Page 54 of Golden Ruin

“We’ll be fine,” I cut in with a smile. “Promise.”

He holds my gaze for longer than what feels safe, and I’m grateful when he finally looks away. But it’s a short break because we lock eyes again as his head tilts.

“Wait a damn minute. The deal’s been all over IG. How the hell did you not know?”

I look away, praying Dusty comes back in as a diversion.

“Wow…” Sterling says, laughing softly. “You don’t fucking follow me.”

“Ok, wait. I–”

“Un-fucking-believable,” he cuts in.

“I mean, it’s not like you follow me.”

He gives me a look. “You sure about that?”

The next second, his phone’s in hand, and he pulls up my account before aiming his screen toward me. And there it is, proof that he does in fact follow me.

Shit.

“Ready to take that accusation back?”

I roll my eyes, holding in a smile as I grab my phone next. He’s shaking his head disapprovingly as I follow him back, then show him my screen.

“There, now I won’t miss a single update. Happy?”

“Honestly? No. Feels like a pity-follow,” he jokes, and I snort a laugh.

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Nah, it’s all good. Now I know where we stand.”

“Whatever.”

The second I set my phone on the table, it sounds off with a text. I glance down at it, rolling my eyes right after.

“Everything good?” He pops his last bite of food into his mouth after asking.

“Benny,” I sigh. “He and Mom have been hounding me all week. They want me to come to Sunday dinner.”

“But… Amelia will be there,” he says.

I nod. “Exactly.”

After a brief pause, his suggestion shocks me. “You should go.”

“You sound like Dez,” I say with a laugh. “I’ll think about it.”

I get the feeling he’s about to push, and Amelia’s the last person I want to talk about right now, so the second I finish chewing, I shift the conversation.

“Dusty makes the best burgers. Hands down.”

“Agreed. But do you remember the food truck downtown that we used to hit up at like two in the morning?”

“Oh, my God. It was terrible. Everything was terrible,” I clarify, and he laughs, because that was not an exaggeration.

“I know we only went when we were high, but I still don’t know why we put ourselves through that. There had to be better options.”