Page 62 of Tempting Fate

I shake my head at myself, stomach rumbling again at the sight of a cinnamon roll as big as my face. If I can’t ignore my worries, at least I can eat until they seem less important. And honestly, I have to talk to Jamie about this tonight, and I don’t want to do that on an empty stomach.

“Can I—” I hesitate. Lark hasn’t moved, and he doesn’t come closer now. “Can I get a cinnamon roll and a latte, please?”

He glares at me for a moment longer, then nods curtly and puts everything through the till. “I will bring it over,” he says once I’ve paid. He has an unusual, lilting accent—one that sounds a little posh, like mine. When I hesitate, the glare deepens. “Go.”

I jolt and hurry over to where Dax is sitting. He watches Lark with a curious expression. “I don’t know what’s got into him,” he says, leaning in conspiratorially. “He’s usually… well. Not friendly.”

I laugh despite myself, and Dax laughs too, and we both try to swallow it when Lark brings my food and drink over—setting both down carefully, all things considered—but we’re suppressing chuckles as he walks away.

“So,” Dax says, wrapping big hands around a mug that seems almost comically sized in his grip. “Everything okay? You seem like you’ve settled in well with Jamie and Nick.”

“Yeah, they’re… they’re great.” I pick at my cinnamon roll, eating a couple of bites mostly to keep my mouth full. Maybe then I won’t have to talk about it because I have the feeling Dax is heading somewhere I won’t like.

“And Patch?” Dax picks up his mug and pretends to take an unaffected sip. I raise one eyebrow. “How are things going with him?”

I sigh and lean back in my seat, pushing my plate away. Dax frowns. “I don’t know,” I say.

“What do you mean? Did something happen?”

“No, I just—Look, I don’t think I should be talking about this. I promised them—”

Dax’s eyes widen and I bite my tongue. Literally. It hurts.

“Oh,” he says. “Jamie, I guess?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh.” He takes an actual drink this time, looking past me, over at the counter. Lark is nowhere to be seen, thank fuck. I don’t think I could take him staring at me for much longer.

“It’s not… I’m not sure if I pushed them too far.”

“I’m not certain—”

“It’s just, I thought it was a good idea at the time. I thought we all did. But then Jamie kind of ran off and hid, and I don’t know what is going on between him and Patch because it seemed like they had something before I even got here—” I jerk my head up, looking at him. “Did they?”

“Not that I know of,” Dax manages. He looks distinctly uncomfortable.

I sigh. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—” I make a frustrated sound. “This is exactly what I didn’t want to do.”

Maybe I should ring Cate. I’m going to be a mess until Jamie gets home, and what if he wants me to leave the house? What if he decides to leave, pushes to move for that job, or even gets another one?

“You shouldn’t worry so much,” another voice says, and I lift my head to see another man standing over us. I can’t tell if he or Dax is bigger—they’re both huge—but he has the same kind of soft smile and flour dusting his T-shirt.

Dax gets up and drags a chair over. “You finished early.”

“I heard you talking,” the man replies with a shrug. He sits and then sticks out his hand for me to shake. “I’m Drew.”

“Oh, you—You make dinner for everyone. Jamie told me.”

Drew flushes, apparently pleased. “Yeah, I do. He doesn’t always come over, but it’s nice when he does. Same for Patch.”

“How much of all that just now did you hear?”

Drew and Dax exchange amused glances. “Oh, I think most of it,” Drew says. “Made some things make sense.”

Dax frowns. “It did?”

“I don’t—” I shake my head. “I think Patch is fine. He wants to see me tomorrow, but Jamie… I don’t know what I did. I just want to fix it.”