Page 27 of The Patron Saint of Timber Hollow

"WHAT!" Sam hisses, pulling me to the side of the bar by the jukebox.

"Um, yeah. So we were all drinking, and I made a joke, and then Jay and I were flirting. He kissed me and then basically dared Saint and me to kiss, so we did, and Jay held me still for it, and now Saint has walked in on Jay and me twice and-" I ramble, cutting off abruptly.

"And what?" Sam presses, holding onto my forearm.

"I think I have a crush on him," I squeak, clapping my hand over my mouth. Sam rears her head back andlaughsat me loudly. "Why are you laughing? That'snot helpful!" I hiss, smacking her arm.

"First of all, what kind of joke did you make that turns into your boyfriend holding you still for another dude to kiss you?" Sam asks, raising one delicate eyebrow at me.

I gulp. "I didn't finish a slice of pizza; Saint picked it up and ate it. I laughed and said we kissed." Saying it out loud sounds so fucking dumb that I nearly perish on the spot.

Sam levels me with a flat look, eyelids covering half of those striking grey eyes. "And then what happened? Because I don't know what backward place you come from, Artemis, but that isnotkissing."

"Don't judge me, okay! I was drunk.Obviously, I had to explain the joke: my mouth touched the pizza, and his mouth touched it, so we kissed. It was just a bad joke, okay!"

She rolls her eyes at me. "And then?" Sam presses.

"AndthenJay said he thought I needed a reminder of how kissing worked," I say, rolling my eyes.

Sam snorts, muttering,"I agree."

Instead of replying, I charge on, speaking over Sam's muttered words. "He tilted my head back and kissed me stupid. Then Jay told Saint that he thoughtIlooked likeIwanted him to try next."

"Did you?" Sam asks, and I open my mouth to sayno, not specifically, but no sound comes out. Samgrins. "You did, didn't you, you little hussy!"

"Maybe?" I squeak, thinking about how Saint's hips had been exposed as he leaned against the bar. How distracted I'd been by him talking to Angel.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Sam asks, crossing her arms over her middle.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… It's not every day that your boyfriend wouldhold you stillfor another guy to kiss you. Was it good?" Like a switch was flipped, Sam immediately goes for the dirty details.

"Sam. It washot.Hotter than the Rocky Mountain guys,and we didn't even fuck." My last experience with wolves who'd wanted to share had been fun, but even they had nothing on Jay and couldn't hold a candle to JayandSaint. But it is the reference point forhotSam was most familiar with when it came to my tangles of the horizontal nature with two partners.

"Hotter than Rocky Mountain, huh? Interesting." Sam says, tilting her head to the side, white blonde hair falling across her shoulders. Her bob has grown a little, and she's wearing it loose with messy waves today.

"What am I going to do?"I whine to my friend as we walk back to the cash registers to clock in and begin our shifts.

Sam shrugs. "Go with the flow? What's the worst that could happen? Jay loves you andclearlydoesn't mind you kissing Saint, at least. Tell me if he's hung, though, okay?"

I laugh, tucking my bottle opener in my back pocket. "Why do you care? It's not likeyouwant it."

Sam shrugs again, making me envious of her trust in her tank top's placement. "I'm nosey."

"Theres a tattoo," I offer a crumb of gossip up to my friend.

"A TATTOO?" She screams in a comical half whisper just as Angel walks into the room.

By whatever stroke of luck Sam and I have, there is enough of a lull to eat together tonight. I take my usual order of fries with gravy on the side while she orders the fried tenders with waffles. I don't know how many establishments Cook has had the pleasure of doing what he does best. Still, I'mexceedinglyfucking grateful for him. Even if I always order the same, like… four things. I've tried almost all of the specials when he has them, but other than that, I don't stray too far outside my routine. I got the tenders and waffles yesterday on my shift. They were fantastic, but Saint had fed me before letting me leave today, so I'm not specifically hungry.

"So, what do you have going on tonight?" Sam asks me, folding her buttered waffle, tucking a tender inside, and dunking the entire thing in a little pot of spicy maple syrup. She takes amassivebite, chewing with a contented hum.

"Nothing, what's up?" I ask, knowing that whatever the boys had planned for later, if anything, could always wait.

"Want to come over? I know we practically see each other every day, but I want to hang out," Sam asks, taking another large bite.

"Sure. I'll follow you when we clock out. Or if Jay shows up, he can drive my car home tonight."