I felt myself sway.

I’d been waiting for this a hell of a long time … but shit. Things were so up in the air with Em right now, on top of everything else.

“Okay,” I said slowly. “And after that?”

“You’re with me,” he said. “We’ll keep Skid and the boys in Portland for now. I still want a presence there, even more important now. Pack your shit, we’ll be traveling light. I figure the next few weeks’ll get interesting. Bring Skid with you when you come down, got me?”

“Yeah,” I said, trying to wrap my head around it. I hung up the burner and sighed, flopping back down on my bed. I needed more sleep. Sleep, and then I’d figure out what the hell I was doing.

I didn’t text Em back.

No idea what I’d say to her anyway.

EM

Water hit me in the face.

I screamed, falling out of bed to find my witch of a sister standing over me, laughing her ass off.

Note to self: Tell Cookie to never let Kit in the house again.

“You’re a bitch,” I muttered, wiping off my face with the sheet.

“True,” she said thoughtfully. “But I’m the bitch who’s here to take you shopping. I need a new purse.”

“They don’t have stores in Olympia?”

“They have stores,” she said. “But they don’t have my sister. I’m so excited to have you close—it’s like we’re back in high school again!”

“You were a bitch then, too.”

She picked up my phone.

“Oohhh,” she said. “What happened last night? I see a long phone call to Hunter and then a text saying you finished alone? You want to tell me what that’s all about?”

I climbed out of bed and pulled off my cami, flinging it at her. It landed on her head and dripped water into her hair, but she didn’t even seem to notice.

“We talked for a while,” I said. “Then he had to go. What time is it?”

“Almost noon,” she said absently. “So you can’t really blame me for throwing water on you. How else would I wake you up?”

“Some people use words.”

“Boring people. You want to shower before we go? I really do need a purse. We’ll go shopping, then come back here and fix dinner for Cookie. Then Kelsey and I are taking you dancing.”

“Kelsey?”

“Hunter’s sister,” she said. “We’ve been in touch. No offense, but I think me and her have way more in common than me and you. She’s in touch with her inner bitch, and she’s not afraid to go after what she wants.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“I see that,” she said, holding up the phone with a wicked grin. “I’m really proud of you. You should try calling him now.”

She hit a button and handed me the phone already ringing. I glared at her, but it was too late to hang up. He’d know I called, so might as well play it through. Unfortunately, he didn’t answer.

“Hey, it’s me,” I said, glaring at Kit. “Just wanted to make sure you’re okay. I’ll talk to you later.”

I hung up.

“Good,” Kit said. “You’ve made a move. Now you’re going to leave your phone here while we shop, so you can’t answer if he calls back.”

“Why?”

“Don’t want to sound too eager,” she said thoughtfully. “You not only talked to him last night, but you’ve already texted and called, too.”

“I didn’t call,” I said pointedly.

“He doesn’t know that. You want to shower before we go? No offense, but you look like shit.”

“I’m not sure I like living closer to you.”

“You love me and you know it.”

Unfortunately, I did.

Six hours later we pulled back into Cookie’s driveway, the car full of Chinese carryout and three new purses. Two for Kit and one for me. Not that I needed a new bag, but it would’ve been rude not to buy anything at all, right?

“Sorry we aren’t cooking,” I apologized as I walked in the door. “We sort of lost track of time. Hope takeaway is all right?”

Cookie glanced up from the couch, where she sat reading with Silvie.

“If I don’t have to cook it, I don’t care where it comes from,” she said. “Silvie, help me clear off the coffee table. Let’s have a picnic out here, sound good?”

Silvie loved that idea, and after another five minutes we were opening boxes of hot, steaming food.

“Where are you girls going tonight?” Cookie asked.

“Just downtown,” Kit said. “Meeting up with a friend, doing some dancing. That kind of thing.”

“Be careful,” Cookie said. “Deke tells me things are a little unsettled.”

“He give any details?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “But if it was serious, they’d let us know. Just don’t get too drunk, okay?”

We promised, finishing our dinner. Then we got slutted up in my room and I realized I’d gone all afternoon without my phone. I searched through my covers, turning it on hopefully.

Hunter hadn’t called, though.

Nope, just a quick text.

HUNTER: Sorry I had to go last night. I’ll catch up with you later. Lot going on

“That’s not very exciting,” Kit said, biting her lip thoughtfully. “He should be all over you by now.”

“Well, he said he was busy.”

“No man is too busy to get laid,” she replied, her voice knowing. “Speaking of, that’s what you’ll be doing tonight. I’ve made up my mind.”

“What?”

“Getting laid. Before we leave the club tonight, we’re finding someone for you to sleep with. Hunter wants a piece of your ass, he’ll have to stand in line.”

“Do I get a vote in this?” I asked, rolling my eyes.

“Do you ever?”

Kit made good on her threat. Ten minutes after we walked into the club, she’d scoped out six different guys she’d decided might be worthy of my bed. I flipped her off and bought myself a beer. I wasn’t interested in sleeping with some random asshole in a bar.

Still, as the night progressed and no word from Hunter, I got a little annoyed. I’d had phone sex with him just the night before, and now nothing? Not that he owed me anything. I knew that. But the fact that I didn’t have the right to be annoyed was even more annoying.

I drank another beer.

An hour later Kelsey joined us at the club. She was definitely a little rough around the edges, but I decided I liked her. She and Kit really were alike in so many ways it was scary. Put them together on the dance floor and the men didn’t have a chance.

Not that I did too poorly myself.

I had no intention of bringing anyone home, but after a while I found a cute guy to hang out with. His name was Devon, he was tall and somewhat built, and he smelled pretty good when he wrapped his arms around me. He had clean-cut looks, the total opposite of Hunter in every way. Kit gave me a silent thumbs-up in approval. Kelsey told me pointedly that her brother could kick his ass without even noticing.

I told Kelsey that Hunter wasn’t around, so he couldn’t kick anyone’s ass. She flipped me off and I decided she could go screw herself, along with her stupid brother who couldn’t call me back after hanging up mid-phone-sex. Fortunately, Devon was a great distraction. We alternated dancing, talking, and drinking, and gradually I learned that he was in as fucked-up a nonrelationship as mine.

Well, maybe not quite as fucked-up. I didn’t ask, but so far as I could tell, he hadn’t actually been involved in a kidnapping.

But other than that, things were about the same.

It made him the perfect partner for the evening, and it got Kit off my back, too. Of course, Kelsey continued to scowl at me, but I didn’t give a shit about her. I might like her all right, but I wasn’t looking for a new best friend. Anyway, once I established Devon as “safe,” I let myself go and enjoyed his company, leaving Ms. Grumpy scowling behind me. We danced to almost every song, and nothing I did was too dorky for Devon.

To be fair, he was kind of dorky himself, and so funny I got to the point where I couldn’t stop laughing. Seriously. I had this giant laughing fit and I couldn’t stop and he kept doing weirder dance moves and it was insane.