Page 62 of Flirting with Trouble

I follow her to a spot at the far side of the exhibit, and she answers the call.

“Hi, you guys. Happy birthday, Gram.”

“Thank you, honey. Where are you? It’s so dark.”

“Sorry.” Victory turns toward the light of the tank. I can see her family on the screen. “Is this better?”

“Oh yes,” her grandmother says.

“Are those fish?” Noah asks.

“Hey, is that Wells behind you?” Flynn asks, and Sutton’s face appears beside him, looking as curious as the rest of them.

Victory looks over her shoulder at me, wide-eyed, like she’s been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

That stings, but I get it. We’re still new, and she’s not ready for them to know, so I play it cool and wave to her family. “Hi, guys. Happy birthday, Grandma Braden.”

“Thank you, dear,” her grandmother says.

Seth is grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Well, isn’t this a nice surprise,” her mother says. “What are you two up to today?”

“It looks like they’re at an aquarium,” Clay says. He’s sitting with his arm around Pepper, who waves to us.

“We are,” Victory says tensely. “Wells is opening another restaurant, and he’s thinking about putting in fish tanks. We’re just checking them out. Right, Seth?” She levels Seth with a serious look. “I hear you’re partnering with Wells. I’m sure you know about the fish tank idea.”

“I do? Oh, right, yes, we are,” Seth says. “Fish tanks in the walls. We’re tossing around lots of ideas.”

“You boys are partnering up for this?” her grandfather asks.

“We are,” Seth says.

“That’s great,” her father chimes in.

“I can’t wait to see this new union come together,” her mother says.

Something about the way she says it makes me think she’s talking about me and Victory, not the restaurant. “Me too,” I say. “I’m excited about our new endeavor.”

“I love the idea of fish tanks in the restaurant,” Pepper says.

“That would be cool at Rock Bottom, too,” Sutton adds.

Noah lifts his chin. “Vic, where are you? That doesn’t look like the New York aquarium.”

“Baltimore,” Victory admits tightly. “Wells took me to scout a few bands here last night, and we decided to stay over and check it out.”

Clay laughs. “I bet you did.”

Pepper nudges him, giving him a chiding look.

“You’re scouting talent again?” her father asks. “That’s my girl. Get back on that wagon and have some fun.”

“I’m sure she’s having a lot of fun with the Wells wagon,” Noah says, and her brothers laugh.

“Really, Noah?” Victory snaps. “You couldn’t just let that go? Wells and I are friends, okay? We like some of the same things, and I think it was really nice of him to find those bands for me to check out.”

“I bet you do,” Noah says.