Page 86 of Feast

The tightness that had been in Spence’s chest since his mother’s phone call half an hour before loosened a notch. “You don’t?”

She turned to look at him as she tugged off her first boot. “It just seems like too much.”

Relief was like a hit of nitrous, making him feel lightheaded. “Okay.”

She tugged off her other boot and rose. “That’s okay with you, right?”

“Mom will be disappointed, but it’s for the best.” Relieved that this was going so smoothly, he held out a hand. “Keys?”

“Huh? Oh, the beer.” She dug them out of her pocket and handed them over. “I’ll set out the food.”

“Be right back,” he told her, and shoving his feet into his boots, headed out and down.

It was chilly, and he probably should’ve put on a coat, but he liked the bite of the cold against his skin. The moment his mother had outlined her plans for a family birthday dinner, panic had set in, leaving him feeling overheated and agitated. Because there was no way he and Maddie could be in the same room with his mother and still keep their relationship a secret.

He could play it cool, of course, and he was sure Maddie could, too. Most people wouldn’t have a clue that there was anything between them but air. But Heather wasn’t most people.

She had a circular way of asking questions, confusing him, and he’d end up answering when he’d had no intention of doing so. More than once in his childhood she’d wormed information out of him that he’d sworn to take to the grave—like the time she got him to confess that he and Tommy Parker had been the ones to let all the air out of Vice Principal Wilkinson’s tires—and he hadn’t gotten any better at resisting her mysterious Mom powers as an adult.

So really, it was for the best that Maddie wasn’t coming. He felt bad about it, knowing his mom wanted all of them there together, but a little sad was better than a lot mad.

That Maddie was on the same page was a huge relief. He’d been looking forward to her coming over tonight, more so since she planned to stay the night. She’d only stayed over a handful of times, but he found he liked waking up to her. She smelled good, didn’t seem to care that he hogged the bed or that his breakfast routine consisted of nuking a frozen sausage biscuit or pouring cereal into a bowl, and though they didn’t always start the morning with sex, just waking up with her snuggled naked against him kicked his day off on a high note.

He grabbed the beer out of the car and jogged back up the steps, taking them two at a time in his hurry to get out of the cold and back to the warm woman waiting for him.

She was setting out the food—tom kha soup for her, drunken noodles for him—and holding her phone to her ear with her other hand. “That’s what I told him. No, that’s fine. Sure. Okay, let me know. Okay. Love you, too. Bye.”

Spence pulled two beers out of the six-pack, put them on the table, and carried the rest to the fridge. “Halley?” he guessed.

“Yep. Do you want some of this? There’s plenty.”

“Nah.” He crossed back to the table. “I’m good with the drunken noodles. Did you get peanut sauce?”

“Yes.” She passed him a small container, then sat and inhaled the fragrant steam coming from her soup. “God, that smells good.”

Grunting in agreement, he pried open the takeout container and picked up his peanut sauce. “Everything okay with Halley?”

Maddie dipped her spoon into her soup. “Oh, yeah. I just wanted to fill her in on the weekend plans.”

He poured the peanut sauce over his noodles. “If she wants to go, she can ride up with me on Saturday.”

“She might decide to,” Maddie said. “If not, she’ll go up with me on Sunday.”

Spence paused, his fork halfway to his mouth. “What do you mean, drive up with you on Sunday?”

“I mean, if she doesn’t go with you on Saturday, she’ll come with me on Sunday. Why are you looking at me like that?”

Dread tickled the back of his throat. “Because you said you weren’t going.”

Her brow furrowed. “No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.” He put his fork down carefully. “You said you didn’t want to go up.”

“No,” she said slowly. “I said I didn’t want to go up onSaturdayand spend the night. Which is why I’m going up on Sunday.”

“You can’t,” Spence said, the dread turning to panic.

She blinked. “Why not?”