Page 54 of Reckless Devotion

What I don’t expect, however, are the words that come out of her mouth next. “I let Miles put his naked balls on your couch!”

“Mother fucker!”

***

“It’s cold!” Mr. Clay grouches from the back seat.

“Cold? It’s eighty-five degrees!” Pepper fumes, switching the AC up a notch.

His cat, which he insisted on bringing, yowls from the wicker basket at his feet, and I try to tune them all out, focusing on merging into a different lane on the Montauk Highway. Driving three hours together now seems like more of a crazy idea than before, but somehow I didn’t think it was likely we would be able to coax our octogenarian ray of sunshine into a helicopter.

Terrence grumbles under his breath, something that sounds suspiciously like, “report” and “building management.”

Pepper throws her hands up and scoffs before reaching down to unclip her belt. The soft repetitivedingthat alerts me to a passenger freeballing around in the front seat is added into the fray as she spins, ending up on her knees with her finger pointed directly at Mr. Clay’s face.

“No you won’t! And do you want to know why?” I’m looking at the road while she speaks, but a pointed pause follows and I can just imagine her tilting one shaped brow.

“Why?” he shoots back hotly.

“That.”I risk a quick glance sideways and see her pointing at the wicker basket, which coincidentally lets another long yowling noise out. “Pets are not allowed in our building, so I could have you thrown out quicker than you can saytosh!”

I rest my elbow on the side of the rental SUV, and subtly cover my smile with my hand. Threatening an eighty-year-old man? Certifiable behavior, even if Mr. Clay truly is a grouch.

“So you’re going to behave yourself, and be nice to us for once in your life. Understood?”

Sunny starts humming along quietly with a melody I faintly recognize, completely oblivious to the brawl unfolding around her due to her earphones.

“Fine!”Mr. Clay concedes reluctantly.

“I HOPE YOU SETTLE DOWN, I HOPE YOU MARRY RICH!”Sunny belts out loudly with no warning, stunning Pepper into welcome silence. The seatbelt alarm still chimes softly in the background.

“Do you know what?” I say aloud, aware that no one is listening. “That is a fantastic idea.” I fiddle with the buttons on the center console, keeping one eye on the busy summertime traffic as I do.

“I HOPE YOU’RE SCARED OF ONLY ORDINARY SHIZ!”Sunny follows on, completely out of time with the music that now plays through the vehicle’s surround sound.

Pepper huffs and spins back around in her seat, grabbing for her seatbelt. I flick the volume dial up a good few notches, so that Noah Kahan vibrates the speakers.

“You know this one?” I yell over the music at Pepper, and catch sight of Mr. Clay subtly turning his hearing aids off at the switch in the rearview mirror.

“Yeah!” Sunny shouts back, clearly having noticed the music being turned on and unplugged her headphones.

Pepper makes a big show of rolling her eyes, sliding the seatbelt clasp back into place and settling back down into her seat while we build up to the chorus.

“Ready, Sunny?” I place both hands at the steering wheel at ten and two, preparing to use them to anchor myself in place.

“Heck yeah!”

“I HOPE YOU SETTLE DOWN, I HOPE YOU MARRY RICH,”Sunny and I bellow in unison, and if I wasn’t watching out for it, I might have missed the small smile Pepper tries to hide in her fist as she looks out of the passenger window.

Chapter 21

Sunny:You like him.

Pepper:No, I don’t.

Sunny:You so do.

Pepper:I like puppies, ice cream, and sunbathing. Not Chase Walker.