Unthinkable (Unstoppable 2)

My mom brought her hands up to smooth some flyaway strands of honey-colored hair back off her forehead, then faced Bella with a tight smile. “That’s great, Bella, honey.”

“Everything okay?” I asked with a frown. “You seem distracted.”

She nodded in my direction without meeting my eyes. “Yes, sorry. Just got a lot on. I’m going to load the car. Bring your breakfast with you, Bella. You can finish it on the way.”

Bella scrunched her nose and deposited the half-eaten slice back in the rack before looking up at me. “Toast is burnt.”

Shrugging, I fastened my arms over my chest. “Why don’t you call the toast police?”

Bella’s lips formed a flat line as she blinked slowly. “That wasn’t even a little bit funny, Liss.”

My eyes rounded as she pivoted on her heel and strutted her sassy ass out the door. Wow. Schooled by a prepubescent brat before eight am. What a way to start the day.

***

“Snow Queen, wait up.”

I scowled and threw an irritated glance back over my shoulder, confirming that yes, Leon Bradshaw was indeed jogging in my direction across the parking lot.

Urgh, what now? Didn’t we just talk yesterday?

Ignoring him, I turned away and upped my pace. It took him less than five seconds to catch up. I made a mental note to add cardio to my workout routine, then made another to actually put together a workout routine—strutting to and from the car multiple times a day probably didn’t count.

When his face appeared in my peripheral. I snapped, “What now?”

Edging in front of me, he walked backward and curved his mouth into a grin. “Nobody’s around now, Snow Queen. Feel free to drop the act any time.”

Without sparing him a glance, I said, “Spit it out or get the hell out of my face.”

“Christ.” He leaned in and peered closer into my face in a way that would earn him a slap if he wasn’t careful. “You’re a whole new level of bitchy today, huh? What is it, time of the month?”

I speared him with a frosty glare. “Nope, this is just my personality. If you don’t like it, you know what to do.”

He raked a hand through his windswept blonde hair and whistled, falling back, and settling into step beside me. “Okay. Guess I’ll just get to it, then.”

My brow lifted. “Will you, though? Because you’ve already wasted five minutes of my life and I’m still fucking waiting.”

He made a low sound somewhere between a chuckle and a growl, then cleared his throat. “What’s going on with Riley and Ren?”

Frowning, I turned to him. “What the hell am I? Their PR manager?”

His head dropped with a chuckle, and he murmured under his breath, something that sounded like, “You don’t even want to know what I think you are.”

I pulled up short and faced him. “What was that?”

“Huh? I didn’t say anything.” He widened his eyes and gave his head a light shake, his perfect surfer boy face a picture of pure innocence.

I narrowed my eyes before pivoting and striding away from him. “No wonder Riley said she could never find your balls. She just assumed they must be teeny, tic-tac balls. Turns out they’re not even that big… you don’t fucking have any.”

“Now, just a goddamn minute.” A firm hand grasped my elbow and tugged me back. “Riley said that?”

I groaned and pulled my arm out of his hold.

“If she did, it’s not true,” Leon called to my retreating figure from where I left him rooted to the spot. Probably on the verge of tears.

“I don’t care,” I sang out, waving a dismissive hand over my shoulder. Guys and their goddamn balls. Like anyone cared about the size of someone’s scrotum.

“I’ve got a huge fucking set of balls, Alissa. You’re welcome to check them out for yourself!”