Page 55 of Danger

She rubs my arms like she’s trying to warm them up. “Well, you’ve always been such a wonderful daughter. You have lots of time to figure your life out, to work your days away. I’d at least relax tonight and enjoy that eye candy over there.” She nods, none too subtly, at the Stetson brothers.

“Mama, stop,” I say.

She grins, sly. “I’m just saying. That’s what these events are for. You should at least share a piece of pie with someone.” She gives my cheek another pat then scoots back to her spot at the table, where Daddy is tragically singing a song too loud.

They pack up their car, and Mama gives me the secret “go, shoo” motion behind Daddy’s back. I watch her load up the Tupperware, wondering if I’ll ever be as sturdy as she is.

Sawyer appears at my elbow out of nowhere. She’s got on a cut-up band tee and cute jeans that I'm sure she bedazzled herself.

“You know your family is super adorable, right?” she says.

“They’re pretty great.”

She licks pie filling off one of the forks and says, “Well, now that all the children and parents are packing up, you better come on. The real party is starting now.” She throws away her fork and loops her arm through mine then steers me, weaving past coolers and discarded lawn chairs.

On the way to the band, she stops to fill two red Solo cups with something from a pitcher at a pop-up table. The liquid is crimson and reeks of rubbing alcohol and Jolly Ranchers.

“Drink up. Tonight you’re not serving, you just get to relax.” Sawyer says with a smile.

I take a sip. It’s disgusting, but cold. “I think my tongue is going numb,” I say.

She clinks her cup against mine. “That’s how you know it’s working.” She pulls me to the edge of the crowd, where the music is so loud it hurts. The band is playing “Sweet Home Alabama.”

She leans in. “So, are you gonna tell me the scoop on you and Danger, or am I gonna have to drag it outta you? Because I will, you know.”

I have a feeling she’s not lying.

“If I knew, I’d tell you.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Sure, okay. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Like he wants to eat you for dessert. The whole town can see it.”

I laugh, too loud. “Sawyer, I honestly have no clue what’s going on. He doesn’t exactly talk about feelings.”

Sawyer’s face does a thing, like she wants to be snarky but also wants to be honest. “Yeah, I’ve been there,” she says, draining half her cup. “You’re in the Stetson Fog.”

“The what?”

She grins. “Stetson Fog. They all have these battles they’re fighting—with the Kennedys, with themselves, with their own weird honor code. You get pulled in, and you can’t navigatewhere you’re going untilbam!You’re in love and in the middle of a shootout.”

“That sounds terrifying.”

She shrugs. “You’d survive. Danger would never let anything happen to you. I’m rooting for you guys. I hope he gets his happy ending, but Ireallyhope you get yours.”

“I think it might just be something casual. Not even a big deal, really.”

I said it out loud, but for some reason I don’t like the way it sounds.

“Uh huh, that’s what I thought too. Stetson Fog,” she says, pointing her drink at me.

I laugh. “Whatever you say. I’m gonna hit the bathroom before I pee myself.”

“Don’t fall in,” Sawyer calls after me.

I weave through the crowd, the noise level doubling every ten feet. The line for the Porta-Potties is brutal. I’m halfway there when I hear the voice.

“It’s you.”

I turn, and Rylee is glaring at me over the rim of her cup. Her makeup and hair is perfect, even in this heat.