AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Are you sure you’re from Texas?” Amber puckered her lips out, frowning.
“Oregon is winning me over.” I stirred my daiquiri. “We went on the tour bus. Oh, and we played and lost a tournament. Good times.”
The guys got into a discussion of how the tournament worked. Amber cocked her head at me toward the restrooms. I nodded and stood up from the table. “Be back in a few, guys,” Amber said.
We walked to the other side of the big outdoor veranda styled after a Roman plaza with a stone building in the middle. Amber pulled me to a stop in front of the bathroom entrance.
“Okay,” she said, squinting. “I’m freaking out a little.” She fanned her face.
I sat on a low bench and patted the space next to me. The early morning was catching up to me. Amber sank down and pulled out a compact.
“What is it?” I rested against the wall. “You’re worried about what happens after the vacation ends?”
“Yes.” She snapped her compact closed. “I’m, like, walkingon eggshells a bit—are we a couple now? Are we dating? Can we make plans yet?”
“Have you found out if he lives in Eugene?”
“He does. Just moved there for a teaching job. He’s also a writer.”
“Oh dear. A writer. Can you live with finding a sexy heroine, who’s an international spy for the CIA, modeled after yourself? Worst of all, he’ll steal your jokes.”
“Huh? I think he writes poetry.”
“That’s worse.”
“Would you be serious? Give me some of that freaky calm—please. I really like him. Too much. His family was amazing and I’m, like, getting my hopes up way too high.”
“Okay. Repeat after me.”
“What?”
“I’m hot shit.”
“I’m hot shit.”
I jabbed her in the shoulder. “No. Say it like you mean it. I’m hot shit.”
“I am hot shit.” She sat up straighter. “And I’m going to make way more money than him.” She snorted and put a hand up in front of her face. “That sounded bad, didn’t it?”
“No. It’s absolutely true. You’re hot shit.”
She blew out a breath. “Thanks.”
“That’ll be eighty-nine dollars and ninety-five cents.”
“That’s specific.” She eyed me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Come on, talky talky.”
I adjusted the collar of my dress. “Hank is a little intense. He wants me to give up my sex-addicted ways and be a good girlfriend, two thousand miles away. And he wants me to move again because that asshole stalker knows what town I’m in.”
“Well, that would be smart.”
I stood up. “I might not be that smart. But I will be prepared.”
After using the restrooms, we made our way back to the table. Mario’s face, as he watched Amber settle in next to him, seemed happy. I glanced at Hank. He was staring out at the pools in the distance, frowning.
