Page 76 of Offside Angel

Just as the waitress stops next to our table, I hold out a hand. “Actually, can we get these in a to-go box? We need to get going.”

“Of course,” she says cheerfully, spinning away as Daniel’s face falls in horror.

“No!” he cries out. “Why?”

“You can eat in the car.”

“But why?” he bemoans, sinking down in the booth. “I’m starving.”

“Because we’re going shopping.”

28

MIRA

A loud pop goes off in my ear, and I almost hit the deck.

“Another balloon down!” Davis cheers, tossing back another tequila shot to go with it.

At this rate, this drinking game is going to kill him.

And the popping balloons are going to kill me.

I’ve been on edge for days—longer, actually, but the last few days have been especially bad. That’s what getting a threatening note from your murderous brother will do: fry your nerves and fuck with your head.

I should probably be huddled in a dark closet, taking long, measured breaths until this whole thing is over. Instead, I’m at a five-year-old’s birthday party, standing in front of a balloon arch that is swiftly losing its battle with the sun and picking at the same plate of food I’ve been holding for the last hour.

I haven’t been eating much at all lately.

Or sleeping.

Or talking to Zane.

It’s hard when, every time I look at him, all I can see is Dante’s creepy note. And all I can hear is a little voice in my head calling me a dirty rotten liar who lies.

“Friends don’t keep secrets from friends!” Rachelle shouts over what I believe is a Kidz Bop cover of Nicki Minaj. I think she might be talking to me and my guilty conscience, but she’s over by the juice table shaking Jemma by the shoulders. “Don’t be a gatekeeper.”

Jemma laughs and shakes her off. “I’m not gatekeeping! I really don’t remember where I got the balloon arch for Jalen’s party. I’ll look back through my email when I’m home.”

Another balloon pops and I yelp, spilling half of my plate on the patio.

“Shot!” Davis shouts.

Rachelle just groans. “That stupid thing is going to be gone before we even do cake.”

Jace shifts behind his wife, squeezing her shoulders. “Look at Gallagher. Does it look like he cares?”

Aiden and Jalen double-bounce Gallagher so hard that he smashes against the mesh wall face first. His cheeks are squished into a deformed grin before he can right himself and go straight back to bouncing, laughing the entire time.

The kids have been in the bouncy castle since the moment Rachelle opened the sliding glass door and released them into the backyard. We’re going to have to drag them out of it when the party is over. They might not even come out for cake.

“No,” Rachelle sighs. “He doesn’t. But I care. I paid a stupid amount of money for that dumb arch.”

“Wait? How much did you pay?” Jace turns to face her just as a pair of muscular arms slip around my waist.

I spasm like I’m being electrocuted and drop the other half of my plate.

“Oh. Shit.” Zane laughs, kicking the food into the grass where Davis’s dog has been lying in patient, dedicated wait. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

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