Page 109 of Things We Hide from the Light

“What kind of car?” Knox wanted to know.

“A 1948 Porsche 356 convertible.”

He let out a low whistle. “Nice ride.”

“She lied to all of us,” Nash said, his words striking like a hammer. “She got you to put her up next door to me so she could get access to me and my files.”

I could feel the adrenaline dumping into my system. My heart immediately fluttered over a beat, then another one. I brought the heel of my hand to my sternum and willed myself not to open my mouth to release the torrent of insults clogging my throat.

“What the fuck?” Knox said.

I braced for the end of my longest-running friendship. But he was looking at his brother.

“She didn’tmakeme put her up in that apartment. I swung by the motel to pick her up for breakfast and found her hair spraying a roach the size of a fuckin’ beaver,” he continued. “I told her to pack her shit and she refused. We yelled at each other for a good half an hour while stompin’ on a multigenerational roach fest before she agreed to move.”

“Time out,” Naomi said to her soon-to-be husband. “Viking, if that’s not why you’re mad at Nash and Lina, what got your boxer briefs in a twist?”

Knox smoothed a hand over her hair, the gentle gesture at odds with his stormy expression.

“I’m pissed because these two idiots didn’t listen to the sense I was talkin’.”

I took three healthy gulps of my Bloody Mary and began to plot my escape.

“What sense?” Stef asked, pulling up a chair and setting it as close to the action as possible.

“Seriously? Come on!” Knox gestured back and forth between me and Nash.

“You’re gonna have to be more communicative than that, dear,” Amanda told him.

“For fuck’s sake. They can’t get together.” He pointed at Nash. “This idiot practically has ‘put a fuckin’ ring on it’ tattooed on his fucking ass.” Then he jerked his chin in my direction. “And that pain in the ass has ‘love ’em and leave ’em’ tattooed on hers.”

Naomi leaned in and whispered, “Is he being literal or metaphorical?”

“Metaphorical. But I do have a sun tattooed on my shoulder blade.”

Nash’s eyes narrowed on me.

“They get together and it’s time for her to go, he’s gonna get his stupid heart broken and she’s gonna feel bad about it. Then they’ll both end up taking it out on me. So I told Nash to leave it be and then I find out he’s climbing into bed with her.”

“Everyone is having sex but me,” Sloane muttered under her breath.

“Now things are getting good,” Amanda said. She held out a hand to Stef.

“Agreed,” he said, handing over his Bloody Mary.

“We weren’t having sex and we definitely never will. You could have talked to me about it,” I said to Knox.

He grimaced as if I’d just suggested he rip his toenails out and throw them around like confetti.

“Yeah, right, Leen,” he scoffed. “Then we could have a heart-to-heart about our feelings and shit.”

He had a point.

“Bad time?” Nolan wandered up in a windbreaker, holding a normal-sized coffee.

“Yes,” Nash and I said in unison, which resulted in more glaring at each other.

He winked at Sloane. “Hey, cupcake. Looking forward to dinner.”