AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It wasthe knock on the door that woke me. I stirred, clambering off the bed to unlock it and peer at an amused Cin.
“Two hours until we land.”
I scowled. “Couldn’t you have woken us twenty minutes before?”
She shrugged. “We gotta talk strategy and she can’t do that without hot chocolate.”
My mouth rounded. “What?”
“Which part didn’t you understand?”
“The hot chocolate part.”
“She should have it instead of coffee.”
“Why?”
“Because coffee makes her aggressive and hot chocolate puts her in a better mood.” She tapped her nose. “My top tip is to always order for her because she never remembers.”
“How do you know any of this?”
“Worked a lot of jobs together. You pick up shit about people in close quarters, and I’ve always liked Star. We have an unusual friendship.”
I leaned an arm against the door, curious despite myself because in all our conversations, she’d never really spoken about Cin. She’d mentioned how she believed Savannah and Katina would always leave her at some point because she was toxic but…
“Why is your friendship unusual?”
“Because we accept the worst parts about each other with no judgment and always forgive one another.”
“Why?”
Her smile was wicked. “Because we don’t know who’ll shoot first if we don’t get along.”
“Literally?”
“Exactly. It’s the great leveler, isn’t it? We may not always be in each other’s pockets, and I might not have even known she’d been inducted into the Sparrows’ trafficking business, just as she doesn’t know where I spend most of my time, but we have each other’s backs. Always.”
“She needs friends like you.”
She punched me in the arm. “I know.”
Rubbing my bicep, I clipped, “Was that necessary? I was saying something nice!”
“Just associating that sentence with pain.”
“What?!”
“Negative reinforcement. Don’t ever try to tear our friendship apart or I’ll hurt you.” This time, her smile was sweet. “Wake her up with a smile, Conor. Do us both a favor.”
Gaping at her now-retreating back, I rubbed a hand over my face before I returned to the bed and clambered onto the mattress.
Belly flopping beside her, I mumbled, “Star, two hours until landing.”
She grumbled her own dissent but slowly started to wake up—soft stretches of her toes, little wriggles of her arms as if she had an ache in them.
The gentle movements intrigued me enough that I pried my eyes open and tipped my head to the side to watch her awaken.
That was when I remembered how she’d sang to me…
