Page 196 of While You Were Trending

“You’re a dick,” I mutter to him without any heat.

“You’re a bigger dick,” he taunts back.

“Just whip them out and compare so I can go back to sleep on this hard flat surface that’soh so wonderfulfor my back,” Lou says.

“Not before coffee, please,” Ginny says.

I lean around Zander to look at her, and it’s impossible not to smile at the sight of her falling into a yawn as she flops back under the covers.

“Coffee’s coming. Pouring it over right now,” I tell her.

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

“If you need ice time, I can be ready ten minutes after coffee.”

“I can skip it. And we can head back whenever you’re ready.”

“And leave us here?” Zander flops back to the bed dramatically, earning a low growl from Ginny as the mattress shakes. “I knew you didn’t love me.”

“We have to hit the road, asshole,” Lou says. “Show in Seattle tomorrow night? The way we get paid? Ring a bell?”

“If your crew didn’t abandon you because of feeling left out when you didn’t invite them to the party,” Ginny says.

“They hate partying with us,” Lou says.

“We’re tooboring,” Zander agrees.

“Ifsomeonewasn’t related to a professional athlete who was always talking about his skin routine and how important sleep is for it…”

“It’s so depressing, always thinking about taking care of our bodies and our skin.”

“And yet you still wear high heels,” I say.

“Says Mr.My Skates Smell Like Skunk Sex.”

“How do you know what skunk sex smells like?”

“Oh my goddess, Declan, did we suffer through the same camping trip the year I broke my leg demonstrating proper forest strut, or did we not?”

“You didn’t break your leg. You strained your quad.”

Zander heaves another exaggerated sigh. “Ginny, would you explain how life works to this man?”

“My brain doesn’t work that well before coffee,” she replies.

“Excellent deflection. Ten stars,” Lou says. “Zander, get your ass in gear. Crew’s loading up and theywillbe pissed if we don’t help.”

Zander cocks a hip. “Hello? Who’s still on the floor?”

“Not this.” Lou lifts two middle fingers.

Ginny snort-laughs.

Zander shifts into packing-up mode, which takes more than it should for a guy who arrived in the clothes on his back and carrying nothing at all in with him last night.

“Are you stealing my toothbrush?” I ask him.