Ride: Hearts Wild Series

"Well, we don't have to go right away."

"We do." She nodded. "See, it all depends on the casino, too. You go to one of the newer ones, there's more young people and, since we're in luck, the newest one here also has the best buffet."

"Exactly how many times have you been to these buffets?"

Zoe leveled an irritated gaze at him. "Do you really want me to answer that? Just trust me."

At the next stop, a few of the older women shuffled off the bus and Zoe gave them an approving nod. "Oldest casino on the strip. See, they know the deal."

"I doubt they're checking when the building was constructed before they decide where to eat dinner."

"They don't have to. They know it in their blood."

The bus rolled on, and Zoe pointed out a few more landmarks of the city, not least of which were the strip clubs and liquor stores she used to go to find her father. With each, she had a funny story—getting free prime rib at the place called The Slap and Tickle or the place where she and Quinn had scored their first underage alcohol purchase. But with each of them, Ian felt the slightest bit sadder.

Quinn had mentioned their time here, of course, but it wasn't until he heard the stories and Zoe’s bone-deep knowledge of this town that Ian realized what life must have been like for them. And, at the end of it, they would have to go back to their old apartment that smelled like stale cigarettes and desperation.

It seemed like the sort of thing that would sink into a person's soul, no matter how easygoing Zoe seemed to be about the whole thing.

Where he saw glittering, flashing lights and fun, tantalizing games, she saw the very things that had robbed her of a normal childhood. It was understandable that Quinn wouldn't have come here, and the more he got to know about their surroundings, the more he realized what kind of sacrifice it had been for Zoe to come back here to begin with.

More than anything, he wished there was some way to change it. If he could just wipe all the memories away, she could see this place as the tourist destination it was supposed to be, but he wouldn't know where to begin or how to start.

"All right, almost there," Zoe said. The bus rolled over a bridge and wound around a few more corners before stopping in front of a giant golden building with multicolored lights.

"Best buffet in the city." Zoe gave the place an approving nod then stood and motioned for Ian to join her.

They exited the bus and stepped through the revolving doors, and then Zoe was off again, navigating the place like it was her own home.

Which, he supposed, it sort of had been.

"I've got to apologize. I don't know this place as well as some of the other ones. It didn't show up until I was in my late teens, but"—she shrugged—"you can't beat the sushi."

They came to an escalator and she stepped on quickly, allowing him to follow her yet again. "So, before we get in there, let's lay a few ground rules."

He raised his eyebrows.

"Right, so the sushi is great, but they want you to fill up on carbs. Crab and shrimp are amazing, so is the carving station. It's Saturday, so that means there's prime rib and turkey. Get the prime rib because the turkey is sometimes dry."

He nodded, and she continued to rattle off instructions until his head swam with information.

"Got it?" she asked, and he nodded again.

"Oh, and one last thing. How many pockets do you have?"

"What?"

"How many pockets do you have?” She asked the question like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “My purse isn't very big."

"What does that have to do—?"

"It's an old trick Quinn and I used to do. Back then, it was because sometimes there wasn't a lot of food in the house, but I'm thinking we're going to be hungry tomorrow and we've already lost a lot of time. So, you know, if you can stuff some rolls or cookies in your pockets for the road, that's probably a good idea."

He laughed. "I'm not doing that."

"Why not?"

"Because we live in a world where drive-thrus exist. Let's not go crazy, here."