Always Crew

Jordan left the group

Bren: You’re just asking to annoy J and me. You’re not even planning on reading his response.

Cross: It’s like you bone me. I mean ‘know’ me.

Bren left the group.

Unknown number: This is your father. Stay away from Twister Sister and your job.

Unknown number: I love you.

Bonbon: I programmed my number in your phone.

Bonbon: If you need backup doing whatever you’re doing, call me. I know a guy that can get a van, the VIN numbers scratched out and dummy license plates. No questions asked. He’ll just charge twenty bucks to clean it out afterwards.

Bonbon: Offer’s always there.

Bonbon: You should change your passcode.

Bren: Hey.

Taz: Nope. I’m enjoying the emails.

Taz: Miss you! Stay safe. Hug my brother for me.

Taz: The one you sleep with, not the other one.

Taz: Just clarifying.

Taz: Going back to emails now.

BREN

Aspen calling.

I was still frowning about my dad’s text when I answered. “Hey.”

“Bren! Hi!”

I eased back. Aspen’s voice hitched at the end, squeaking. She was nervous.

“What’s up?”

“Um. So.” She let out a breath. “I know Blaise asked you to kinda watch over me tomorrow night, but I’m actually calling about something else.”

“Okay?”

She was silent.

I waited.

Another beat.

I had to smile. For how in your face her boyfriend was, I forgot how not in your face his girlfriend was. “Hey, just so you know.”

“Yeah?” She inhaled into the phone.

“I would’ve hung out with you tomorrow night anyway. Your guy didn’t have to ask me to do that.”

“I know.” A sigh. “But it’s nice to hear. But, okay. Here we go. Um, I was thinking that since Blaise doesn’t have a game tonight, and he just texted that Jordan and Zellman both weren’t in class so … would you and Cross be interested in a double date? With us, I mean. Tonight.” She rushed on, not letting me answer, “I mean. You know. It doesn’t have to be anything big or a lengthy time investment. Or, it can be short. We don’t even need to talk. We can do dinner and a movie. Yeah. Maybe a drive-thru so Cross and Blaise don’t have to talk, then a movie.”

I bit my lip to keep from laughing. “I think both will endure a date for us.”

She sighed again. “You don’t know Blaise—” She cut herself off. “Wait! You do. You totally know him, but yeah. Let’s do that angle. If I tell him it’s important to me, he’ll watch himself.”

Which was something I wasn’t surprised about.

Aspen was the giant pinkie finger and Blaise was wrapped around it. Totally and completely.

“We can do dinner and a movie, if you’d like?”

“I would.”

We decided on a venue and a time, and then I delivered the news.

Cross’s response was, “What?!”

I laughed. This was going to be a fun night.

Aspen picked a diner that was off-campus and set a little off the normal path, meaning when we pulled up, the parking lot was half-empty. Cross parked the truck and just shook his head. “Why are we doing this?”

I laughed.

I’d been laughing most the day.

“Because Aspen called and it’s Aspen.”

He growled. “That doesn’t work for me. Why the fuck are we doing this?”

I grinned. “Because Aspen called and it’s—”

He threw open his door and stalked out.

I laughed, following. Meeting around at the front, Cross shook his head. “You owe me for this.” And his hand dropped to my ass, giving me a good squeeze.

My mouth dropped, but I felt a whole zing go through me. Yeah. Maybe I would owe him, and he relaxed, grinning. “You okay with that?”

I was just fine with that. A full fucking throb was starting in me, and now I was pissed we had to do dinner and a movie.

I hadn’t told him about the movie part yet.

“So.”

Aspen looked at me.

I looked back. “So.”

Cross and Blaise were glaring at each other.

The waitress had come and gone. We had our drinks. The orders were put in, now we waited. And we had ordered so quickly, because yeah, the silence. All the silence.

Aspen cleared her throat, picking up her drink. “So, um…Cross.”

He looked at her.

She swallowed, her head dipping. “How’s your sister?”

Immediately, the tension slipped into a different feel. Blaise settled back, a cocky smirk coming to his face and Cross’ face darkened, tightening. He nodded at his brother. “He hasn’t told you? From what I’ve heard, she’s talking more to him than me.”

Blaise grunted. “She’s your twin.”

“You got an opinion on my relationship with Taz?”

And, “When I get pulled into listening to her complain about how you’re still not taking her calls, yeah. I got an opinion,” was shot right back.

“Let’s hear it.”

“I’ve already told you. Stop ignoring your sister.”

“I’m not ignoring my sister.”

“You been to see her?”

Cross frowned. He glanced at me.

Blaise wasn’t done. “When’s the last time you talked to her? Talk-talked, like on the goddamn phone and longer than five minutes.”