Page 24 of Shield and Savior
Tia adds, “He always looks good.” Yes, that’s true. He did. I see no lies there.
But Joey whips his head around, “ABSOLUTELY NOT! No. Everyone from Mastodon is one hundred percent off limits.”
Nonna pats him on the chest. “But Alana is such a nice girl. I could set you two up.”
Joey’s face is as red as a maraschino cherry. He’s so flustered, but takes one deep breath and drags his hand down his face. “Listen, right now, Alana is a family friend, but she’s not IN the family. If she were ever to cross over from one to the other, it would be minutes before she took over the entire Four Families’ operations. First step Four Families, next step the world. Keeping her close but out of our beds is the best thing for humanity as a whole.”
Between the eye rolls, dramatic turns away, and bursts of laughter, it’s clear none of that seems to impress the women. When he doesn’t get the reaction he expects, he throws his hands in the air and stomps away.
Nonna fixes me a plate of baked ziti and an empanada. “Lance doesn’t have world domination goals,” she adds under her breath. “And Alana doesn’t need anyone who still has crusty socks.”
The snort escapes my nose. I meet Waverly’s eyes, and she crosses the room, grabs my plate, and we walk into the living room. Eating with a plate on my lap is a skill I forgot until now. Knees tight, I balance the plate and decide to eat the ziti first since I don’t need to cut anything.
Waverly beams at me. “Girl, I’m so glad you’re back.” Yeah, but for how long? “I’ve missed you.” She throws her arms around me, and the plate comes dangerously close to falling off my lap. “The guys don’t want to talk about fun stuff. It’s all work with them.” She frowns. “I guess I missed the meeting when they decided I wasn’t allowed to join their reindeer games.”
It’s true. And there was actually a meeting. It was decided long ago that Waverly was never allowed to be brought into the fold. “But that doesn’t mean the family doesn’t have plans for you.”
She picks a piece of broccoli off my plate and pops it in her mouth. “Nah, all the family plans got ditched when you left.”
Oh fuck. I reallydidscrew up everything. I pop some ziti in my mouth to keep the panic inside.
Waverly seems completely unfazed by her comment, and her eyes light up. “Oh, did you hear the new Amanda Chase album?”
At least this topic won’t result in the demise of multiple generations. “It’s okay, but I’m a Lena Goodlove girl. Her music is easier to work out to and doesn’t make me want to cry into a glass of wine.”
Years ago, Amanda Chase and Lena Goodlove were pop star icons, best friends, and everyone loved them. But there was some huge falling out between them, and now the entire industry is either team Chase or team Goodlove. This could be the thing that breaks us. Can I revoke godmother status?
My bestie gasps in her fangirl horror. “What? The new album is so danceable, but like it has a depth in the lyrics. It’s a borderline masterpiece.”
“Yeah because she has that guy writing all her music.” I take another bite of my ziti.
Waverly straightens her shoulders. “First of all, they co-write her music, second, he also wrote most of Lena’s biggest hits, and third, he’s so hot it’s basically a sin.” She pulls out her phone and taps away. “There are three guys I use to get myself off when Adam is fucking me.”
She hands me the phone, and holy Hannah! Dark hair, chiseled jaw, sad and tortured eyes, forearms covered in tattoos. How do men like this exist? His chest and shoulders have tattoos of various styles but still look uniform and cohesive. I zoom in on the picture. “What’s on his chest?”
Waverly grabs the phone. “I think it’s a phoenix. It’s lighter than the others, so it might be older.”
Shaking my head, I gasp, “I didn’t know guys like this really existed, but clearly I’m wrong.” Raising an eyebrow, I ask, “Who else is in your flick the bean rotation? Hot song writer guy and who are the other two?”
She gets quiet. “Well, the actor who plays the Pirate King fromTheKnights of the Night,and someone who I probably shouldn’t be thinking about.”
Ohhhhh. “You never think about your boyfriend to help finish the job.”
She furrows her brow. “Why?”
I side-eye her like she’s insane. “Um, yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to.”
Her upper lip curls as she sighs. “I guess the down side to dating your best friend’s brother is it makes it hard to break up with him.” She deflates until her phone chirps. Her eyes get wide, and her jaw opens. “No!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Angie picked out the bridesmaids’ dresses.” Her eyes are filled with panic when she shows me the screen. The dress is a pretty emerald green color, strappy, kind of a draped neckline. I don’t understand her fear until I see the back. Or lack thereof. It’s borderline obscene. She groans. “What am I going to do?”
Waverly has the worst tattoo in the history of time on her lower back. It’s why she only wears dresses or long shirts. She never wants anyone to see it. I saw it once when she came to visit and got drunk on box wine. I still have nightmares about it. “Do you have time to laser it off?”
“No.” She shakes her head, and her soft strawberry red hair sways. “I’ll have to do something way worse…” She hangs her head in her hands and sobs, “My life is over.”
Joey stands across from us, watching Waverly, and mouths to me, “Is she okay?” I give a little shrug. Knowing there isn’t much he can do about our Irish friend, he juts his chin out to me before saying, “Your dad wants to speak with you.”