Chapter 5 Definitely Not In Over My Head #3
We carry our haul to a battered picnic table parked under a flickering light.
It has splintered wood and carved initials that look older than all of us.
Theo drops onto the bench on one side first, Elias beside him, and I slide in too, shoulder-to-shoulder with my boys by default.
Raine takes the opposite bench, setting her soda down like she’s drawing a line in the middle of the table.
For someone who claims she wants quiet, she doesn’t look like she’s in a hurry to leave.
Elias leans his forearms on the table, still watching her while he pretends to eat. Theo unwraps his burger like it’s surgery, neat and careful. Meanwhile, I inhale mine in five bites, since my body is mostly adrenaline and bad decisions.
“So,” I start, pointing with a fry because manners are not always important. “I think that guy you dropped is gonna need a new jaw.”
Raine glances up, deadpan as she takes her first bite. “He shouldn’t have led with it.”
Theo’s laugh slips out, soft and surprised, like he didn’t mean to give her that. “You’re terrifying.”
She shrugs, chewing like she’s unbothered. “Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“It sounded like one.”
Elias’ mouth tilts, small but real, those soft smiles that linger in places they shouldn’t. “She’s right.”
I nudge him with my elbow, living for this. “Careful, doc. You’re smiling.”
“Am not.” He doesn’t even look at me, just takes a bite like it’s going to hide the fact he absolutely is.
Theo shakes his head, burger halfway to his mouth. “You both need help.”
“Probably.” I swipe another fry and grin around it. “But I’m having too much fun to care.”
Across from us, Raine bites the inside of her cheek like she’s trying not to smile, eyes dropping to her food like it’s safer than looking at me. “You always this talkative?”
“Only around beautiful women who could kill me.” I lean forward over the table like I’m settling in for the night.
“That’s zero survival instincts.” She takes another bite, still trying not to look impressed.
“I like living dangerously.”
Theo drags a hand down his face like he’s exhausted by my existence. “You like hearing yourself talk.”
“I’m a gift to conversation.”
“Gift, curse, same thing,” he mutters.
Elias makes a low sound in his throat as he chews. “Mostly curse.”
“Excuse me.” I tap the table like I’m calling a meeting. “You all love me.”
“Debatable.” Theo’s lips twitch even as he tries to look annoyed.
And then we spiral the way we always do, tossing jabs that barely make sense if you weren’t there for the original incidents, dragging up old arguments and running jokes like they’re treasured heirlooms. Elias actually smirks when Theo accuses me of using his first-aid kit as a bottle opener once, and I fire back that Theo once googled how to flirt mid-date.
It’s loud and fast and stupid in the best way, and somewhere in the middle of it Raine keeps eating, quiet but not gone, her shoulders loosening a little more with every bite like she’s forgetting, just for a minute, that she’s supposed to be alone.
And then—she laughs.
It slips out of her, quick and genuine, the kind of sound you can feel in your chest if you’re close enough.
We stop like someone hit pause on a movie.
Theo freezes, half a fry still hanging midair.
Elias blinks once, slow, like he’s checking if it really happened.
My grin falters into something softer because holy hell, it’s beautiful.
Raine catches me. You can see it the second she does, the way her mouth tightens and her smile slips right off her face as heat climbs up her cheeks. “Stop staring.” She tucks a loose strand behind her ear like that’ll fix the problem. “It’s weird.”
“Not staring,” I lie smoothly, it being basically cardio for me. “Just… appreciating the acoustics.”
Theo makes a sound like he’s in physical pain. “You made it weird.”
“She started it,” I shoot back, pointing across the table like I’m presenting evidence.
Her blush goes darker. “You’re still staring.”
“True.” I don’t even bother denying that part. “But you laughed.”
“Once.” She holds up one finger, expression flat like she can bully the moment back into nothing.
“That’s a start.”
“Don’t get used to it,” she warns, but her eyes dip to her burger like she’s hiding the fact she’s still fighting a grin.
With a grin more confident than it should be, I lean over the table toward her. “Too late.”
Theo chuckles under his breath, shaking his head, and Elias just watches her like he’s storing the sound somewhere safe. The lights buzz overhead, catching the shine in her eyes, and for a second, everything else blurs out—just her, us, and a quiet that somehow feels easy.
She finishes her soda, tosses it into the bin, and wipes her hand on her jeans. “You done eating yet?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Because this is where I say goodnight.”
“Hold on.” I grin, taking a step in her direction but not enough to crowd her. “You’re really gonna walk off without giving me your number?”
Her eyes narrow as she looks at me like I just offered her something suspicious. “You want my number?”
“Obviously.”
She doesn’t answer right away. She just holds my gaze for a long beat, letting the silence stretch like she’s testing whether I’ll fill it with more bullshit, and then her mouth tips into a smirk that makes my stomach do the stupid little flip it does when I’m winning. “I’ll find you if I ever need you.”
Theo blinks hard, like his brain stalled for a second. “You’ll what?”
“I’ll find you.” She repeats it while she’s already moving, stepping backward toward the lot like she’s slipping out of a room before someone can stop her. “If I feel like it.”
“That’s not how this works,” I call after her, unable to let a line like that sit unchallenged.
“It is now.”
She turns and walks off like she didn’t just rewrite the rules, the streetlight catching her glossy hair before it falls back into shadow.
Elias gathers his gear with the calm efficiency of someone who’s always prepared for things to go sideways, Theo tosses his wrapper like it offended him personally, and I keep watching her until she’s halfway across the lot.
My eyes apparently don’t take requests from my brain anymore.
“She’s something else,” Theo murmurs, the words slipping out quieter than his usual commentary, like he’s still trying to decide whether he’s impressed or concerned.
Elias makes a low sound of agreement, gaze still tracking her even as his hands stay busy. “Yeah. Trouble.”
“Worth it,” I mutter, and the grin won’t leave my face no matter how much I try to act normal about it.
We drift after her at an easy pace, not rushing or crowding, but also not pretending we’re suddenly going to mind our own business. She stops at her bike, like she knew we’d be right behind her as she slides her gloves on, not bothering to look back when she speaks.
“You three really don’t quit.”
“Persistence is a virtue,” I remind her with a grin.
“Annoyance is more accurate.” She throws it over her shoulder like a warning, but there’s a thread of something else in her tone, the faintest crack in the armor that sounds a lot like amusement.
“Tomato, tomahto.”
She settles her helmet on, visor still up just enough that I catch the ghost of a smile before she can kill it, and then she tilts her head like she’s reminding herself she’s not supposed to enjoy this. “Try not to get yourselves killed.”
“You too, Sunshine.”
Her visor snaps down, clean and final, cutting me off mid-grin. The bike roars to life a second later, the engine rumbling low enough I feel it in my chest, and she takes off fast, taillight flashing red until it disappears into the dark like she was never here.
Theo lets out a long breath beside me, slow and doomed. “We’re in trouble.”
Elias nods once. “Big trouble.”
I can’t stop smiling. “Definitely.”