Page 70 of You're so Bad

He’s got his phone in his other hand, and he’s grinning. “My surprise is almost here, Tiger. It’s for them, obviously, but it’s also for you.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, I think you’re gonna like it.”

“Which means you think I’m going to hate it.”

His grin widens, his eyes crinkling at the corners, and he’s so beautiful it’s like a gut punch. “I guess you’re just gonna have to wait and see.”

ChapterNineteen

Leonard

“Apsychic?” Shauna asks, lifting her brows so they almost touch her purple bangs.

We’re standing at the outskirts of a circle that’s formed behind Josie the Great’s setup—a card table with a crystal ball on it, surrounded by a dozen candles. Champ and Queen Bee are sitting in a couple of chairs they pulled up to it while Josie stands behind the crystal ball, wearing a black veil and black-frame glasses and holding a chunk of crystal. She called it a tuning rod, but it looks like a dick if you ask me.

When Josie rolled in with her setup, Colter took Bianca’s hands and said, “I hope you don’t mind, honey, but I put together a little surprise for you.” Then the sucker threw a wink my way.

I’d encouraged him to take credit for my idea as another way to poison the well and avoid getting caught.

Was it kind of me to give Champ the runaround? No, but the more I hear about his and Bianca’s past with Shauna, the more I think they’ve been screwing around for longer than eight months. I’d be lying if I said I’ve never told a fib to get laid, but one thing I’ve never done is commit myself to a woman and then bend her best friend over a table.

“She’s not just any psychic,” I tell Shauna in an undertone, putting my arm around her back. “She’s the worst psychic in all of Asheville. She has a reputation for telling people they’re going to die alone. Burke told me about her. I figured she’d have something fun for our happy couple.”

She gives me that snort-laugh, her expression delighted. “You mean you paid her to say something horrible.”

“I plead the fifth.”

She smiles at me, but there’s something nervous about it, like she’s wondering how many times I’veactuallypled the fifth. She’s remembering what I told her earlier. That’s good. Sheshouldremember.

So should I.

We’ve been spending too much time together, and I’ve liked it too much. In a weird way, it reminds me of hanging out with Burke and the guys back when I first met them. I had very different intentions toward him in the beginning, but I let myself start to think things could be different. That I’d found somewhere I could belong.

But I had to leave anyway. Sure, I came back. But it’ll never be the same as if I’d held my ground. Shane won’t talk to me really, on account of he doesn’t want to get dirty, and Drew lives hundreds of miles away.

A soft light fills the crystal ball on the table. Neat trick. Josie’s entire focus seems to be on the ball, but I’m guessing she has a remote of some sort wrapped up in her hand. Either that, or it’s on a timer.

Champ looks like he just watched the Easter Bunny hop into the room, but Bianca’s a tougher customer. It’s obvious she thinks this is bullshit, and from the look on her face, she doesn’t like that she wasn’t consulted.

“I’m connected to the other side,” Josie says.

“Do you see my Great-Aunt Mabel?” someone asks from the peanut gallery. It’s the blond woman from earlier. I don’t remember her name other than that it ends in a ‘y,’ but she cornered me in the line to the can and asked how serious I was about Shauna.

Under normal circumstances, I’m not one to turn down attention from a pretty woman. But I told her I was as serious as a heart attack.

Josie’s brow wrinkles while she stares into the surface of that glowing hunk of stone. “Did she look like Jack Nicholson?”

“Yes!” Blondie says, taking a step forward.

Bianca gives her a look that should turn her to salt, but Blondie’s not too good at playing games. Something tells me she won’t be in the inner circle for much longer.

Josie blows out a breath, making the black veil puff out. “Huh. That’s unexpected.”

“What is it?” Blondie asks, leaning in.

“She says she loves you.”

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