Page 171 of No Headlines Please

My lips twitched. "What about me?"

"I was wondering what you wrote."

"So, why didn't you ask?"

"I did," he said. "That day we had coffee."

"Really?"

He nodded. "But you didn't want to tell me, so I let it drop."

Oh, that's right. Out on the penthouse balcony, he had asked, and I'd brushed him off.

Just like with so many other things, he hadn't pushed.

I asked, "So you've been curious this whole time? Seriously?"

"Hell, yeah. If you want the truth, I've been dying to know."

I laughed. "If you wanted to know so bad, why didn't you just have someone find out? I know you could've."

"Probably," he said. "But it didn't seem right."

"Oh, come on." I searched his face. "You found out everything else."

"Yeah, but that was because your sister was worried, not because I was a nosy bastard."

Ryder laughed. "You're still a bastard, though, right?"

Maddox gave him a look. "You're the one who started this, remember?"

But then, Tessa's voice carried over all of them. "Actually, I was the one who started it." She looked to Maddox, and her expression softened just a fraction. "And I was glad to hear she was okay." She cleared her throat. "So…um, thanks. I guess."

Well, it was better than nothing.

Tessa turned to me with a pleading look. "Don't leave, okay? You literally just got here."

Ryder added, "And besides, your luggage is already upstairs."

What? "No, it isn't." I pointed. "It's still right there, sitting in the foyer."

He grinned. "Yeah, but not for long." Then he sprang to his feet and headed for the suitcases, with Tessa scrambling after him. He grabbed Maddox's suitcase, along with the larger of mine, while Tessa grabbed my smaller one.

A moment later, they were both halfway up the nearby stairs. Tessa called back over her shoulder, "You can't leave if you don't have your stuff." And then, after half a beat, she added, "So there."

I looked to Maddox. "Do you think we're supposed to follow them?"

He shrugged. "She's your sister."

"But your friend."

He glanced toward the staircase. "I think we'd better."

When the two of us began heading in that direction, Maisie called out, "Wait…you are coming back, right?"

I looked back with a smile. "Definitely."

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