Page 48 of Beautiful Defiance

“That’s great.” It is.

“You forgot to mention my brother.” Red wedges between us, slings his arms over our shoulders, and steers us to the next shop.

It’s a café. The boy wants coffee. I do too. I’d overslept and rushed out the door, shoveling food in my mouth. Yeah, not very ladylike.

“What about him?”

“That he’s in Dumas too. He’s keeping an eye on your sister. She has a bad habit.”

Rue shoves Red’s arm off her shoulder. “Don’t destroy Leigh’s opinion of my sister before she’s formed them. Riley is the kindest person. She just needs a push in the right direction. That right direction is away from Midnight. Midnight is an ass.”

“Hey, that’s my brother you’re speaking of.”

“Then don’t be so hard on my sister, making her out to be this bad person when she’s not.”

They’re arguing in the middle of the sidewalk. People are staring. I put my hands on their arms. “Hey, we all have our flaws and our bad days. I’m sure they’re nice people, and I can’t wait to meet them. Thank you for telling me about them and showing me a picture of your sister and her friends. I like putting faces to the names.”

Rue heaves a big sigh.

Red shoves his fingers through his hair.

“Do you know what this old lady, we call her Grandma Chu, used to do when kids fought?”

“No, what?” Rue narrows her eyes.

Red crosses his arms over his chest.

“She made them hug for a minute.”

“I’m not hugging her.”

“No way am I hugging him.”

“It’s sixty seconds. You can endure touching one another for sixty seconds. That’s like dropping a piece of chocolate on the floor, picking it up on the basis of the five-second rule times twelve drops and pick ups.”

They look at me like I’m snorting coke or smoking a bud in public. Which I’ve never done.

“Are you for real?” Red asks.

“Yes or no?”

“She is. You are my best guy friend.” Rue smiles and opens her arms. “How about it?”

He steps into her arms, and they hug. I set the timer on my phone. People stare. After a minute, the two break apart with cheesy grins on their faces.

“Was that so bad?”

“It wasn’t,” Rue admits. “Your turn. Hug Red.”

For funsies, I give in and hug Red. He is lean muscle. Tall. Smells nice too. But my body up against his does nothing for my girl parts. Not like how my body heats from the inside out when Seven is in proximity.

Many shops later, Red and I said goodbye to Rue. We exchanged numbers. At my stop, I hop off the shuttle and rushed home, feeling like I was running on clouds. I had a new job to get ready for, working alongside one of the nicest guys.

When I showed up for my three-to-eight shift at Queenie’s, Miles handed me a royal-blue apron and a shirt with the diner’s logo on it. Guess what it is? It’s a pink crown with a Q in black at the point of the crown.

I told Miles the crown is pretty.

He said I’m prettier.

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