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We ordered several burgers, and I got a strawberry milkshake. At the last minute I decided to order something for Cash in case he felt left out when we got back with food. It wasn’t exactly fine dining, but the burgers were delicious.
Wilder tucked into his double cheeseburger with the zeal of a man coming off a life raft. For a minute there was nothing but the sound of chewing, both of us mulling over what to do next.
“So, Veronica Mars, what’s your plan?” Wilder asked.
“You’re in?”
“Well, I was informed leaving town might look bad for me while we wait for a settlement arrangement. Plus I don’t want to go anywhere while Hank is still inside. Just because he’s alive now doesn’t mean he’s going to stay that way. You know how charming he can be.”
“Honestly, jail is probably the safest place for him right now.”
We exited town onto the highway, making the short jaunt back to the motel just past the city limits. Wilder’s chewing slowed, and he became thoughtful. “We can’t dive into this without a plan. That didn’t go swimmingly for us last time.”
“I have no intention of us getting arrested again, if that’s what you’re asking. Nothing illegal.”
Wilder gave a humorless laugh. “The way I see it, we don’t need to do anything illegal to get arrested. That trespassing charge was bullshit.”
“The assault charge wasn’t.”
“Meh.” He shrugged. “I barely scratched the guy. He’s pitching a fit because he figured out we’re wolves, and now he’s pissing his pants because he thinks he’s going to turn furry at the next full moon. You know how it goes.”
“That wouldn’t even make sense if the change did work that way. You punched him, you didn’t bite him.”
“If I could explain the inner workings of the redneck mind to you, sweetheart, I would. But thankfully I have never plumbed those depths.”
“Don’t call me sweetheart.” I parked in front of the motel. I’d arranged with Callum to have a room booked for Wilder next to mine and Cash’s. Now I was regretting the proximity.
“All right, Princess.”
I wanted to scold him, but that particular nickname didn’t bother me.
“Your boyfriend is sort of the jealous type, is he?” He got out of the car before I could answer, and I was forced to scuttle out the driver’s door to make my response heard.
“No, but I don’t think any guy is going to be happy when he finds out his girlfriend got arrested with another man.”
Wilder tossed the bag of burgers to me and grinned. “Probably ’cause he knows we were having more fun than if you had stayed home with him to watch C-SPAN or something. What do lawyers do for fun anyway? Chess? Backgammon? Dog shows?”
I rolled my eyes, and we walked towards the strip of concrete in front of the motel doors. Each room had a wooden chair near its door, and a few ashtrays were scattered around to compel smokers not to break the no-smoking rule. Judging by the burn marks in our carpet, I was guessing it didn’t work all that often.
“He’s trying to get your brother out of jail. Could you at least pretend to play nice? You guys don’t need to be best friends, but things would go a lot more smoothly if you weren’t a dick to him.”
“I can’t help it.” He popped a fry in his mouth and chewed it slowly before speaking again. “I don’t trust a man who has a girl like you and doesn’t get jealous. It means he doesn’t appreciate what he stands to lose.”
Wilder didn’t bother to wait for me to say anything, which wa
s good because I couldn’t say anything. He grabbed his own room key out of my hand, gave a nod and walked to his door. Before he popped inside he called back, “Come see me. We’ll work out what to do next.”
God, I hoped he was talking about clearing his brother’s name.
Chapter Twenty-One
Wet hair brushed my cheek, and I batted it away, curling my arm over my face so I could ignore the interruption to my sleep.
Warm droplets splattered on my arm, followed by the cold brush of fingers over my shoulder and down to my elbow. Every inch the fingers traversed, goose bumps rose to follow.
Wake up. Wake up. Wakeupwakeupwakeup. The nagging voice of reason in my head was screaming at me. Something was wrong, very wrong, and yet my sleep-addled brain wanted nothing to do with logic.
“Dry off in the bathroom, Cash.” I squished my face into the pillow. Why was he coming in here and dripping all over me post-shower, anyway? Rude.
