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“Is that your final answer?”
“Yes. No. Fuck, I don’t know.” He yanked at the side of his hair. “Fine. Yes, that’s my final answer.”
“Errr.” I made the same obnoxious buzzing sound he had. “I wasn’t in a fucking sorority, Miles. Come on.”
“I could almost picture you in a sweater set with a ribbon in your hair.” He threw out his arms. “How have you never touched a dead body?”
“I just…haven’t. I’ve seen plenty, strangers and loved ones, but I’ve never felt the urge to touch one.”
My sister’s still form flashed in a memory that never went too far from the front of my mind, but I tucked it away for now. This wasn’t the time to think about Quinn.
“Huh.” He took his seat again. “See how this is more fun than a regular conversation?”
I laughed at that. “Sure. Should we go another round?”
“Absolutely. I’m going to win this time.” He rubbed his hands together. “I had a crush on my brother’s fiancée in high school, my favorite vegetable is green beans, I want to live in Denver forever.”
“Hmmm…” I tapped my chin. “Green beans is true. I’m not sure about the other two. Denver is nice and all, but I don’t know anyone passionate enough about this city to want to live here forever. Now, if you’d said Colorado as a whole, I might believe you. On the other hand, having a crush on your brother’s fiancée…that’s outrageous enough to be true.”
“You’re getting better at this. She wasn’t his fiancée in high school, by the way.”
I snorted. “I should hope not. Do you still…?”
He wrinkled his nose. “No. She’s like my sister now. That would be gross.”
“Is it my turn?”
“Yep. Go for it, Cupcake.”
“Okay, here we go. My mother grew up in a commune of traveling musicians slash grifters called the Traveling Roses, my middle name is Edna, and I’ve always wanted to try living in another state.”
“Whoa.” His eyes flared. “The last one is truth. But the first two? This is tough. On the one hand, if your middle name is Edna, that means your initials are DED, and I would hope your parents are smart enough not to lay that on you, given…you know, their profession. On the other, I can’t picture Whitney Mae as a grifter. She’s too proper.”
I stacked my hands in my lap, smug. “The middle name is the lie.”
He clapped his hands. “I knew it.”
“My middle name is actually Ethel.”
That took the wind from his sails. “So, your initials are DED?”
“Yep. It never occurred to my parents that would pose a problem.”
“Kids were assholes?”
“Of course they were.”
He expelled a puff of breath and muttered, “Of course they were.” Then he cocked his head. “All right. The Traveling Roses? For real?”
“For real. That’s how my parents met, actually. My mama was performing at the Colorado State Fair with some of her cousins. My dad took one look at her and asked her to stay. She’d been looking for an excuse to get off the circuit, so she agreed. One of her other cousins is sort of a famous rock star.”
He clicked his fingers. “I knew I’d heard of them before. I read an article…okay, a headline. Callum Rose from The Seasons Change is your relative?”
“Very distant, and it’s not like I’ve ever met him.”
He shook his head. “You keep getting more interesting, Daisy-daze.”
“It’s your turn.” I nudged his leg with my toe. “Go on.”
