Sniff was looking between Vance and me. “You guys gonna get married or somethin’?” Sniff asked.
My eyes unlocked from Vance’s and my head snapped around to glare at Sniff. I let out my breath in a whoosh using al my strength not to strangle the life out of him.
“Sniff!” I clipped, my body burning for an entirely different reason. “Why on earth would you say such a thing?”
“What?” he asked, al innocent, looking at me. “It could happen. I could be, like, your pal bearer or something.” I heard Luke chuckle. I knew it was amusing, however, I thought it would be a lot more amusing if it was happening to someone else.
“Ring bearer, stupid. A pal bearer carries a casket,” Roam told him. “And anyway, you’re too old to be a ring bearer. You could be an usher, they seat people.”
“How you know al this shit about weddings?” Sniff asked and then didn’t wait for an answer but kept right on talking, as usual. “Just as long as I get to wear one of them fancy suits. Those are the shit.”
“Stop saying shit,” I cut in, having had enough. “Don’t you boys have an appointment with the tutor about now?” Sniff grinned at me. “Yeah.”
“Wel then, go.” I took a deep breath and turned back to the Nightingale Boys.
As I guessed, they were al looking at me with their amused faces.
Whatever.
I looked to Roam to tel him to go to the tutor but he was looking at Crowe.
“See you around?” Roam asked, not quite able to hide the craving in his voice and I sucked in a breath.
Crowe just looked at him and I felt my heart begin to pound. Then Crowe lifted his hand, and, palm-out, he shoved Roam’s head to the side in one of those macho-man to mini-macho-man head-cuffs.
Crowe’s hand dropped and he murmured, “Yeah.” Roam’s face split into a huge smile, his glance skidded along Luke and Lee and he turned. His smile hit me and he walked away but before he did he purposeful y bumped me with his shoulder in a teenage-boy shoulder bump that was meant to show affection without real y showing it. Then he moved away, throwing an arm around Sniff’s neck, putting him in a headlock and taking Sniff with him before Sniff could say anything (else) stupid.
I looked at Vance and felt the clouds that fol owed my life around crack open for once and gorgeous sunlight beamed down on me.
I’d asked him to be nice to the kid, show him some attention. He had, but he went way beyond the cal of duty.
I could have kissed him. Of course, I did not.
May jogged up to us. “Blue room’s free,” she announced.
“Thanks May,” I said, pushing down my thoughts of kissing Crowe, thinking maybe simply thanking him was a better way to go, and leading the Nightingale Boys to the blue room.
I opened the door to the blue room and let them precede me. I caught Crowe by the arm before he went inside and whispered, “After this, I want to talk to you.” He looked at me closely for a beat trying to read me but I kept my face as blank as I could. Then he nodded. Crowe and I went in and I closed the door behind us.
There was a couch and a table with some chairs around it. No one sat so I didn’t either.
“What’s going on?” I asked Lee.
“Darius wants a meet,” Lee told me, not leading into it, just saying it straight out.
My mouth dropped open. Then I snapped it shut because I figured a badass mother wouldn’t stare with her mouth open.
“With me?” I asked stupidly. They hadn’t come al the way to the Shelter to tel me Darius wanted to meet with the Queen of England.
“Yeah. It’l be you and Vance, Darius and me. Tomorrow night. Can you fit that into your ass-kicking schedule?” Lee inquired.
Luke chuckled again. I frowned at Luke and he quit chuckling but he gave me one of his sexy half-grins. I turned back to Lee.
“What’s this meet about?” I asked.
Vance was standing at my side, close to my side, not close-close as in loverly close, but close enough.
“He’s got an offer he wants to make you,” Lee answered.
“What kind of offer?”
“Don’t know; he hasn’t shared. He wants you off the street and he’s wil ing to negotiate,” Lee told me.
I stared at him. This was an interesting turn of events.
“What does that mean, negotiate? Is he going to offer me money?” I pressed.
“Likely,” Luke said and my eyes cut to him. Then they went back to Lee.
“Forget it. I’m not taking money,” I declared and I felt Vance get tense beside me, in fact, the entire room got tense.
“Law –” Lee started.
“No way. Forget it,” I stated in my word-is-law voice.
“Take the meet. Listen to what he has to say,” Lee advised.
“I’m not going to sit down with a drug dealer and listen to him offering me money he’s made by destroying people’s lives. No. That is not going to happen,” I said.