“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” I grab my wallet andpull out two twenties. Harlow won’t take the money if she sees it, and I make sure to slip the bills under a clean glass on the back side of the bar for her to find later. “Ready to head out?”
“Yeah.” Mia smiles and adds her own money to the pile. “Want to split an Uber?”
“Of course I do.” I wave to Harlow, who’s busy talking to the blond not-a-murderer. I swear I see a blush on her cheeks, but I blame it on the shitty lighting and gin I’ve been sipping. “I might be plotting your brother’s disappearance, but you, Mia Dunn, are one of the good ones.”
“I’m going to be an accomplice, aren’t I?”
“Never.” I hop off my stool and sling an arm over her shoulder. “When he meets his demise, I’ll make it look like an accident. I promise.”
Later, when I climb into bed, I don’t spare a single thought about Sebastian or his vague surprise for his sister.
THE RAINY DAY SHOW COMMENT SECTION
@BakersDozen13:First week of hurricane season down already?! I wonder if it’s going to be busy or quiet this year …
@TheRainyDayShow:@BakersDozen13I’m predicting 14 named storms, 6 hurricanes.
@SandraClaire1982:Did anyone catch the name of the weather radio Quincy said she uses in her last video? Need a new one and hers looked nice.
@PocketFullOfSunshine89:it’s a Midland ER310,@SandraClaire1982.Worth the investment.
@SandraClaire1982:@PocketFullOfSunshine89ahhhh thank u!!
@TheRainyDayShow:What@PocketFullOfSunshine89said! (nice name, btw )
@highschoolxcstar:Hey,@TheRainyDayShow, can we get a Day in the Life video??! I’m a senior in high school and really considering going into meteorology (bc of you!), but I have no clue what your typical day looks like!
@AndrewMac69:@TheRainyDayShownever answers me, but I’d let her step on my face.
@TheRainyDayShow:@AndrewMac69I’m going to pass. But thanks for the engagement on the video!
The wink the waitress tosses my way as she leads me through the restaurant where I’m meeting my friends for breakfast is flirty as hell.
So is the way she glances over her shoulder, eyes lingering on my arms for longer than what would be considered Southern hospitality. Her gaze slides to my left ring finger then back to my face, and I have to give her props for checking to make sure I’m not a taken man.
“Is this okay?” she asks, gesturing to an open table.
I squint, trying to place where I recognize her from.
There’s no way she’s my age. There’s too much life in her eyes. Not enough existential doom and gloom us thirtysomethings start to feel as we inch further away from the legal drinking age and closer to Social Security.
“It’s perfect.” I flash her a smile. She blushes like I thought she would. I have this routine perfected. “Do I know you? I swear we’ve met.”
“Oh.” She dips her chin and giggles. “Your sister used to babysit me, and I’ve seen you around town when you’ve come home for the holidays. I’m Penelope.”
“Hey, Penelope. I’m—”
“Too old for you.” Cooper Givens, resident cockblocker and the best friend I’m no longer going to speak to, throws an arm around my shoulders and tousles my hair. I make sure to jab his side good and hard when I wrangle free from his hold. “Leave the poor girl alone, Seb. She doesn’t want to talk to dinosaurs.”
The waitress disappears, taking another round of giggles with her, and I turn Cooper’s way. His grin is freakishly wide for a guy who just got off a forty-eight-hour firefighting shift, and I roll my eyes.
“It’s good to see you, too, asshole,” I say.
“I’ll give you twenty bucks if you can remember her name,” he answers.
“Peggy.”
“Not even close.”
