Page 139 of Love Me Reckless

Neve and Sofie’s brother Jesse have been inseparable since the night Neve nearly died two years ago and Sofie suffered an intense ordeal related to the crime ring Zach was trying to stop. Jesse stuck around instead of moving to L.A. so Sofie could finish college, and their family has grown stronger. Jesse included.

“Aw, you’re going to be an auntie!” Ava says.

Sofie smiles. “Yep. August.”

“She’ll make an even cuter bridesmaid with a bump,” Ava says.

“Right?” Sofie gives a little happy wiggle. “I’m really excited for them.”

“Are they going to get married?” I ask.

Sofie shrugs. “Taking things one day at a time is working forthem.”

Ava cocks her head at me. “Your turn. What’s wrong?”

I huff a sigh and run my fingertips across the top of the steering wheel. “I think my family is retaliating.”

“What? How?” My friends ask.

My cell phone rings. The only person I want to talk to is Sawyer, but I doubt it’s him calling.

“It’s Birch,” Ava says, peeking at my phone screen.

“What do you mean by retaliating?” Sofie asks while the phone continues to ring. Finally, I reach into my purse and silence it.

I share the embarrassing moment at the register.

“Cards get denied all the time. It could be this wind.” Ava nods at the spindrift blowing across the truck’s hood.

“Or a glitch with your card,” Sofie says.

“Maybe, but I think… my family is sending me a message. They’re cutting me off.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

KIRILEE

“Like hell they are,”Sofie says. “Let me drive. We’re going up there right now.”

Panic flutters behind my breastbone. “Oh, gosh.”

“They can’t do that to you,” Ava says, scowling.

“What if they already did?” I say. Suddenly, the fear of not being able to secure a loan for my community art center seems very small. What if I no longer have a place to live? What about my little studio?

“I’m willing to talk to them,” Sofie says, her soft blue eyes turning fierce.

I release another sigh and lean back in my seat. “Let’s go to Sofie’s. Painting will help me think.”

“You can at least call your bank,” Ava says. “This might be nothing.”

“You’re right.”

The drive to Sofie and Zach’s takes five minutes but my nerves feel raw and the donut holes are sitting in my stomach like rocks. When we crest the hill, the streetlights are dark.

“Is the power out?” I ask.

“Looks like it,” Ava replies, frowning at the dark streets.

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