Page 114 of While You Were Trending

He sticks his finger in my ear, then sniffs it. “Yep. Chocolate. You shower since you left that fancy kitchen? Fucking athletes.”

I head to the bathroom and peer in the mirror, where I can’t see any chocolate in my ears, then look back out at him.

He smirks. “Too easy, man. Let’s go.”

I change into the same clothes I wore for the last round of harvest, and then we’re off, headed to the fields as the sun dips in the sky.

I’m jittery as fuck, trying to be subtle about looking around to see if Ginny’s joining us for harvest.

“You high?” Shade asks me as he sets up.

“No.”

“Drunk?”

“No.”

“What’s with…” He gestures to me like my brother would, like he’s sayingwhat the fuck’s wrong with you then?

“Long day,” I reply.

“If you say so.” He lifts his camera and pans across the fields.

“Hey, Declan,” Cricket calls. “Hope you’re ready to get your booty kicked in the picking contest tonight.”

“Right back at you,” I call back.

“I helped the neighbors with their fields. I’mwaybetter now.”

She does, in fact, kick my ass when it comes to total weight picked.

So do Dori, Mabel, Olivia, and Samantha.

“Why doesn’t Pip pick?” I ask Mabel at the end of our shift as we trail the trucks to the fermentation building.

Iwantto askhow’s Ginny?, but I know better.

“She needs her beauty rest,” Mabel says. “Where’s your dog?”

“Also getting her beauty rest.”

Mabel flashes an unexpected smile as she adjusts her glasses. “Flow doesn’t need beauty rest. She’d be gorgeous no matter what.”

“She’s afraid of the dark.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Aren’t dogs supposed to see well in the dark?”

“That’s probably why she’s afraid of it.”

She doesn’t ask if Flow can stop by the house.

I don’t offer.

She glances behind us.