Bucked (The Invincibles 6)

“Who?” she asked with scrunched eyes.

He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. Whatever he said made her eyes open wide. “No!”

“I’m going to head out and see if I can meet up with my crew,” said Deck. He tipped his hat to my sister. “It was nice to meet you, Flynn.”

“What was that all about?” I asked Stella once he was gone.

“Ali.”

“What about her?”

“She may be staying here too.”

11

Stella

“I see,” said Buck.

I studied his face, trying to read something—anything—into the two words he spoke. Was he happy Ali would be staying here? Particularly since there was no mention of Cope joining her? “Too bad about their honeymoon.”

“Deck hasn’t said anything to me about this.”

I shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to figure out who will stay where.”

He shrugged like I had. “Nothing changes as far as I’m concerned.”

“What does that mean?”

He took a step closer to me. “It means you are my first priority, and that’s what you’ll remain. It’s up to Deck to assign someone to Ali and Irish.”

I wouldn’t say anything now, but I’d lay money down that once Ali arrived, she would fill the top spot for the handsome cowboy.

“Let’s get settled. You too, Irish. Give me a minute.” I watched him walk down the hallway and open a closed door.

“I should head out now too,” said Flynn. “But I’m sure I’ll see you later.”

She wasn’t talking to me, so I didn’t respond. In fact, I doubted if Irish or Buck’s sister even remembered I was in the room.

“I’d like that,” he murmured, following her to the front door. Irish stood in the doorway and watched her walk away.

“Ready?” said Buck, coming back down the hallway with a travel bag in his hand.

“Where are you going?” Irish asked.

“I’ll be staying in one of the cabins,” answered Buck.

“Which one?”

“I’m not sure it matters, but if you’re asking if I’m staying with you, the answer is no.”

Irish nodded, and it was then I realized he was avoiding making eye contact with me. It was almost like I was invisible. It was one thing when Flynn was here, but now that she was gone, it was pissing me off.

“Hey, Irish, you do know I’m writing a book about the Fisk mission.”

He nodded again, but still didn’t look in my direction.

“I was hoping that since we’re both here for the foreseeable future, you could tell me more about it,” I said as we walked out the front door.