Chapter 42

Five minutes later, I was sitting beside Jake on the living room sofa, with Bishop sitting across from us.

"For your information," I told Bishop, "I was in the closet getting dressed. That's all."

"Right." Bishop glanced down at my makeshift outfit. "Nice clothes."

"Jeez, they're not mine," I said. But that did remind me of my two suitcases, smashed in Jake's trunk. I turned to Jake. "Hey, where is my stuff, by the way?" True, most if it was crap, but I couldn't exactly walk around in Jake's clothes forever.

"Yeah, about that…" Jake said.

"It's not still in your car?" I said. "Is it?"

"The thing is," Jake said, "it's missing."

I stared at him. "Your car?"

"No. Your stuff."

My jaw dropped. "You've got to be kidding. How'd that happen?"

He shrugged. "Happens more than you'd think."

Well, this was just great. It's not like the stuff in my suitcases was all that great, but it was all I had. And worse, I had no money to replace anything. I blew out a long breath. What was I supposed to do now?

Jake leaned his head close to mine. "We'll talk about it later, alright?"

I slid my gaze to Bishop, who was watching us with a perplexed look. For some reason, it annoyed the snot out of me.

"What are you looking at?" I said.

"Got me," Bishop said, getting to his feet. He turned to Jake. "You got a coat she can borrow?"

I stared up at Bishop. "Why would I need a coat?"

"Because," he said, "it's cold out. Why else?"

Jake reached an arm over my shoulder, pulling me close. He looked up at Bishop and said, "Except, unlike you, she's not going anywhere."

Bishop turned his cool gaze on me. He waited. I glanced from him to Jake, who was studying Bishop with open hostility.

Bishop broke the silence. "Luna, you ready?"

Actually, I wasn't. I wasn't naïve. I knew I'd have to leave eventually. But I didn't have to leave now. Did I?

Again, I looked toward Jake. Against my side, his muscles were tense. Still, when he spoke, his voice was surprisingly easy. "You wanna go with him?" he asked.

I felt my brow wrinkle. Did he want me to leave? I didn't think so, but I had to be realistic. How long could I really hang out here? I bit my lip and gave it some thought.

I was still thinking when Jake stood. "So you wanna go?" he said.

I did a double-take. "That's not what I'm saying." Slowly, I got to my feet. I moved close to him and lowered my voice. "Can we talk about this?" I gave Bishop a sideways glance. "In private?"

Jake turned to his brother. "You heard her," Jake said. He flicked his head toward the door. "Get out."

I gave Jake an exasperated look. "That's not what I meant." I looked to Bishop. "Can't you just step out on the balcony or something?" I returned my gaze to Jake and said in a hushed whisper, "Or maybe you and I could go talk in the bedroom?"

Across from us, Bishop made a sound of disgust.

I whirled toward him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Bishop eyed Jake with obvious disapproval. "Nothing."

My gaze narrowed. "You meant something." With a sigh of frustration, I turned to Jake. When I saw him, I caught my breath. His body was rigid, and his eyes were blazing. But he wasn't looking at me. He was looking at his brother.

When Jake spoke, his voice was almost scary. He took a slow step toward Bishop. "Get the fuck out."

Bishop didn't move. "You gonna make me?"

Jake took another step toward him. "If it comes to that."

"Oh for God's sake," I muttered. I turned to Bishop. "Just go. Alright?"

"You heard her," Jake said. "She's staying. You're leaving. Alone."

Bishop still didn't move, and he didn't speak. He gave me a penetrating look, and the silence became deafening. Slowly, he turned his gaze on Jake. Around us, the tension grew so thick I could hardly breathe.

Desperate to end the standoff, I blurted out, "Know what I need?"

Both guys turned to look at me.

"What?" Jake asked.

"Um…" Oh crap. I didn't actually have an answer. My gaze bounced around the penthouse and landed on the open kitchen. "Waffles." I gave a vigorous nod. "Yup. Waffles. Definitely. With bacon. And uh, extra butter."

For a long moment, no one said anything. Jake glanced toward the kitchen.

But it was Bishop who first spoke. "Not a problem," he said. "We'll hit a breakfast place on the way back."

"Actually," I said, "I meant homemade waffles."

Bishop turned toward Jake. "You cook?" Bishop said.

"Sure, he does," I said. "He's really good at it too." One time, I'd seen Jake roast a hot dog at the beach. That counted for something, right?

Bishop was still giving Jake that dubious look. "Right," Bishop said.

"So, uh, anyway," I told Bishop, "you probably should get going."

He pulled his gaze from Jake. "Is that so?" he said.

"Yeah." I summoned up a smile. "But hey, you know what you should do?"

Next to me, Jake muttered, "Go fuck himself?"

I gave Jake an annoyed look. "No," I said with more patience than I felt. "He should get some waffles to go." I turned back to Bishop. "You know that breakfast place you were talking about? You could swing by on the way back, and maybe get a bag of them or something."

Bishop's eyebrows furrowed. "A bag. Of waffles."

"Or whatever they put them in," I said. "Jeez. You could surprise Selena. You know, she's not a morning person, so, uh, she'd probably really like that."

From the look on Bishop's face, he wasn't in a waffly mood. "You want me to leave?" he said. "Is that's what you're saying?"

Jake stepped forward. "It's what I'm saying. Except I don't give a shit whether you pick up waffles or not."

I whirled toward him. "Shush!"

His eyebrows lifted. "Shush?"

"Or whatever," I said. I turned back to Bishop. "Don't forget the bacon," I said. "And extra butter. Selena really likes butter. You know that, right?"

With something like a sigh, Bishop reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen, along with a small white business card. He scribbled something onto it and held the card out in my direction. I reached out and took it. I squinted down to look. On the card, I saw nothing but a barely legible phone number.

"Anything happens," Bishop said, "you call me. I'm two hours away. But I'll be here in half that time."

I stared up at him. "What? How?"

"What dickhead is trying to say," Jake said, "is that he thinks speed limits are optional." Jake turned to Bishop. "If she needs anything," Jake told him, "she'll be calling me. Not you. Now for the last time, get out."

I looked from brother to brother, trying to understand the dynamics of their relationship. I had siblings of my own, including a couple of younger brothers. I knew things could get complicated sometimes, but their level of animosity was totally foreign to me.

With a sound of disgust, Bishop turned to give me his full attention. "See you in a couple days," he said.

"What?" I said. "What's going on in two days? Is there a wedding shower or something?"

Wordlessly, Bishop he turned toward the door and started walking.

"Hey," I called after him. "Just answer the question."

At the door, Bishop finally stopped. Slowly, he turned around. "You want the answer?" he said. "Ask Jake." And with that, he opened the door, strode out, and shut it, hard, behind him.

I whirled toward Jake. "What did he mean by that?" I asked. "Do you know?"

"Eh, he's a dick," Jake said. "He didn't mean anything."

I stared up at him. "You're lying," I said. "I can tell."

Jake's gaze shifted toward the door. "Forget it," he said. "He doesn't know what he's talking about." Returning his gaze to mine, he reached for my hand. As if shaking off the gloom, he gave me a crooked smile and said, "Waffles, huh?"