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“Oh, hey, H,” Owen says. “I didn’t realize you were out here.”
I hold up the cigarette. “Laiken doesn’t want me smoking in the house.”
He snickers. “You two shacking up now?”
“Nah,” I shake my head. “Not yet, anyway. I don’t know. I’ll get to that eventually, I’m sure.”
His eyes widen in both disbelief and amazement. “That’s crazy. I never thought I’d see the day thatyousettle down.”
“Yeah, well,” I glance inside to see Laiken laughing at something Mali said. “She’s amazing.”
“Damn,” he breathes. “Good for you. Seriously. I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks.” I take another hit of my cigarette. “Hey, I noticed you were talking to Monty earlier. I didn’t know you two knew each other.”
His brows furrow until they raise in realization. “Oh, Rollins? Yeah, we’ve hung out at Isaac’s a few times.”
“Isaac’s?” Nowthatis interesting.
He nods. “Yeah. Those two are pretty close. Grew up in the same social class and all that. I think they met at boarding school.”
Funny, throughout all the time Monty was helping us with Cam’s case, he never once mentioned that he even knew Isaac—let alone used to be friends with him. And something tells me it’s not because it slipped his mind.
“Wow. Guess you learn something new every day.”
Owen hums just as Lucas comes out with Aiden. The three of them rode here together. Aiden was supposed to be their DD, but that was shot to shit as he funneled three beers. So, Lucas switched to water.
“Ready?” Lucas asks Owen.
“Yeah.” He turns to me. “I’ll see you later, H.”
I raise my hand for a second in a half-assed wave to all three of them, but my mind is laser focused on Monty. I feel like everything with him is a trick. An illusion. He knows how to make people believe he’s got nothing up his sleeve, but I see right through him.
There’s something he’s hiding, and I’m going to figure it out.
Letthe record state that Mali is making a liar out of me. I was a completely unwilling participant. Okay, that’s a lie, too. I didn’t exactly object when she told Hayes and Cam that we had to go to her job to take care of a massive issue. But come on. There’s only so long we can help them work on that bar before we start to lose our minds.
The only thing that makes it all worth it is seeing how happy it makes Hayes. Sometimes, while we’re hanging out at his house, he gets lost in talking about all the ideas he has. Seeing him talk about something with that much passion makes me smile. Because he deserves all the best things.
And I deserve to take a break from paint, spackle, and all things renovations.
“This one,” Mali says, holding up what’s supposed to be lingerie but really just looks like scraps of lace fabric strung together.
I shake my head. “Absolutely not.”
“You would look so hot!”
My arms cross in front of my chest. “Are you saying I don’t look hot otherwise?”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Oh, yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying. You’re a complete toad. It’s a wonder you scored one of the hottest guys in town.”
“Great!” I throw my hands in the air. “Now you’re calling my boyfriend hot, too. Some best friend you are.”
The look she gives me tells me she’s totally over my shit right now, but all I can do is laugh. After I’ve spent the last hour listening to her try to talk me into wearing “something slutty” as she put it, she can take a little payback.
“I hate you so much,” she tells me.
But I smile sweetly back at her. “That’s so cute. You even lie to yourself.”
