s how it’s gonna be until we figure out what the hell is going on.”
Her smile faded a little, and she glanced at Goldie’s closed door.“Still asleep?”
“Yeah.”
“Damn.”She lowered her voice, even though Goldie clearly wasn’t waking up for anything.“She must’ve been exhausted.”
“That’s my guess.”
Tempi looked at the door for another beat, then back at me.“What’s she like?”
I shrugged.“Blonde.”
Tempi stared at me.
“What?”
“That’s your answer?”
“You asked what she’s like.”
“I meant is she stuck up?Snooty?Mean?Scared?Bossy?”Tempi waved her mug in the air.“You know, details.”
I looked toward Goldie’s door, and for a second, I wasn’t thinking about her wild eyes or the way she’d yelled at us in that field.I was thinking about the ride back.
The way she’d gotten on my bike like she’d done it before, but her hands still shook when they touched my sides.The way she’d held herself stiff for the first twenty minutes, like relaxing even an inch might get her killed.The way, somewhere after the gas stop, she’d finally given in and leaned into my back.
Not much.
Just enough for me to feel her weight settle.
Just enough for me to know she’d stopped fighting the ride and maybe stopped fighting me.
I liked it.That was the part I hadn’t had much time to think about.Or maybe I had, sitting outside her door all damn night.
But that wasn’t what Tempi was asking, and I sure as hell wasn’t telling her that.
“She seems cool enough,” I gruffed.“Didn’t really do much talking, though.”
Tempi’s eyebrows lifted.“Cool enough?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s all I get?”
“That’s all I got.”
She nodded slowly, her lips pressed together like she was trying real hard not to laugh at me.“I suppose there wasn’t much time for heart-to-heart conversations when you guys were riding to keep your butts safe.”
“We weren’t worried about our butts.”
“Sure.”
