“And thank you again for being cool. Any other time with any other guy when all this other stuff isn’t happening, I’d appreciate it. But this isn’t what it seems. It’s something a whole lot different.”

“Okay,” she said quietly.

“Okay,” I whispered.

“We didn’t mean—” she started but I quickly cut her off.

“I know you didn’t, honey.”

“I won’t say anything to them about, you know,” she assured me and I closed my eyes.

Then I opened them and told her, “You don’t have to keep this secret. I did for too long. I didn’t do anything to be ashamed of so there’s no reason it shouldn’t be in the open.”

“Still, girl, I’ll let you do the talkin’.”

Okay, maybe she was nosy, meddling, and a little scary. But she was also very sweet.

“All right,” I replied.

“Over cosmos at Gwen’s.”

“Sounds good.”

“Another night.”

“Yeah.”

Silence then, softly, “He threw a chair?”

I smiled at the dash but my smile was for me. Then, softly back, I replied, “Yeah, he threw a chair.”

“I’m thinkin’ Hawk don’t know that,” she remarked.

“Well, maybe you should tell him.”

“Bet yo’ boots I will. I got one on Hawk. I never got one on Hawk.”

I laughed softly.

Through this, Elvira said, “Have fun with your hot guy.”

I smiled again. That one was for her even though she couldn’t see. Then I said, “I will.”

“Later, girlfriend.”

“Later, Elvira.”

I took the phone from my ear and hit END CALL. I dropped it in my purse, gathered up my stuff, was sure to bleep the locks on my car, and I braved the rickety steps.

I stood in front of door number sixteen and knocked.

Two seconds later it was thrown open by a tall, gorgeous, rounded, dark-haired, silver-eyed woman with a flushed face and a visible desire to kill.

I took a step back.

She whirled to face the apartment and shrieked, “Dylan! You do that to your brother one more time and it won’t be the naughty step when we get home! I don’t know what it’ll be I just know you… won’t… LIKE IT!”

I checked the impulse to grab my phone and inspect the text Brock sent me to make certain I got the apartment number right when she turned back to me, smiled sweetly, and said, “Hey, you must be Tess.”

I blinked.

She went on. “I’m Laura, Slim’s sister.”

My entire body seized and I feared an acute onset of epilepsy when I heard Brock’s rumble coming from deep in the apartment. “Jesus, Laura, what the fuck?”

To which Laura (apparently Brock’s sister!) turned back to face the apartment and snapped, “Slim, we try not to drop the f-bomb in front of the kids.”