The sound of a door creaking open has me wincing as I peel my face off the couch. When my head starts pounding, I lower my face, intending to never move again.
I wish I could say it was the first time I’d passed out on the couch after a late-night drinking and game-playing session with my packmates, but it’s not, not even close.
“Morning, Hallee,” Dayne calls out cheerfully, sounding disgustingly perky.
“What time is it?” I groan, my voice muffled by the couch.
I hear Dayne cross the hardwood floor. Moments later, bright light floods the room, making me burrow deeper into the back of the couch.
“Eight.”
After lifting my head, I almost immediately recoil. But before I can go back to hiding from the light, I pause. “Wait, that’s kind of late for you. Isn’t this practically a lie-in?”
I’m frowning as he approaches and settles in the seat beside me in the room, now awash in the bright morning light, revealing the empty glasses, bottles, and chip packets: the remnants of last night’s fun that went on far too late.
By the end, it was just me, Luka, Nathan, and Dean. Marshall and Jenna left maybe an hour after I returned from my failed mission to Target, and Gavin left shortly after, saying he had some important task to do the next day.
As he’s one of the quietest among us, we were all intrigued by Gavin’s mysterious task. Well, I have vague memories of being intrigued. I was on my third glass of wine by then and I was drinking fast. But as I still had the highest score out of everyone, I know I wasn’t drunk yet. That came later when I forgot how to hold the controller.
“I know,” Dayne admits, stretching his long legs out in front of him. He doesn’t turn the TV on, just reclines in the small amount of space I’ve left on the couch.
“Is Talis okay?” I get up, figuring I probably should since it’s a matter of time before my packmates wake and start piling in.
Since Dayne is usually in his office and working from six, means his late morning must be because of Talis. He’s too much of an early riser for it not to be.
“Still tired. She had a bad back most of the night. I think she’s ready for Squirt to either start paying rent or get out.” The wide grin on his face reveals which option he’d like best.
I can’t stop my smile as I lightly punch him on the arm. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
He mock-growls at me. “Him. How the hell did Talis convince everyone he’s going to be a she?”
“The same way she got us all, you included, calling her Squirt. With persistence.”
Dayne grumbles a little more before taking a long draw of his coffee. It smells strong, with hints of caramel in it. I’m just about to get up and head to the kitchen so I can make my own when he raises his eyebrow at me.
“Now, how come you’re still here? Talis said you went on some mission to find handcuffs in Target? I knew she had to have misheard you…?” His voice trails off, yet when I don’t fill the silence he’s left, his gaze sharpens. “Or maybe she didn’t?”
I look away, because as much as Dayne is my friend, he’s still my alpha. I’m not about to get myself into trouble by admitting to my handcuff mission, or my discussion with the cops.
He’s always warned us not to draw attention because of what we are. Yet there I was, speeding through Hardin at midnight to buy handcuffs, muttering to myself about shifters in public, and then chatting away to cops who could’ve quite easily arrested me.
“Uh, well…” My voice trails off because my brain hasn’t had a chance to wake up yet. Maybe if I’d had some of his yummy smelling coffee, then my brain would be working a lot better.
“Because,” Dayne continues as if I’ve spoken, “I thought you were determined to stop Kier from leaving.” He takes another sip from his cup as he turns his attention to the blank TV screen. “Since you were on a handcuff buying mission and he planned on leaving Hardin this morning.”
I stare at the side of his face. “What?” I breathe.
Dayne darts a casual glance at me. “Didn’t I say?”
“No, you didn’t say. So say, now!”
Oh my God, how could I forget Kier was leaving Hardin?
His eyebrow goes up. “That sounded a lot like an order.”
“Dayne, come on, quit torturing me here, just tell me already.” At this point, I’m about ready to seize him by the front of his t-shirt and shake him, and from his smile, he knows it.
“When I spoke to Kier, he mentioned he’d be leaving Hardin early this morning to head… well, he was vague about where he was going. But he said he’d be out of town by nine.”
I stare at his profile. “Nine.”
Nodding, he lifts his mug to his lips. “Nine.”
The mug doesn’t make it because in the next second it’s in my hands, and I’m on my feet sprinting for the door.
“Hey! That’s mine,” he yells after me.
Before I reach the door, I rush back, but not to return his coffee. I give his cheek a hard kiss, and grab my boots. “Say goodbye to Talis for me and tell her not to pop Squirt out until I get back.”
Then I’m sprinting back to the door as Dayne sighs heavily behind me. “I’m sure she’d kill me if I dared suggest such a thing.”
At the doorway, I turn back. “And Dayne?”
He peers over the back of the couch, not looking the least bit annoyed at me for stealing his coffee. “Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
“What for?”
It’s so clear to me that I don’t need to tell him, but I do anyway. “Finding out the time.”
A smile curves his lips as he ushers me away. “Now go. And no speeding.”
Uh, yeah. That’s probably not going to happen.
“Okay, no speeding,” I yell, lying through my teeth.
A disbelieving snort follows me out of the front door just before I slam it shut. Yet I’m grinning as I hurtle down the porch steps, trying not to lose half of my-or rather Dayne’s-coffee as I go. I’m guessing that means Dayne didn’t believe me.