“Right. I forgot. All the same—spill.”
It was like saying it aloud made her even more pathetic. She didn’t want to admit how weak she was, even to Jules, who wouldn’t judge her in the least—though she might give Aubry a well-deserved kick in the ass. “There’re going to be thousands and thousands of people there—people I don’t know—all packed in like people-shaped sardines.” She shuddered. “If I believed in hell, this would be my version of it.”
“Aubry, of course you believe in hell. You were just talking about how you’ll own a nice little piece of property there when you die.” Jules rolled her eyes. “But I’m getting off topic.”
“Yes, you are, and I don’t like you pointing out how I’m going to burn my way through the afterlife.” Though the bantering was making her feel a little bit better.
“The point is that I still don’t see why the glum face and lack of victory lap. This is a big deal, right?”
“The biggest deal.” She clutched Ninja Kitteh closer, earning a warning growl. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Out of the millions of people who play this game, I’m one of ten they picked to test the alpha version.”
Jules sat back. “I know you don’t like people, but shouldn’t you make an exception for this kind of thing? Just this once.”
She wanted to. God, she wanted to so much she could barely stand it. “Would you go with me?” Maybe if she had a shield between her and the crowds, she’d be able to survive the encounter.
“I would…”
Aubry cursed. “Sorry, I forgot. You have that trip planned with Adam and Lenora for his mom. I’m a horrible fucking friend for forgetting that.” Adam’s mom had passed away a month ago, and her dying wish had been to have her ashes scattered in the Gulf where she and Lenora had their honeymoon. They were leaving next week to drive down there and spend a few days doing a memorial of sorts. Right in the middle of DeathCon.
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not. How’s Adam holding up?”
Jules sighed. “As well as can be expected, but he’s talking to me about it, so we’re working through it. This kind of loss isn’t an easy bounce-back, no matter how long he had to come to terms with it.”
She knew. And she even liked Adam enough to be genuinely sorry he was going through this. He was a good man, and he made her best friend so deliriously happy it was a wonder Jules didn’t spend her days walking around on little clouds and singing at the top of her lungs. “I’m sorry.”
“I know. I am, too.” She shook her head and started typing something on her phone. “But we are, once again, getting off topic. Back to DeathCon—what if there was an alternative?”
“Alternative?” Aubry stopped panicking enough to send her best friend a suspicious look. “How can there be an alternative? I don’t like this alternative you speak of.”
“Hmm?” Jules looked up from her phone. “We’ll figure something out. I know how you feel about people, especially people in crowds, but you can’t miss this opportunity. No matter how much you kind of hate everyone.”
She did, but it didn’t stop that comment from stinging, just a little. “I don’t hate you.”
“That’s because we’re lady soul mates.” Jules glanced at the door, making the small hairs on the back of Aubry’s neck stand up. She was definitely up to something.
Aubry narrowed her eyes. “Maybe we should talk about that alternate option now.” She did not like the way her friend seemed so calm.
“In a minute.”
She straightened but was temporarily distracted by the front door of the café opening. Adam walked through, sending Jules a downright devastating smile as soon as he saw her. He always did that. It didn’t matter if he’d been gone an hour or a full day, he always looked at Jules like she was the best thing he’d ever seen.
Aubry was not jealous of her best friend for having that kind of relationship. She most definitely was not.
Then Adam stepped aside and he walked in. Quinn. She froze, almost overwhelmed by the sheer size of him, even across the room. He was well over six feet tall and had a physique that would have been seriously attractive if not attached to his particular personality. She knew the second he noticed her, because his brows slanted down for half a moment before his face relaxed into a grin. He never snapped at her, never snarled, but he said the most unforgivable crap.
“Hey there, sweet cheeks. Looking good.”
Like that. Sweet cheeks. What the hell was wrong with him? She hunched down into her seat and stared at her computer, but the screen just served to remind her of the opportunity her issues were forcing her to miss. If she was a normal, well-adjusted woman, she’d have no problem shooting back an email accepting the honor that the invitation signaled. For fuck’s sake, they were going to comp her a room. That wasn’t something they did for just anyone.
Too many people. Not enough space.
The feeling of claustrophobia was only accented by Quinn ambling across the room to the table and looming over her. “Stop hovering,” she snapped.
“Now, don’t be mean. I know for a fact I don’t stink.”
No, he didn’t. He smelled of some kind of cologne that made her think man. The kind that would have advertising with a guy who looked like Quinn up on the back of a horse, cowboy hat firmly in place, probably a lasso in his hands and a determined looked on his face.
He dropped into the seat next to her, draping his arm over the back of her chair. He didn’t touch her, though. For all the casual intimacy he showed with everyone else, he never touched her.
Probably because I threatened to rip off his arm and beat him to death with it last time he did.
She shut her computer, all too aware of the heat she could feel emanating from his body. He was like a human-sized forge. She realized she was staring at his chiseled jaw line and jerked her gaze away…right to Jules’s considering face.
Heat spread across her face and she realized, to her horror, she was blushing. Oh my God, what’s wrong with me?
Jules didn’t give her a chance to recover, either. She leaned forward. “I think you two can help each other.”
It took a second for her words to penetrate, but Aubry was already shaking her head. “No, absolutely not.”
While, next to her, Quinn said, “Jules, I think you’re swell, but you need to be committed if you think for a second I’m going anywhere with this crazy woman.”
She spun to face him, forgetting her rule about touching, and poked him in the chest. “Me? No one’s crazy enough to go anywhere with you.”
“Tell that to all my lady friends.” He gave her a grin that was just this side of vicious. “Though, if you’re looking for that kind of company, I might be willing to make an exception.”
Aubry went ramrod straight. He did not just offer her a pity fuck. “Over my dead body—but, who knows, you could be into that sort of thing.”
“Hardly.” He made a face. “I like my women warm and willing. But on that note, you’re right. You don’t fit either bill.”
A gasp of outrage slipped free. “Watch your step, cowboy. I know plenty of places to hide a dead body.”
“Sweet cheeks, in my current mood, I almost hope you try.”
A delicate throat clearing had Aubry ripping her gaze away from the smug look on his face to her best friend. “Jules, you’re out of your godforsaken mind if you think for a second we’d last an hour without killing each other.” No matter how good he smelled.
“Actually, that’s why I think it’ll work perfectly.” She grinned. “Quinn needs a date to his sister’s wedding to keep his family’s matchmaking efforts in check, and you need someone to be a walking barrier between you and everyone else at this convention thing.” She motioned to Quinn. “He’d make a great barrier.”
“Only because he’s abnormally large.” A man his size could block out the entire room, which would be perfect if she could guarantee he wouldn’t open his equally large mouth.
?
??Aw, sweet cheeks, I didn’t think you noticed.”
Jules snapped her fingers at him like she did at her cats when they misbehaved. “Stop poking at her or she might actually try to bury you in the desert.” She sat forward, practically vibrating. “And Quinn, you have to admit that Aubry is very good at repelling everyone in her vicinity—no offense, Aubry.”
“None taken.” She’d worked hard to perfect her resting bitch face so people would leave her alone in public. Of course, in a town like Devil’s Falls, it was just as likely to draw in people who wanted to help. They meant well, and she managed not to hold it against them. Mostly.
“Plus, if you’re worried about one of your lady friends getting the wrong idea, that’s not something you have to deal with if you take Aubry.”
She glanced at him, sure that he was going to shoot Jules down the same way she had, but he had a strange look on his face—almost like he was actually contemplating it. Shaking her head, she said to Jules, “No. How many ways can I say it? No. Nyet. Non. Nein. No.”