Echoes of the Heart - Casey, L.A. (digital ebook reader .TXT) 📗

May smiled, but it wasn’t a smile he gave me or his friends, this was his ladykiller smile and I’d be damned if it didn’t make me stare a little longer than what was deemed polite. I jumped when fingers stuck into my waist. I turned to a stone-faced Risk, who was towering over me like the giant he was. I was so focused on May that I didn’t even notice him move behind me.

“Hello.” I bit my cheek to keep from smiling. “How’s the weather up there, lanky?”

Risk’s tempting pale pink lips twitched.

“Do I have to worry about May becoming your favourite month?”

“With a smile like his?” I wiggled my eyebrows. “Hell, maybe.”

Risk moved so fast that I had no time to react when he backed me up against the nearest booth. I burst into a fit of giggles when he pressed his fingers into my waist until I was twisting and pleading through my laughter for him to show me mercy. I was the kind of person who was a danger to everyone around them when I was being tickled and Risk knew it. When he stopped, he was grinning down at me. I lightly thumped his stomach, making him snort.

I looked from Risk to the others, the guys were grinning at us and Anna was still looking at May like he was a mythical creature that she wanted to lick. He glanced back at her, saw he was still her focus and he switched his smile back to the one he reserved for women who wanted him. He lowered his head down and bumped his nose against hers. Her eyes momentarily widened and she bobbed her head like there was no tomorrow to something he said. Like the snap of my fingers, she hurried over to Deena and hurriedly said something to her. Risk tossed the car keys to May who caught them with one hand.

Bewildered as to what was happening, I watched as May, and Anna, left the diner.

“Where is he going?” I wondered out loud. “I thought he was hungry.”

“He is,” Risk answered. “His food preference has just changed though.”

I looked up at him. “He’s going to eat somewhere else?”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “Something like that.”

My eyebrows furrowed and then just like that, I realised what was happening.

“Oh.” I said. “Oh. Oh. He’s disgusting.”

I felt my face burn, but it was more because I was embarrassed of being so naive as to what May and Anna were going out to the car to do. I held no judgements, I had had two one-night stands before too . . . but Jesus. I at least had a few hours of conversation with the men before we got physical. May was Anna’s favourite Blood Oath member though; she had gushed over him enough throughout the years so hell, good for her.

“I’ll go and get an order pad and be right back.”

I walked away before Risk could say a word. I saw Deena walk towards the booth the guys were settling into, likely coming to take our order, but I hurried over to her just so I had a second for my face to return to its normal colour.

“Can you believe Anna?” She shook her head. “That girl is gonna catch something one of these days, either an STD or a baby.”

Probably, but it was her business so I kept mute.

“I’ll take my booth’s order, you relax for a few minutes.”

“Thanks,” Deena rolled her head onto her shoulders. “I’ve been holding my wee in for the last ten minutes.”

When she went to the bathroom, I grabbed an order pad and pen from the cup holder by the till then returned to the booth I would share with the guys. A glance at the mirror on the wall above the booth showed my face was only slightly flushed.

“Okay, what d’you guys want to eat?”

Thankfully, the guys didn’t tease me, they ordered what they wanted to eat instead. When it came to Risk ordering his drink, I raised a brow and said, “Cherry Coke?”

“Strawberry milkshake,” he grinned. “With two straws.”

I stared at him as he reminded me of our first date when I told him we should share a strawberry milkshake or romance was basically dead for me. I couldn’t help but smile as I scribbled the words. When I had everyone’s order jotted down, including my own, I glanced out of the window to the darkened car park.

“Maybe one of you should order for May for when he’s . . . finished.”

“He’ll be a while.” Risk kept his eyes on me. “He always is.”

“Yeah,” Angel chuckled. “He’ll order something to go, he’ll have a bigger appetite.”

I felt like I had suddenly swallowed a rock because I could not have this conversation. I was such a chicken shit when it came to talking about sex. I was twenty-seven years old, but I felt like a little thirteen-year-old whenever someone mentioned it to me. I wasn’t a prude, I just was so easily embarrassed by the topic.

“I’ll go and give Joe the order.”

I heard the guys laugh at me as I walked away and I had to talk myself out of running out the diner during the entire walk away from the booth. Instead of just hanging the order up, I entered the kitchen. Joe looked up, then down, then back up when he realised it was me and not Anna or Deena.

“Frank,” he blinked. “What’re you doing here?”

“I’m with Blood Oath,” I jabbed my thumb over my shoulder. “We’re here for dinner.”

I hung our order up then glanced around the kitchen. Joe was a perfectionist. He cleaned as he worked so his station was always tidy. I knew I had nothing to do and that I was just stalling so I didn’t have to go back out front but I shook my head, mentally pulled up my big-girl knickers and returned to the floor. When I reached the booth, I slid in next to Risk, but he didn’t move over by much even though