Ghost (The Halloween Boys #1) (37)
“Add bacon, eggs, and a fruit bowl onto her order. I’ll have the same. Thanks, cutie.” Onyx batted his long dark lashes. Doris snapped his ribs with a rag before she smiled and walked off. He chuckled before pulling out his newspaper and pencil. “She likes me. I know it.”
I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at my lips. He may have been cocky, but he was good breakfast company. “Thank you for picking up breakfast. You really don’t have to. I don’t need your or your friends’ pity.”
A green gaze met mine in seriousness as he paused his crossword. “We don’t pity you, Blythe, not for a second, okay? We want to do it. We like helping. It . . . helps us to help you. Trust me on that.”
I huffed a laugh. “So you’re all selfishly buying my food and offering me places to stay. Sure, I believe you.”
He shrugged, “Can’t we all go a little crazy trying to impress the town’s prettiest girl?”
Heat flooded my face and I looked down, tugging my jacket closer. I didn’t know what to say. But Onyx seemed like a shameless flirt, so I was sure compliments like that rolled off his smooth tongue regularly. “I’ve got a jacket like that, too.”
My interest was piqued. “Your grandpa went to school with Ames’s?”
He gave a half smile, revealing the slightest hint of a dimple as he filled in a word on his puzzle. “Sure, if that’s what he told you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
His piercing emerald stare leveled me again, like he was debating on what to say next. “Have you been to our library?”
Random.
“Um, no. I didn’t know Ash Grove had a library.”
“I’ll take you after breakfast. You should check it out—”
Another gruffer male voice interrupted, “Where are we going after breakfast?”
In a wet, dirty T-shirt and dirt covered jeans, a bulky Wolf pushed into space next to me in my booth. His thick arms brushed up next to mine. I swallowed back the butterflies in my throat. Onyx shot him an annoyed look. “Blythe and I are going to the library after what was a lovely and quiet breakfast.”
“I haven’t agreed to going anywhere,” I protested weakly, but I could feel the giggle on my lips. I felt like the new toy between dogs. The feminist in me should have hated it, but I didn’t. I liked the attention these impossibly attractive men were giving me.
Another man’s voice interjected while the table was filled with plates of sweet and salty smelling food. “Blythe didn’t agree to hanging out with either of you idiots because she’s coming with me back to my place today.” The butterflies in my stomach shifted into pterodactyls at the sight of Ames. He looked freshly showered with wet shaggy hair and a tight black T-shirt and dark washed jeans. He gestured a thumb over his shoulder at Wolf, who let out an exasperated sigh as he stood. Ames took over his very large friend’s seat as Wolf shoved in beside Onyx. I struggled to run a few fingers through my braid, hoping I didn’t look too disheveled. “Good morning, beautiful.” He smiled a megawatt smile behind his thick-rimmed glasses, and I could have fainted. Did he just call me beautiful and say he wanted to take me back to his place?
“Let the woman eat, Jesus Christ,” Onyx complained, positioning my waffles, eggs, and meat in front of me. My mouth watered as I unwrapped my silverware. Before I could ask if they were going to order, several more plates of food arrived before them. Doris swatted at them as they fussed over her. Her perm, her new apron, her pretty smile. I giggled at their playful banter in between bites of strawberry waffles.
Onyx and Wolf ate their eggs and sausage while casting irritated glances at Ames, which I didn’t quite understand. Ames rested an arm on the seat behind me and leaned toward my ear. “I didn’t mean to presume, but I’d like to show you my place today. Like I said, I have plenty of room if you ever want to stay.”
Taking a sip of coffee, it was an effort not to tremble being so close to him. Our knees softly touched under the table, and my mind drifted to my naughty fantasy from the night before. Wolf asked while my face turned red, “So how’d you like Hallows last night? You don’t seem to be missing mass amounts of blood.”
I giggled, wiping my face with a paper napkin. “I loved it. But yeah, I did get cornered by a couple of vampires,” I said jokingly, though the boys' faces only looked serious at me.
“Did any of them touch you?” Onyx asked, his jaw tensing.
I furrowed my brow and shook my head. “No, not really. Well, I met one named Ezmerelda and she was flirty but nice—”
Wolf scoffed and crossed his arms. I wondered if he knew her. The thought of her being flirty toward him made something in my chest boil with jealousy. The feeling made me uneasy. I had no business worrying about these guys' conquests. I continued, “And then I ran into one with long white hair. I think someone said his name was Vincent. He was a little more insistent.”
Onyx’s mouth dropped and he gave Ames a pointed look. Ames only leaned back, arm still positioned protectively over my seat, looking as impassive as ever.
“Don’t worry. I have a guy dressed like a skeleton stalking me. He seemed to scare the vampire guy away. And then I just hung out with the Ravens,” I said, taking a bite of crispy bacon. I chuckled softly. “That may have been the weirdest thing I’ve ever said.”