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I’m kidding… but also kind of not.
He laughs and then beckons me with a motion of his head. “C’mon, let’s get some fuel in us. We’ve still got a long ride back.”
So caught up in the ride we’ve experienced so far, I’m not paying attention. I follow Mason across the cratered parking lot and toward the diner we’ve stopped at.
And then my heart freezes with shock the second we step inside.
Oh no.
“Welcome to the Sunny Side Up! My name’s Teysha and I’ll be your—”
“Excuse me. Restroom.”
I duck out of the way before Teysha can even finish her sentence and Mason can even realize what’s happened.
How could I lose sight of Boulder being a possible pitstop along the way? We had driven by on our waytoLenton!
Of coursethe Sunny Side Up would look enticing from the highway!
I escape into the permanently stinky, single-stall restroom and catch my breath. The best I can hope for is that Teysha sat Mason without questioning him about the woman he’s with. I’ll have to intercept her on my way out and pray she won’t make our past too obvious.
Luckily, I’m more than familiar with the layout of the diner. I creep from the restroom and peer over the partition wall that leads to the rest of the diner.
Mason’s sitting on his own in a booth looking over the menu. My gaze swings around the rest of the room. It takes only another second to spot Teysha—she’s at the kitchen window speaking to the cook on shift.
I slink over like a cat. “Pssst! Teysha!”
Her eyes bulge and her mouth falls open. “I knew that was you!”
“Shhhh! C’mere, quick. Don’t be too obvious.”
“Sydney, we’ve been so worried about you! Freddie and my auntie. You disappeared,” she says in her slow southern drawl.
“I’m looking into something. I need you to pretend not to know me.”
“That a biker you’re with? That Harley’s his, right?”
“Tey! Focus. This is a life or death situation. Pretend we’ve never met. Do you get it?”
A puzzled look glazes over her face, though she nods.
I head over to the booth where Mason’s seated. He doesn’t look up as I drop down onto the pleather cushions across from his, but he does speak.
“What were you saying to the waitress?”
“Oh. That. Toilet’s clogged in the restroom.”
“Sounds like you’ll have to take a leak in the bushes outside.”
I’m so on edge, I forget to laugh. His forest-green eyes flick up from the menu they’re studying, and my stomach knots in response.
“It’s a joke.”
“Right,” I say. “I know it was.”
“You good? You’re acting like you’re uncomfortable about something.”
“Sorry… just coming down from the high.”
