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“Of course,” I mimic him and then let out a long pent-up breath of abject relief—or crushing disappointment, I’m not sure which. Maybe both.
“It’s bad luck to change partners mid-job. I can’t have you messing with my mojo.”
His words sting. I’m just another tool he intends to use on his quest to become infamous.
“So what’s it going to be, Eli?” he challenges me. “Am I walking, or do we save the world together?”
He already knows he won. I can’t walk away from what he’s promising.And though I’d never admit it, I don’t want to. I refuse to make a formal acknowledgment of his victory. “It better be a damn good plan.”
“It’s mine,” he says with a cocky grin. “Of course, it’s good.”
He turns away from me, and for the first time since I announced I was leaving, I remember that there are other people in the room besides Jeb and me. Cash, Johnny, and Daisy are looking at us, mouths open, obviously not sure what to think of what just transpired.
Johnny is the first to speak, “I’m not sold on this whole brilliant con Jeb’s running,”`He gives Jeb a mistrustful glare, “but since it means Eli’s staying, I guess I’ll give it a listen.”
Jeb returns Johnny’s glare and magnifies it up by ten. “Listen and learn from your betters, son.”
Johnny starts to get up from the couch, but Cash grabs him by the shirt and pulls him back. Once he has his boyfriend restrained, he points to Jeb. “You are talking a pretty big game, Jeb. I know you’re good, but are you sure you can back up all that you're promising?”
Jeb gives Cash a flirty smile. “If this were the old days, I’d remind you how good I am at delivering what I promise.”
My chest suddenly feels tight at Jeb’s little reminder that he and Cash used to be lovers before Johnny came back into his life. I know Jeb loves to bring it up to rile Johnny up, but it makes me wonder if Jeb wishes he and Cash were still more than just members of the same crew.
Johnny flips Jeb off, which earns a satisfied chuckle from him. He really does enjoy pissing Johnny off.
Johnny shrugs unconcernedly, though his green eyes give away his annoyance. “If these were the old days, Cash would still be pining after me while having boring sex with any willing skag who crossed his path to pass the time.” He wraps his hands possessively around Cash. “Lucky for him, I came back and saved him from all that.”
The dangerous spark, that I know means big trouble, comes into Jeb’s eyes. He takes a small step forward. “Boring? Is that what Cash told you so you didn’t—”
“Don’t make me blast the siren again,” I threaten, interrupting Jeb. Both Jeb and Johnny are stubborn assholes who could try to win points off each other all day. We don’t have time for that. Jeb needs to reveal this allegedly foolproof plan of his, and I don’t want to hear any more details about Cash and Jeb’s past sex life.
Daisy agrees. “Jeb, stop razzing Johnny. It’s rude to keep reminding him that you know what Cash’s ‘O-face’ looks like. Besides,” she says, looking directly at me, “We all know it’s not Cash you’re interested in these days.”
I’m not sure what Daisy means by that, but she doesn’t offer more explanation.
“So cut the shit and hurry the fuck up and tell us this genius plan so we can get to the important stuff that needs to be talked about.” Daisy leans in toward Jeb like they are about to share a secret, but her voice is as loud as ever. “Like those handcuffs you mentioned earlier?”
“Yeah, asshole,” Johnny challenges. “Spill your plan.”
“Okay. Okay.” A big smile takes over Jeb’s face. “My plan can be boiled down to two words,” he pauses a moment for the anticipation to build. “Road trip.”
“Road trip?” I repeat the nonsensical words.
Cash’s eyebrow arches. “How exactly are you taking down a billionaire-funded hate group with a road trip?”
“Well, it’s not just me, obviously.” Jeb’s gaze shoots to me. “I need my partner.”
I push down the hot, shimmying feeling in my stomach at his tone.
“And again—what in the exact fuck is your plan here?” Johnny demands.
“I already set it in motion yesterday,” Jeb answers, ignoring Johnny’s ire. “When I got up, and a did a pretty spot-on impression of Cash’s dad and spouted a bunch of bullshit about robbing the credit union to start a revolution.”
“That’s why you wanted me to save that video footage,” I say, beginning to see his plan emerging.
“Yep.” He points to himself. “Since my blond hair and blue eyes fit their fucked up profile, I figured I might as well pose as one of them and frame the bastards.”
“You want to keep pulling jobs and blaming them?” Daisy asks.
