Page 11 of The Shake Off

I got up and turned on the coffee machine, nodding to Lux, and grabbed four cups. “You tell it.”

“Ace hooked up with a girl, and she’s friends with Shepherd,” he replied, laying the bacon onto a plate while Parker pulled out cutlery and glasses, pouring out juice for the four of us.

“Oh, nice,” Tanner responded, holding his fist in front of me for a bump, to which I obliged. “Was she hot?”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “Smoking.”

“Did she get a one-way ticket on the Poundtown Express again this morning?”

I shook my head. “No. She left before I woke up.”

Tanner reached for a slice of bacon Lux had just removed from the griddle, and dropped it because it was too hot. He tried again, blowing hard before he managed to successfully crunch down on it. “Huh. That’s why you’re in a mood.”

“I’m not in a mood.”

What is it about someone telling you you’re in a mood, that puts you in a mood?

I wasn’t in a mood. I might not be in my usual joking mood, but I wasn’t in amoodmood. I was thinking about Payton, and why she hadn’t been there when I’d woken up – or why she hadn’t woken me up.

Because the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was really fucking weird.

It didn’t help that right then Tanner voiced the exact conclusion I’d been trying not to come to.

“Maybe she didn’t have a good time.”

“What? What’re you talking about? Of course, she did,” I scoffed. “They always have a good time.”

Parker leaned over and slung his arm around me like the supportive best friend he was.

“Hey, leave him alone. Of course he showed her a good time. He’s Ace Watson. Girls line the streets to have a good time with him.” He squeezed my face between his fingers just like my grandma did. “Look at these cheeks. How can anyone resist?”

I pushed him away. “Okay, you’ve made your very accurate point, and I thank you.”

But Tanner shrugged. “All I’m saying is if a girl has a good time, they don’t leave the next morning. Right, Lux?”

I picked up a wooden spoon Lux had left on the counter, threw it at him, and looked around for what I could use next. “Tan, what are you doing? Are you trying to hurt me?”

Tanner’s grin widened, because that was exactly what he was trying to do. Not hurt me, just wind me up enough to get me in a mood.

Mission fucking accomplished.

The four of us liked to fuck with each other as much as possible, and this was likely payback for the plastic spider I put in his bed yesterday, the one left over from Halloween.

Man, I nearly pissed myself laughing when I heard him screaming.

“What did the note say?” asked Lux.

I held my mouth in a straight line before answering. “It said, ‘help yourself to coffee’.”

Tanner coughed into his milk, spraying himself with it. Served him right.

“Oh, fuck off.”

“Is the great Ace Watson losing his touch with the ladies?” he grinned, picking up a paper towel to wipe himself dry.

“No, I’m fucking not!”

“If only there was a chance to ask her so we could settle the debate.”

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