Page 18 of In Spades

My brows knitted together. “My only boys are Logan and Hunter. They better not have been at the bar.”

“Mr. Just a Guest. Will Solomon.”

Will actually went to Jokers? I pushed the thought from my mind. Mr. Solomon was a guest at the inn who asked for a dinner recommendation. That was all.

I liked that he tried my favorite spot, though. One that was off the beaten path.

“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?” Chase said, snapping me back to reality.

“Am not!”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Fine. But I wasn’t thinking about him until you brought him up. Why is this an issue? Guests ask about restaurants all the time.”

“Yeah,” Chase said with a laugh. “But you don’t send them to fucking Jokers.”

“Language!” I whispered, scowling.

He cringed and peered down the hallway. Luckily, the kids had the doors pulled shut. “Have you checked the group text?”

I shook my head. “My phone died while I was out, then I got home and had to start dinner, and?—”

Chase shoved his phone in my face. On the screen was a candid photo of Will eating at the bar. From that angle, it would have been taken by…

“Bridget,” I said, seething.

“Don’t be mad at Bee,” he chided. “A while ago, I told her to holler at me if anyone came in asking questions about you or?—”

“Don’t even say their names,” I snapped, clenching my fists. It was rare that I got angry around the poker club. Talking about my shit-stain parents? That was a sure-fire way to make me throw hands.

Chase put his hands on my shoulders. “We’re just looking out for you, Kris.”

“I’m so fucking sick of y’all treating me like I’m some incompetent little child. I’m holding things together as best I can. Given the circumstances, I think I’m doing a damn good job.”

“Kris—”

“I’m fine. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.” I turned away from Chase and wiped my eyes.

“I came over because I was worried about your safety. You worry about everyone else. I don’t want you to waste any energy thinking about some summertimer sticking his nose in your business.”

“He’s not a summertimer,” I said, grabbing a glass from the pantry and filling it from the tap. “He’s on some sort of staycation thing. Said he works from home and needed a change of scenery.”

Chase raised his eyebrows. “So, you have gotten to know Mr. Just a Guest.”

I swatted his arm. “Stop it.”

“Might wanna apologize to him the next time you see him.”

“Oh God,” I groaned. “What the hell did you and Bee do?”

He scratched the back of his neck and stared at the floor. “She may have told Solomon that the girls were discussing his bangability. Apparently, the glasses give him hot nerd points.” Chase punctuated the last part of his statement with air quotes.

I clenched my glass of water so tight I thought it would shatter. “She what?”

328. I stared at the number on the door, silently willing myself not to throw up. I couldn’t face Mr. Solomon after what Chase told me yesterday.

The moment he left my house, I charged my phone and saw the dumpster fire for myself. There would be no coming back from Maddie and Mel’s discussion of whether Will’s junk was proportionate to his height.

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