Page 161 of Malice and Surrender
“I swear to god….” I started and caught the slight lift of the corner of his mouth. “You’re screwing with me right now, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I like to pay attention to your jokes. I’m confident that soon I will be able to say sarcastic things and be funny, too,” he smiled. “You’re a really good teacher, and I enjoy watching you.” Smiling, he walked away and left me staring after him. He always managed to answer a question and leave you wanting to ask a million more.
Wilder opened Roach’s backdoor, tossed in the massive bag, and then proceeded to get into the front passenger seat, leaving me standing outside.
“Hey Roach, I’m Wilder,” I heard him say as he closed the door.
What the fuck? Watching me? What the hell did that mean? And now I was going to wonder if he was playing me or if he was truly that fucking awkward. The possibility of him messing with me this entire time was terrifying, and now I didn’t know which version of Wilder worried me more. Who the fuck was I kidding? They both scared the fuck out of me, and he just took my fucking seat. Asshole.
Roach looked back at me as I climbed into the back and smirked. “Shut the fuck up. I don’t want to hear it,” I grumbled as I crossed my arms.
“Are you okay back there, sweetheart?” I glared daggers at Roach in the rearview mirror. This was humiliating.
Wilder turned in the seat to look at me. “Do you like being called sweetheart?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Roach and I answered together, and Roach laughed as I glared. I shouldn’t have warned him about Wilder. That gave him too much time to prepare for this moment.
“Where are we heading first?” Roach put the truck into gear and pulled out of the driveway.
“The gas station where we saw Dave. I’m hoping Wilder here has some tricks in his bag to help us get the outside camera footage from that day. I want to see if Dave got into a car.”
“You think that will help?” Roach asked.
“It’s a start. Jim’s phone had nothing. It was like he’d already wiped it clean or got a new one before I got to him, and the moment I answered that call, Dave disconnected his phone. Smarter than he looks.”
“Your girl is obsessed with bunny slippers,” Wilder interjected, and Roach and I both looked at him.
“Who, Raine?” I hadn’t seen any in her room.
“No, his girl. She has them in every color.” I bit back my laugh at the horrified and then enraged look on Roach’s face.
“How the fuck do you know what slippers she likes?” Roach’s voice was threatening, but the glare he gave Wilder was worse. Before Wilder could say something else that would end up with Roach crashing the truck, I interjected.
“Chase asked him to keep watch over the sorority house and all those that live there to keep them safe,” I said, and Roach’s shoulders relaxed.
“Yes, I watch them sleep at night. She tends to wear zoo animal pants and a cutoff top to bed or sometimes no top.”
Roach’s head whipped around again, the corner of his lip pulling up in a snarl as I pinched the bridge of my nose. This was going to be a long fucking day, and one of us may end up buried yet.
Jace
Raine looked more nervous than I had been for my first concert.
The flight to Nashville was only two and a half hours. Raine was fine flying and amazed by all the features of the jet. Her enthusiasm reminded me why I loved doing this for a living and what a gift it was to sing.
The nervousness started when we passed the lines of people outside the stadium waiting to get in. They screamed and jumped around when the limo passed. Waving, they held up signs of love and marriage. I was used to the fanfare, but Raine looked like she was ready to jump out of the car and say forget it as a more rambunctious group broke the line of guards running over to the limo as we parked. They banged on the glass and tried to peer inside. Raine jumped in my lap as she stared wide-eyed at the overly eager faces.
Since then, she’d been nothing but a ball of nervous energy threatening to make me the same way.
“Peaches?” Raine spun around to face me as Sherry, the hairdresser, put the final touches on my hair. “Sit the fuck down, or I’m going to find something to tie you down with.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
My eyes locked with hers in the mirror. The bright blue color looked fiery as she narrowed them to glare at me.
