I laugh. Audrey is watching me like I’m Santa. Like she’s expecting more. More joy. More surprises. More magic.
“He’s hot,” I agree. How can anyone deny it? “And nice.”
“Ah.” Looking pleased, she leans back as the waiter brings my coffee.
Sugar, no milk. As it’s written in my folder.
A pang goes through my chest. I shouldn’t be missing Zane so much already. He’s only been gone a couple of hours.
“Audrey… what do you know about Zane’s sister?”
Her cinnamon brows lift, and she pushes a fiery-red strand of hair behind her ear. “His sister? Not much. I’m not that close to Zane. You should ask Erin.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know Erin that well.”
“What’s wrong?”
“His sister is sick. I don’t know what she has, but it must be bad. Zane is concerned.”
The understatement of the year.
“Maybe Ash knows. Shall we ask him now?”
I take a deep breath. “See, I knew he was hiding under your chair.”
She laughs and pulls out her cell phone. “He and the guys are hanging out at Damage Control. They’re…” She presses her lips together, and I don’t like the concern tightening her fine features.
“Audrey?”
“Sorry. They’re worried about Dylan. Tessa is beside herself with frustration, but as long as Dylan doesn’t tell us what exactly is the problem, there’s not much we can do.”
“What happened?”
“Just that his dad seems to have gone off the rails again… and his little brother, Teo, isn’t doing well.”
Off the rails. Sounds bad. “Is his brother sick?”
“Yes, but Dylan won’t say more. Seriously, we’ve asked a thousand times, but we won’t tell us what the problem is. It’s driving everyone crazy. But he looks bad. His grades are slipping. He’s already lost his scholarship, and now he may even lose his job.”
Christ. “What can I do?”
“Nothing until we find out more. The only person Dylan might open up to is Zane. He needs to talk to Dylan.” She shakes her head. “Let me call Ash.”
I sip my coffee and look around the cafe, not really seeing anything, my thoughts wandering from Dylan to Zane and back. The whole Inked Brotherhood is built on pain. I knew that from the moment Audrey explained to me the thing about the dragon tattoos—the moment I decided I deserved one, too. But they hide their pain well. It’s not until they break down and everything collapses that we others get to see the festering wound.
I put down my coffee when Audrey passes me her phone. “It’s Ash.”
Suddenly nervous, I wipe my palms on my jeans before I grab it and answer. “Hi, Ash.”
“Hey.” His deep voice vibrates through the phone. “Auds says you wanna ask me about something?”
“Yeah.” And now I feel like a busybody, asking him this, especially when he’s in the middle of trying to figure out what is happening to Dylan. “It’s about Zane’s sister.”
“Emma?”
Emma. She has a name. “Yes.”
“You have news about her?”