Ozrik #3
“He can’t stay in there indefinitely,” I snapped after a time. “Charles will put cameras in our rooms, and we don’t want that.”
“Why are you so worried about my brother?” Olivia clicked to a different screen with a different readout.
“I’m just saying. We have minimal privacy as it is, and it would fucking suck if we lost it.”
“He doesn’t want to be here.”
I stared at the side of her face, a curl of anger winding around my belly. She wouldn’t look at me. “Then why is he here, Olivia?” I added snark to her name.
She didn’t respond.
“Hmm. Is it because you forced him into this game?”
Nothing.
“Because you needed five players and didn’t want to admit you were short? That would have disqualified you.”
She didn’t speak.
I huffed. “Couldn’t walk away, could you? This was our gig.”
“We were invited to join.”
“Except Charles wants five people, and Dennis didn’t realize you were a team of four, so you roped your brother in against his will, knowing he wouldn’t say no.”
Olivia’s hot gaze clashed with mine. “Really? You want to go there, Devereaux?” She added the same snark to my name.
“Where’s your fifth, huh? I haven’t seen Elliott yet.
At least my fifth showed up. I don’t think Charles has a clue that Elliott’s only a part-time chaser who’s absent most of the time. ”
“You don’t know shit.”
“I know he has a family and a job.”
“He’ll be here.” I could have pointed out that the notion of five-player teams was moot, but it boiled my blood that Charles had somehow talked us into this nonsense.
“Why are you so concerned about my brother?”
“I’m not. I was making a point about privacy and cameras. For all our sakes.”
“No, you weren’t.” I didn’t like the way she narrowed her eyes, as though if she looked hard enough, she could see beneath my skin. “What happened last week?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“When Gale got stuck in the ditch, you were with him. He abandoned his own Jeep in the middle of a thunderstorm and took off. I found him drenched and sitting against a random fence. He’s been acting weird ever since. What happened?”
“How should I know?” I was a bug under a microscope. Ordinarily, I didn’t shy away from anything or anyone. I had no filter and no fucks to give, but this wasn’t my story to tell.
“Why did he leave the Jeep?”
“He got tired of waiting and decided to go see what was happening.”
“And you didn’t go with him?”
“He didn’t look like he wanted company.” It was the closest thing to the truth I could say.
Olivia tracked my face like she was looking for a lie. It made it hard to hold her gaze.
“You’re not telling me something.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“Leave my brother alone. If I catch you harassing him, I will kick your ass.”
“Sure. No problem.” Except leaving Gale alone was the one thing I couldn’t seem to do.
Not in the mood to fight with Olivia, I pushed back from the desk. “I’m going to grab food before things get chaotic.”
Olivia faced the screens and didn’t respond.
The diner had a selection of Southern comfort foods that appealed to me in a way I couldn’t explain. Maybe Olivia didn’t care about Gale’s continued absence, but it got under my skin, and I needed an excuse to check on him.
Food was a feasible excuse. It had been hours since we arrived, and he must be getting hungry, right?
I ordered two servings of fried chicken with mac and cheese, alongside two sweet teas and two helpings of apple crumble, figuring I couldn’t go wrong unless Gale was a vegetarian.
Vern, Maggie, and Lex occupied a booth. Hugh and Arty lingered nearby, cameras ever rolling.
I sat beside Lex as I waited for my order, offering Maggie a polite smile. It was odd that she had chosen to hang out with my people and not her own, but she seemed like a nice girl.
“Elliott’s not coming until morning.” Lex turned his phone so I could read the recent text he’d received.
“Shit.” That wouldn’t go over well when Charles found out. “Why didn’t he text me?”
Vern and Lex both gave me matching deadpan expressions. Frowning, I dug my phone from a pocket and was met with over a dozen unanswered texts. Most were from Stella, but two were from Elliott.
“In my defense, I’ve trained myself to ignore my phone.” I spun it to show them the recent damage. “For reasons.”
Vern chuckled. “I fucking love your mom.”
“You can have her. She’s relentless.” Opening the string of texts from my mother, I skimmed, finding familiar content.
She knew I was out of town, but it didn’t alter her level of concern or diminish the sheer number of questions.
If anything, her anxiety was elevated. My lack of response didn’t help.
Before she called the Tulsa police, I texted I’m not dead in a ditch. Sorry that I forgot to tell you when I arrived. We made it to Tulsa in one piece. Getting dinner now. Then, to pad the blow, I added I love you.
“How are we organizing passengers later?” Vern asked as I slipped my phone away.
“I’m driving Black Bug.” Lex munched fries, clearly pleased with his designated role.
“I don’t know what to suggest. It’s going to be war.”
“We should draw straws or something,” Maggie suggested.
“I like that idea,” Vern said.
It was probably the only way to make it work without a battle, and I said as much.
“Order up,” a guy called from behind the counter.
“That’s me.”
Lex raised a brow. “You’re taking it to go?”
“Yeah.” I didn’t mention how I’d bought enough for two, nor that I planned to lure the elusive Gale out of hiding if possible. Let them think I was taking it back to eat at the command post with Olivia. It was easier, and maybe Hugh and Arty wouldn’t follow.
I left my friends, grabbed the takeout, and headed across the street to the motel.
Instead of knocking, I slipped into my room—Noah was out cold—and poked my head through the door that joined with Gale’s.
He was alone, sitting on his bed, leaning against the headboard, and with his nose in a book.
“Hey,” I whispered, not wanting to wake Noah. “Can I come in?”
Jolting, Gale flashed his attention away from the pages, only to relax when he saw it was me.
“Hi.” Gale shut the book and set it aside.
I softly closed the door but didn’t move farther, aiming for a friendly, nonthreatening smile. I was more nervous than I expected, which wasn’t like me. Whatever this was between us had fucked me up.
I held up the takeout bag. “Are you hungry? I got food.”
“Oh… For both of us?”
“Yeah. Didn’t want your stomach growling when we were on the road later.”
“Thanks.” He glanced around as though wondering where we might eat.
“I haven’t seen you all afternoon. Your sister didn’t seem concerned, but… I wanted to be sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine. I was…” He glanced at his book and pressed his lips together. “Napping?”
I chuckled. “If Charles asks, I will swear an oath to that effect.” I indicated the door. “There’s a picnic bench outside at the far end of the parking lot, and it hasn’t started raining. The wind is picking up, but… Care to join me?”
Gale glanced at the door to the outside but didn’t seem thrilled at the suggestion.
“Look, I’d rather sit in here too, but I suspect the film crew is reporting to Charles, and they saw me come in here with food. We can’t camp out in our rooms.”
“There’s no privacy anywhere.”
“Unfortunately, no.”
Gale sighed. “Okay. I guess.”
Entering the room proper, I shuffled the food into one arm and snagged Gale’s hand, tugging him to his feet.
He froze, questions in his eyes.
Without saying a word, I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his mouth. It was brief and chaste, but I’d been dying to do it all day.
When I pulled away, I offered a gentle smile that he shakily returned, but not without a metric ton of apprehension.