Page 31 of Oracles Always Win

Iswallowed hard and glanced between him andVan.Theyboth met my gaze steadily.

“Canwe look around?”Vanpressed.

Myshoulders dropped a little in defeat andHaydensqueezed my neck a little like he approved of my decision even thoughIhadn’t spoken yet.Isighed. “Yeah.Okay,Iguess.Just…Idon’t want any trouble, okay?”RenoirknewIhad enough of that already.Ididn’t need to invite any more problems into my life.

“Agreed,”Vansaid with a curt nod. “Arethe keys for your grandfather’s suite still in the same place?”

“Yeah…”Isaid asIcurled my fingers around the moneyIhadn’t shoved in the tip jar yet. “Doyou remember the combination to the lock?”

“Ido.Thanks,Jake.”

ShouldIwarnGageand his friends about the suite?VanandHaydenhad already seen it, which was bad enough, but now even more people would be traipsing through there.Therooms were bursting with weird shit that was only suitable as props in a creepy occult movie.Ishould have cleaned them out ages ago but a little voice in my head always stopped me.

Whensome stuff had been recovered from the robbery,Ihadn’t even opened the boxes the police had returned.Ijust dropped everything inside my grandfather’s suite and got out as fast asIcould.NowGageand the others would see all that mess and all the bizarre occult-ish things my grandfather had collected.

Iwanted to explain and make excuses, but what wouldIsay?Ifany of them saw inside my own room bursting with all my black-and-white paintings, it’d look just as crazy.

“Alrightthen,”Vansaid. “I’llput the keys back when we’re done.”

“We’lltake care of everything,”Haydensaid as he released my neck.Thenhe glanced atSally, who was still perched on her regular bar stool. "I'llsee youMonday,Sal, for your new tires.Theycame in this afternoon."

"WhileBuddyworks on my car,Imight need you to look at my spark plugs too.Ifyou know whatImean,"Sallywinked at him and let out a little giggle.

"We'llhave to see about that," he said lightly, butIdidn't think he tookSally'sflirting any more seriously thanIdid.

AdrianandJeremywere whispering to one another across the counter a few feet away.

IcalledJeremy’sname to get his attention. “Thingsare quieter now.Ican handle it on my own.”

“Areyou sure?”Jeremylooked conflicted as he watchedVanandHaydenlead the others to the door.

“Ofcourse.Thankyou for your help.”Igrabbed a handful of bills from the till and everything from the tip jar too. “Here, take this as payment for tonight.And…Iwould love to hire you to cover some shifts.Ifyou’re interested…”Ipushed the words out.Itended to be socially awkward in unfamiliar situations.Thiswas one of those moments.

Jeremysmiled. “Aw, thanks,Jake.IpromiseI’llthink about it.I’mnot sure how longI’llbe in town, but it might be nice to pick up some shifts whileI’mhere.”

“Justlet me know.”

“Hey, give me your phone andI’lladd my deets.”

Jeremyreached out and wiggled his fingers for me to pass over my phone.Iwished it wasGagedoing that instead.Iunlocked the screen and passed it to him.Hetyped into my phone with surprising speed.

“There.I’vejust sent myself a text from your phone, so we’re good.IaddedAsh’sinfo too, since you didn’t seem to have it.”Jeremygrinned as he returned my phone. “I’llbe in touch soon about setting up some movie nights to fill in some of the gaps in your education.Oh, and we should start a book club too.Notright away though.Ineed to come up with a list of books and movies andTVshows first.Ithink we’ll need to work up to some of my fave mpreg stories, but that’s okay.I’llfigure it out.Whenwe finally get to magical jizz, you’ll be ready for it.”Herubbed his hands together. “Thisis going to be amazing.You’llsee.”

“Uh… okay?”Ihad no idea what half of that meant.HadIagreed to all that?Ididn’t think so, butJeremydidn’t seem to care.

ThenJeremyandAdrianfollowed the others to the door.Mygrandfather’s strange cat wove between their legs.

Gageapproached and stopped whereHaydenhad stood just a moment earlier.Thesteady and heated way he eyed me had my blood warming again.Hedidn’t glance atSallywho was fanning herself beside him, nor did he acknowledge his friends who were waiting for him.Hisfocus was entirely on me.

Impulsively,Igrabbed the piece of paper with my phone number from my pocket.Ishoved the wrinkled paper at him.Helifted one eyebrow but took it from my trembling hand.Hecast his gaze over it, then smiled.

“Iwasn’t sure if you wanted it, but…”

“Ido,” he said quietly.Maybeit was wishful thinking on my part, butIswore his tone was intimate and full of promise.Ashiver danced down my neck at his words.Theywere just normal everyday kinds of things people said to one another, but my body was reacting likeI’dbeen propositioned. “I’llsee you soon,Jake.”

“You’recoming back, right?”Myquestion sounded breathless.Heatblazed across my cheeks.

“Soon,”Gageagreed.Hisgaze fell to my lips for a moment, making my breath hitch.Thenhe met my eyes again. “Verysoon.”