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“Hello?”
“Just so you know it’s not too late,” said Kade from the other end of the line. “If you’re still hungry, meet us down at the diner.”
I sat up straighter in my chair. My stomach croaked again hopefully.
“Really?”
“Yup.”
“Right now?”
Kade laughed gruffly, like he had in the bucket loader. “Sure,” he said. “Unless you’re looking to pencil us in for next week, or—”
“No, no,” I cut him off. “Now happens to be fantastic.”
“Good. You know the place on Hammond?”
“The Lake Rock?”
“That’s the one,” he answered. “Be there in twenty. We’ll save you a spot.”
Twenty-Three
BROCK
I knew immediately that something was wrong. It was in the way she carried herself, the way she walked. The heaviness in her shoulders, and the faint sigh that escaped her lips as she slid into the booth beside us.
“What is it?”
Sloane’s coffee-brown eyes shifted to me. It was only for a moment though, before she looked down at the table, dejectedly.
“Shit,” Kade swore. “We fucked up didn’t we?”
Her head snapped back up as her eyes went wide. “Oh no!” she countered. “Not at all! It’s nothing you guys did.” She took a long, deep breath. “Actually you’re the one good thing going on in my life right now.”
“Threegood things,” Valerio smiled.
“Four if you count your upcoming show,” I chimed in, hoping to cheer her up.
“Five if you count Christmas,” said Kade.
The waiter showed up before she could answer. He took our orders, set us up with coffees, and disappeared in less than a minute.
“This place sure is efficient,” Sloane smiled weakly. “The last time I came here—”
“Out with it.”
She stopped mid sentence, then glanced to the others for help. Neither one of them offered her an out.
“Fine,” Sloane sighed. “I’m having trouble… at home.”
“Athome?”
“With Drake,” she rolled her eyes.
I felt my heart sink, followed by a wave of guilt that made my shoulders slump. But Sloane saw that, too.
“I’m not back with him or anything!” she said quickly. “Is that what you thought?”
