“Small amounts that you won’t even know about or feel.”
“Mmm. I feel you dragging on me now,” she said.
Whooo, Jess was sensitive to her powers now. Tawk bit back a smile and dropped his gaze to hide it.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
He cleared his throat and dared a look up at her. “I think you could take all of Sister’s Edge now.”
She frowned, and then slowly, her eyes softened, and a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “I suppose I probably could.” Her shoulders shrugged up to her ears with her deep inhalation. “I want to think about it.”
“Think about me staying in Darby?” he asked, needing clarity.
“Yes. If it’s a no, you’ll have to leave and find another witch to feed the dragon. If it’s a yes, you’ll have to understand your dragon will be put to sleep as long as you are within Cold Foot territory lines.”
“Put to sleep by you?” he asked, again, wanting clarity as to what he was agreeing to.
“Yes.”
He nodded thoughtfully and glanced back to find Tammy leaning against the corner of her house. She’d put her purse down and taken off her zip hoodie before she’d come back outside. He could see the gooseflesh on her crossed arms from here. “Why are you wearing that?” he asked in a harsher tone than he’d intended.
“I’ll wear whatever I want.”
“Hey,” Wreck snapped at him. “You’re losing points.”
“She’s cold,” Tawk gritted out. “Look, you can see she’s cold. Do you know her?” he asked Jess.
“Yes.”
“Well, make her dress warmer.”
Jess snorted. “The fact that you think anyone can make Tammy Ray do anything is hilarious. You know zero facts about women still I see.”
Tawk cast another glance back at Tammy Ray, but before he could say anything else, Wreck asked, “What hotel are you staying in?”
“The Rusty Otter.”
“Oh, the new one. How are the bathtubs there?” A familiar man asked from where he popped his head out of the bed of Wreck’s truck.
“Cash!” Wreck blurted, twisting around to look at him through the open window. “How long have you been back there?”
“Um, since the moment you invited Kade and Jess to come on an adventure and not me, all of your best friend.”
“You’re not my best friend,” Jess said.
“Or mine,” Wreck muttered, but Kade said, “He’s probably my best friend.”
“See!” Cash said, standing in the back of the truck, pointing to where Kade was sitting at the passenger’s side. “I have a right to be here. Bathtubs. Are they jetted? I’m thinking about taking my lady on an overnight fuck-fest in town, and the Rusty Otter is an option.”
“Why would you call it a fuck-fest?” Jess asked, looking disgusted as she sat twisted in her seat, hanging out the window to look at Cash. “And why on earth would you vacation ten miles away from your house? Take her somewhere tropical.”
“Missoula?” Cash asked.
“No!” Jess and Wreck blurted out together.
“We’re going to go now,” Wreck gritted out to Tawk. “I’ll find you at the hotel with a decision, but please understand, the answer is probably no.”
Tawk pursed his lips and nodded, then backed farther away from the truck as Wreck griped at Cash and told him to, “Get in the damn truck before you freeze your balls off.”
