“I’m always on your side.” Her gaze remained on Stone. “Sebastian had a difficult and exhausting day, physically and emotionally. He’s experiencing the residual effects of a triggering event, and—”
“Molly!”
“I see.” Stone’s eyes narrowed. “If you think coming over is a bad idea, we could always postpone.”
“Not a chance.” Molly gave Stone a pert shake of her head. “Dinner’s going to be great. Just give Bast a few minutes to decompress, and we’ll head on over.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I’m right here,” I mentioned.
“I’m sure. Relaxing with your animals is exactly what he needs.”
“Listening to you guys talk like I’m not standing right here isn't very helpful, though.”
“I guess I can understand that.” He smiled warmly. “All right. I’ll see you then.”
“That washilarious.” On the way to the RV, Molly didn’t seem sure if my humiliation was complete.
“It was not. Hesniffedme. My God. I will never live down my vomit breath. Every time he sees me now, that’s the first thing he’s going to think of. I’ll be the boy with the gross vomit breath.”
“Meh,”she offered lightly.
“Easy for you to say.”
“You know,” she said thoughtfully, “he wasn’t wearing a ring.”
I glanced away. “Some guys don’t.”
“He barely noticed me, and I lookfabulous.”
“That was reallyweird, huh?”
“It was weird, wasn’t it?” With Molly my sarcasm often went unnoticed. “Stone’s focus was all on you. And he seemed very worried.”
“Because we’re friends, Molly.”
“Maybe,” she reasoned. “And maybe he’s interested in you and isn’t ready.”
“As if. The man’s probably forty years old. Attraction may be individual, but it’s like porn. People know what it is when they see it.”
“Not everyone, Bast.” She gave me one of her patented all-knowing death glares. “Some people only know it when theyfeelit.”
Chapter Nine
Stone
Morriganand I spent a while looking at the delivery service site, debating what to order. The night before, the food had been every bit as good as if we’d gone to the restaurant to eat.
There were some foods, however, that didn’t travel well.
I was certain Molly and Sebastian had taken that into account when ordering for us the night before, and I didn’t want to present Sebastian and Molly with soggy pizza in return. I left why it mattered to me so much as a question for another day. Except the reason was going to hunt me down and go for the kill shot anyway.
I hadleapedonthe contract extension, just as I’d scrambled to offer Bast and Molly dinner.
That morning I felt depressed about leaving, despite wanting to meet Artemis. I packed in a black mood. Morrigan came to comfort me more than once while I worked—until the reasons seemed obvious, even to me.
I’d been taking a final piss before leaving when I heard Deacon’s golf cart whir to a stop outside the RV. He’d been excited, talking about an online meeting he’d been in the night before so fast I hardly had a chance to catch up.
