Page 101 of Fallen Flame

The corner of his mouth had lifted, though, and that tiny movement had warmed something low in my stomach before Alice started yelling about hiding the box.

It had become a habit without me noticing. Every room I walked into, every conversation I had, some part of me always knew where Oliver was.

If he was close, I felt it. If he left, I noticed. If he laughed, even from across the clubhouse, my attention found him before I could stop it.

It should have embarrassed me. Instead, I liked it.

Alice marched into the room and pointed the wooden spoon at the game. “We need teams.”

“No teams,” Bell said. “That makes it too easy for people to blame someone else for their terrible answers.”

“That’s half the fun,” Alice argued.

Wrecker appeared in the garage doorway as if he’d sensed her trying to organize something without his permission. His gaze moved from Alice to the box on the coffee table, then back to Alice. “No.”

Alice smiled brightly. “Nobody asked you.”

“I’m not listening to you people play that again.”

“You don’t have to listen.”

“You scream every card,” he retorted.

Alice put her hands on her hips. “Because some of us know how to have fun.”

“The last time you played, Nickel nearly choked on a pretzel.”

Alice raised her hand. “That was his fault for chewing during my turn.”

Wrecker stared at her.

Alice stared back.

There was a full conversation happening between them without either one saying a word. It ended when Alice lifted the spoon and pointed it toward the garage. “Go play with your motorcycles.”

Wrecker’s jaw tightened. “This is my clubhouse.”

“And yet everyone likes it better when you’re in the garage.”

The room erupted.

Wrecker looked around at all of us, clearly assessing whether throwing every woman out of the clubhouse was worth the consequences.

It wasn’t.

He knew it.

We knew it.

He muttered something under his breath and turned around.

Alice cupped one hand beside her mouth. “Love you!”

Wrecker lifted one finger over his shoulder.

“See?” Alice looked pleased. “He loves me too.”

“That wasn’t the love finger,” Drew whispered.