Page 28 of Reaper and Ruin

The roar of Levi’s bike outside cut through my curiosity over Nyah’s house, and I shoved the outfit choices Nyah had given the thumbs-down to back into my oversized purse. The file full of Toby’s black-and-white prints stuck out of the top, a reminder I needed to show them to Whip and Levi, so we were all on the same page.

But tonight wasn’t the night. Tonight, Levi and I were just going to be a regular couple, doing regular couple things.

I was going to pretend some psychopath hadn’t tried to murder us all, and try to forget someone was leaving piles of dead bodies around Saint View.

You know, just the typical problems a girl liked to avoid by going out for cocktails with new friends.

That black cloud could have lingered over me if I’d let it. But instead, I let Nyah’s infectious excitement fill me.

She ran to the window, all fairylike on her tippy toes, and squealed. “Dax is here too. Let’s go!”

I gave myself one final once-over in the mirror and nodded at my reflection. The outfit wasn’t anything particularly special, just a maxi dress that managed to cover up my cleavage enough that it was respectable, and a cropped jacket, matched with a pair of white sneakers. It was casual but cute. At least I hoped it was.

Though not terribly practical for riding on a bike, I realized, as Nyah towed me out her front door and kicked it shut behind her.

Despite the fact she’d only seen him a few hours ago when we’d ducked into the shop, she ran across the dead leaf-littered lawn to Dax and threw herself at him, zero concerns about whether he’d catch her or not.

He did, of course, and spun her around, her laughter tinkling through the air like glitter dust.

Levi and I weren’t exactly the ‘run to each other like we were the lead characters in a romantic movie’ sorta people.

He leaned on his bike, arms crossed over his chest, jacket pulled tight across his broad shoulders like he didn’t give a shit about anything.

But I saw his gaze snap straight to me, and the way it rolled over every inch of my body. I crossed the lawn to him, my skin tingling with a growing blaze.

I stopped in front of him. “Hi—”

That was all I could get out before he was grabbing the back of my neck and hauling me in, claiming my lips, kissing me stupid.

My knees went weak. Those traitorous bitches just gave right on out like a I was a damsel in distress and needed him to catch me. His arms tightened around me, pulling me into his chest, his mouth never leaving mine, deepening the kiss.

I lost track of the time. Of my surroundings. Of everything but him.

Nyah cleared her throat behind me. “Uh, just wondering how long you two are planning to make out for? Our reservation is only held for another fifteen minutes.”

I dragged myself away from Levi with a giggle, rubbing my lips together as they lifted into a smile. “Sorry. He nearly died earlier this week.”

Nyah grabbed my hand. “Yeah, yeah. We know.”

“We do?” Dax asked, his eyebrows pulling together in a frown. He glanced at Levi for confirmation.

Levi just shrugged.

Nyah let out an exasperated sigh. “You two were together all day. You didn’t once talk about it?”

Levi shrugged. “No.”

Nyah looked at me, and I just rolled my eyes. It was pretty much all Nyah and I had talked about during the jobs we’d had together. I’d word vomited the entire thing at her the moment I’d realized we were scheduled on together for a couple of big jobs Francine had picked up at a local office building.

She tugged me toward Dax’s beat-up four-wheel drive that had dried mud splashed up its sides. “Come with us, since you’re wearing a dress and we’re all headed to the same place anyway. We can fill Dax in on the way.”

I glanced at Levi, and he nodded, following us. But he stopped Nyah when she went to sit in the back seat. “Violet and I will sit in the back.”

“Your legs are twice as long as mine. You literally will not fit. Take the front, it’s fine.” She climbed up into the back seat and settled on the driver’s side.

Levi didn’t seem terribly happy, but he got into the front passenger seat.

Nyah was right. My knees touched the back of his seat, and he was a good five inches taller than me so he would have had no chance.