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Claimed me.
But I had claimed them right back.
I spent the night in a stranger’s house, on a stranger’s bed, wrapped up in a tangle of limbs with the Lost Boys.
We all fell asleep on the bed together, and while I felt a little bad for commandeering someone’s bedroom like that, it was impossible to regret anything that’d happened the previous night, even in the harsh light of morning.
The four of us rose slowly, taking our time getting up and getting dressed. By late morning, we ended up at a Denny’s—one of two in the area. According to Bishop, this one had the best breakfasts in all of Baltimore. And honestly? I couldn’t disagree with him. I had a whole hamburger, fries on the side, and a giant chocolate shake to go with it. It was hearty and greasy and perfectly bad for me, and I was one hundred percent okay with that.
I was running on high octane. And I had a feeling I wasn’t the only one. The four of us drew stares from the other patrons—mostly older people—as we laughed and joked around. Every once in a while, one of the guys would haul me toward him and kiss the breath out of me, and that definitely got the attention of the other patrons.
But I didn’t care.
Maybe I shouldn’t have felt the happiest I’d ever been after a night of doing everything I had been raised not to do… but I was happy. More than happy.
And I wasn’t going to fight it or feel bad about it.
I wasn’t going to feel one ounce of guilt for it.
“Ah, shit.”
As we were finishing breakfast, Bishop spoke up, looking around.
“What?” Kace glanced over at him.
“Left my phone in the car. Let me out, Coralee.”
He poked at my side to get me to move out of the booth, and I squirmed under his touch as it tickled my ribs. “Ah!” Then I held out my hand. “Gimme your keys. I can get it.”
“Oh. You sure?”
“Yeah. It’s not like it’s that far away.” I chuckled, the giddy feeling still infusing my body. “I may be a princess, but I can handle myself okay.”
“Oh, believe me, we know.” Misael’s gaze heated as he winked at me.
I kicked his feet lightly under the table, then stood up, Bishop’s keys in my hand. “Be right back.”
I headed for the door, ignoring the looks that came my way and straightening out my skirt as I trotted outside. I didn’t even have the decency to feel shame for the fact that I was still wearing my clothes from the night before, the scent of cigarette smoke clinging to the fabric. Hell, even my hair had that “just woke up” feel and look to it. It was comfortable. I liked it.
Outside, I made my way quickly to the convertible. I hopped in and started looking for Bishop’s phon
e, but he hadn’t left it someplace obvious like the dash or the console. Where the hell could it have gone?
As I was scanning the cup holders and door compartments, I heard a deep buzzing sound from somewhere beneath me. Ah ha! His cell must’ve fallen beneath the driver’s seat, and Bishop hadn’t noticed it. As it continued to buzz, I patted around under the seat until my fingers closed around a cool piece of metal and glass. I pulled it out… but paused when I saw the name of the person calling.
Flint.
I almost impulsively answered it. My fingers itched to hit the little green button that would connect the call. I’d been hoping for a chance to talk to the man anyway, to see if he knew anything about my father being set up. If I answered, maybe I could finally get answers to questions that’d haunted me for months—
But how the hell would I explain that to Bishop?
Bzzz… Bzzz… Bzzz…
The vibrating buzz stopped for a few seconds and then started again. He must’ve called back to leave a message—or maybe he was trying to see if Bish was screening his calls.
My grip on the phone tightened, and I stared down at the display as if it was the only thing left in the world.
As if it was the key to redemption. Salvation. Freedom.
