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Denver narrowed her eyes at Mal. “You listened to them having sex?”
“More like it was impossible not to. Bus isn’t huge.” He lumbered to his feet and dropped his empty beer can in the recycling bin. “I’m going back to bed. Couldn’t fucking sleep with all that racket earlier.”
“What about Elle?”
He’d already disappeared into the back.
Denver sighed and tapped out a reply to Elle.
Denver: Can you come back to the bus, please? I’ll explain when you get here.
Elle’s response was immediate.
Elle: Explain? What’s going on?
Denver: It’s just easier to tell you in person. I’ll see you soon.
She tossed her phone on the table and rose to refill her glass of tea. She debated chasing it with a beer, then decided she’d had enough alcohol for one night. As awful as it would be on her to tell Elle what had happened, this wasn’t her heartache or her drama. She’d be there for her as a friend in whatever way she could, of course, but she needed to shore up her emotional reserves to deal with her own hot mess.
Also known as one Ryan Waters, who she needed to talk to sooner rather than later. Her reaction to finding Kirk in his bed had proven that more succinctly than anything else.
First, she needed to help Elle through the knowledge that she’d been seeing a user and a womanizer.
Bastard.
Denver sighed for about the fifth time since Kirk had left. Elle was doubly screwed, since Denver was the one around to help her through this traumatic event. Denver had no illusions about her ability to be soft and nurturing. She’d been an accounting student for a reason. Numbers made sense to her. So did machines and vehicles. Push the gas and vroom.
People? Not so much. They required different pressures and tacks to get them to do what you wanted.
Ahem. She meant they required different methods. She didn’t want to make people do what she said.
She’d never admit it anyway.
An empty glass of sun tea later, a gentle knock sounded at the bus door. Great. The time of reckoning had arrived.
Denver pushed to her feet. Better get it over with. In this case, delaying tactics helped no one.
Except the jackass probably already asleep in the back bunk. Useless man beast.
She opened the bus door to find Elle shivering in the rain. “Where’s your jacket?” Denver scolded, dragging her inside. “You’re freezing.”
“It’s July. It’s not supposed to be cold in July. I mean, what the hell?”
“Upstate New York,” Denver said sagely. “They get four seasons all in one day sometimes.”
“How do you know? Weren’t you born in LA?”
Denver grabbed Elle a towel from the bathroom, then tossed it to her. “Yeah. But you know, bus driver. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything.” Including things she’d never discuss with anyone.
Elle smiled faintly and sat on the couch as she dried her long ropes of wheat-blond hair. “You and Johnny.”
“You know your music, Crandall.” Denver sat down on the couch opposite Elle and gripped her hands between her knees. “I don’t want to drag this out. I suck at this kind of thing so I’ll just apologize right now that you have to hear this from me and not from one of the others. Well, from Jules or Lauren. I can’t imagine Molly would be any better at this than me.”
“It’s okay, Den. What did he do?” Before Denver could answer, Elle lowered the towel and scooted forward on the sofa. “Did he come on to you?”
“Oh, honey, I wish it had been that.”
Elle wrinkled her nose. “You do? You like Kurt?”
