“Peachy,” Declan says, his voice back to its normal rumble. He tosses the basket of wings to me across the table, slightly aggressively, like he's sayingthis isn't over.
“You have the last wing, Lane. You're gonna need the strength. You've got a little girl to keep impressing, and I hear the bar gets higher every day."
I paste on a smile, picking up the wing.
Across the bar, Mason and Beck are now deep in conversation with Silas and Theo at the pool table, laughter booming over the clack of balls.
The rest of the Snow Leopards have lost interest in my personal hell too, absorbed in their own drinks and stories with the town's newest guests.
Thank God.
Zoey studies my face for a second longer, then sighs, gathering her purse. “I should get going. Morgan’s with Avery, but I promised I wouldn’t be late.”
“I’ll walk you.” The words fly out of me, desperate for an escape route.
Declan’s eyes track me as I slide out of the booth. He doesn’t say a word as he hugs Zoey goodbye and squeezes my hand way too hard, bidding us farewell on the way through the door.
The night is crisp, stars punched through black velvet above Main Street. Zoey loops her arm through mine, her warmth seeping through my jacket.
“You’re acting weird,” she says softly after a few steps. “Did Declan say something to you?”
I glance back through the Lounge’s frosted window. Declan’s moved over to the bar now, leaning into a fresh drink Lars just served him.
“Nothing important.” I pull her in against my side. “I’m fine. Just… really happy to be with you and meeting your family.”
She stops walking, turning to face me under a glowing streetlamp. "Colt—”
I don’t let her finish. I lean down and kiss her, slow and deep, pouring every bit of the fear and want churning inside me into it.
When we break apart, her breath is warm against my lips.
“Well, now we're finally alone, I can tell you about tomorrow night,” she whispers, her voice suddenly a low, erotic promise that goes straight to my gut. “My brothers are taking Morgan to that new monster truck show before they fly out the next day.” Her lips brush my ear. “So I was thinking… that means we have the whole night, Mr. Lane… All. To. Ourselves.”
Heat flashes through me.
“Oh really?” I growl against her skin. “So that means you'll be at at my place, say… around seven o’clock then?”
She laughs and kisses me once more before heading toward her car.
I watch her go, my heart pounding.
But underneath the lust, Declan’s words echo.She doesn’t bounce back like she used to.
He’s right.
And the terrified, four-year-old inside me, the one who learned love is conditional, whispers the same damn thing.
Chapter 17
Zoey
I’m standing in the middle of my bedroom, one gold hoop dangling from my ear, the other…
"Where the hell is it?!"
God only knows.
My hair is half-dry, spiraling into chaotic waves because I forgot to bring the diffuser into the bathroom with me. The scent of my expensive body wash is mixing with the faint, ever-present smell of butter and sugar drifting up from the bakery below.