Page 35 of Summer's Edge

She smiles. “Sure, yeah, books.”

And there’s that little smirk on her face that can only mean one thing. She’s seeing someone and she’s fallen hard.

“But if you two made such a connection then you can’t just let him flitter off,” she adds. “Men usually don’t know what they want when feelings are involved.”

“Tell me about it.”

“So, you have to show him. Don’t let him get away.”

“I’m not planning on it,” I say and smile. “But, of course, there’s also the issue with Dad. Edge seems to think he’d never allow it.”

She rolls her eyes, something she hardly ever does and especially not when talking about our parents. “He needs to know we’re grown women. And he already likes Edge a lot. So, half the battle is won.”

I slap my forehead. “Why didn’t I think of saying that to him?”

She laughs. “Probably because he shocked you.”

I laugh too. “In more ways than one.”

“Tell me everything,” she demands, leaning forward in her chair.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this eager to talk about men. But I more than want to oblige her. So I do.

I leave out the more sordid and sexual stuff. To my mind that’s just the physical expression of the passion and connection that we shared up there. But I tell her all about the latter.

“Wow, so you think it was the Joker makeup that made him drop all his reservations?” she says. “Interesting.”

“I think it played a part,” I say. “Because the floodgates opened after that.”

Reliving it all as I told Eden about it has made the longing to have him in my arms right now a much more urgent thing.

“I’m worried he’ll do something stupid now,” I say. “Like get himself killed.”

She shakes her head. “Don’t worry. I think he has too much to live for now. Whether he knows it or not.”

I wish she was right. I wish it with all my heart.

But what if she’s wrong? What if everything I’m so sure he feels for me exists only in my head?

“He’ll be back before you know it, you’ll see,” she says, magically reading my mind like only she can.

We talk for another hour, since despite all I’ve already told her I still have more to tell.

Then I spent the night in her bed, happy, but kind of dismayed not to find a guy hiding there. The place is a mess. Maybe that’s why she’d been so keen on keeping me from her apartment. But I doubt that’s the whole reason.

Eden has a secret. And I think it’s a lot bigger than mine and Edge’s.

EIGHTEEN

Edge

The rest of the way to LA was pretty painful with Ruin returning to the subject of Summer every chance he got. Or maybe it was painful for other reasons. But what else can I do except cut her loose?

Hunter has chosen an old, abandoned side-of-the-road compound as their HQ for this job. He has about ten brothers with him, all their bikes hidden from view behind a surprisingly sturdy metal wall.

“What took you so long?” Hunter asks as we exit the pickup. “I wanna move on this guy tonight.”

“What guy?” I ask. “There’s nothing around here but a bunch of desert.”

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