Page 78 of Puck

“Yo, Layla,” I said, and she glanced at me. “You kicked ass out there, by the way. Not too many people in this world I’d trust to have at my back, and you’re at the top of the list. “

She grinned at me. “Oh, go on,” she said, waving her hand. “No, really, keep going.”

I laughed. “And so humble, too.”

She shrugged. “I mean, you did see that shot I took in the Rover, lying across two people, one-handed, didn’t you?”

“From one moving vehicle to another moving vehicle. Yeah, I saw. Badass boss lady shit right there.”

She patted herself on the shoulder. “Hey, what can I say, I was born for this shit.” She glanced lovingly down at Harris. “Plus, I had a good teacher.” She squeaked, jumping, and I realized Harris had pinched her ass. “Okay, okay, a perfect, amazing, wonderful, patient teacher. Thebestteacher.”

Harris didn’t give away much with his expression, but I saw the glint in his eye. “I think the teacher is ready for another lesson.”

Layla winked at me, which was an inside joke now, after Colbie’s explosion about my winking. She took Harris by the hand and led him out of the dining room.

Two by two, the rest of the team dispersed, Duke and Temple to make arrangements for a flight to LA, Thresh and Lola to go house hunting in Denver, apparently. Which left Roth and Kyrie, and Colbie and me.

“Hey, Roth,” I called out. “You got a ride around here Colbie and I can borrow? We wanna go for a spin out in the countryside.”

Roth had been watching the whole proceeding silently, browsing his phone now and again. He nodded at me. “Nigel can show you the garage. Take your pick.”

I stood up and lifted Colbie to her feet. “Well, thanks for the room, the Scotch, the hospitality in general, and . . . just for everything. You guys are awesome.”

“It has been my privilege, I assure you,” Roth said. “And if you’re ever in need of a vacation, I know a rather nice place in the Caribbean.”

Colbie nudged me. “I do have a lot of vacation time saved up. I’ve never been to the Caribbean.”

I grinned at her then pointed at Roth. “Sounds like we’ll be taking you up on that,” I said. “We’ll hit you up when we have plans made.”

It was weird to be talking aboutwealready, but damn if Roth hadn’t nailed it on the head: when it makes sense, it just makes sense, even if it doesn’t make any fucking sense.

Colbie and I made our way out of the dining room and through the maze of hallways, getting turned around more than once in our quest to find Nigel, who Roth said would be in the kitchen.

We stumbled past a courtyard at one point, just a few square meters of green space and open sky tucked into a corner created by the layout of the mansion. There was a profusion of trees, a little fountain, and a wrought-iron bench. On the bench sat Harris, his arms stretched out to either side, his head tipped back, his eyes closed. Layla was on her knees in front of him, her hands and mouth moving.

I nudged Colbie and pointed, whispering. “See, what’d I tell you?”

Colbie covered her mouth. “Oh my god! Right there in the courtyard?”

“Shameless,” I said. “And relentless. Like I said, that man gets a crazy amount of head from that woman.”

Layla’s eyes flicked up, and she saw us as we kept moving past the courtyard. She winked over the top of Harris and returned her attention to what—or who, more accurately—she was doing.

“What would you consider a crazy amount?” Colbie asked, a few minutes later, after we’d found Nigel and had been shown the garage.

I shrugged. “Like, all the time. Just about every time I see them, she’s either obviously just blown him, or will after the meeting.”

“Are you challenging me?” Colbie demanded.

I eyed her. “I—”

“Challenge accepted.”

I blinked at her. “Um. Okay?”

She glanced around the garage, empty except for about twenty automobiles, from restored classics to utility vehicles to a brand-new Hypercar. Then she pushed me to a nook between a Wrangler kitted for heavy off-roading duty and a giant Silverado 3500 geared for heavy hauling, shoved my back against the wall, and fell to her knees.

“Oh.” I watched as she undid my jeans and pulled me out. “Challenge accepted, huh?”