“What are you doing?” Shawn asks gruffly, not a trace of humor to be seen in the hard planes of his face. She’s tall for her age, but he towers over her.

She blows a raspberry and crosses her arms as she juts her chin up at him. “Just chillin’. Killin’. You know how it goes. What’s up with you?”

Shawn blinks unimpressed. And then in a move that throws me for a loop, he reaches up and flicks her point-blank in the forehead.

Her grin only grows.

And this time, I swear I see Shawn’s mouth twitch.

“Mom working late?” Mason asks, interrupting...whatever the fuck that was.

“Yep,” Phoebe says with a pop. “Can I invite Hollie over?”

Mason gives her a look. “Last time you two had the apartment to yourselves, it took us five days to get the pink hair-dye out of the carpet.”

“There’s still a weird tint in spots,” Waylon says dryly.

Just then the door opens, letting in a couple of older men wearing construction gear. Likely just coming off a job, by the looks of their sweaty, dirt-caked skin. Mason gives them a wave before grabbing an empty pitcher. They must be regulars.

Shawn arches a brow at Phoebe. “Upstairs.”

“No.”

His jaw ticks. “Phoebe.”

She narrows her eyes, a smile that is anything but sweet lifting her cheek. “Only if Hollie can come over.”

He blinks. “I don’t give a shit. Just don’t burn the place down.”

Rolling her eyes, she pushes past him to head toward the steps. “Jesus, you start a fire one time...”

Mason reaches over just as she goes to pass him and roughly musses her hair. “See ya, Squirt. Be good.”

“Later, Crush.”

Mason goes to greet the construction workers with a full pitcher of beer and plastic cups, while Shawn heads over to the register. Which leaves Waylon and me alone.

I watch as he grabs a bottle of Johnny Walker. Filling a tumbler with ice, he pours out several fingers of whiskey.

“What’s the deal with that?” I ask as I watch him forgo the soda and lift the glass to his lips.

He stiffens. “What?”

I jerk my head toward Shawn. “Shawn and Phoebe. They seem...close.”

“They are. She’s basically his little sister. Mason and Phoebe’s mom took him in a few years ago, so for all intents and purposes, he’s family.”

I hum. Interesting.

Taking a big gulp, he doesn’t even grimace at the burn. I watch as his throat bobs delicately with his swallow, and fuck, if I’m not suddenly parched myself.