“Oh shit.” I hurry to follow her.
“Unless you’re planning to help weed the garden, go inside and get dressed,” Emily scolds her sister.
Libby’s eyes widen and her cheeks turn scarlet. She sputters for a second, then runs.
“Was that necessary?” I mutter to Emily.
But she ignores me and focuses her big-sister-dragon-flame eyes on Remy who dials his charming smile up to ten.
“My sister is sixteen.”
That information wipes the smile clean off Remy’s face. “Just trying to be friendly.”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
He frowns. “She go to Johnsonville High?”
“Don’t tell me,” Emily says, placing her hands on her hips as she goes into full mom-mode. “That’s your favorite place to pick up girls.”
He snorts and shakes his head. “No. My sister’s a senior there.”
“Oh.”
“Molly Holt.”
Emily shrugs. “Is she a theater nerd? Libby’s world revolves around the theater.”
“Uh, no. She’s a reality T.V. junkie who likes to sing into her hairbrush sometimes.”
Emily chuckles softly. “Yeah, Libby’s one of those too.”
“So, Emily—”
“Stop right there.” She holds up her hand like a traffic cop. “I’m too old for you.”
“You seem to be making a lot of assumptions about me.”
“She does that,” I say, butting in. “Can’t help it.”
Dex stalks over, glaring at Remy. “The fuck you doing?”
“Taking a break. Settle down.”
“Break’s over.” Dex jerks his head toward the uneven row of hedges. “Fix that.”
Emily actually picks up a lock of her hair and twirls it around her finger. “It’s okay. I wouldn’t notice if you yanked the hedges clean out.”
“Don’t tempt me. They’re a pain.” Dex glances at the yard. “But at least they give you some privacy.”
“Mmm, yes, we need that,” Emily mutters.
“Oh, Lord.” I stare at the sky. “I’m going in, Em. Libby’s going to help me film a tutorial.”
“What? Okay.” She waves me off and I leave the two of them outside staring at each other.
Chapter Nineteen
Serena
I can’t stop my leg from bouncing around in the truck. Gray reaches over, resting his big warm hand on my thigh.
“What are you so nervous about?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s the upstate clubhouse.” He hesitates. “No one knows, Serena. Well, Z knows. He was there when I found the tests. Went to your apartment with me.”
Shame heats my skin. “You let Z see my apartment?”
“The fucker gave me hell for not finding you a nicer place sooner.”
“Sorry.”
Steer, Rooster, and Jigsaw look at each other, then Z, but he’s busy searching through the closet in the corner for something. Rock stands and focuses on me.
“We took it upon ourselves to have a little something made up for you.”
Curiosity tickles through my chest. Rock would never do something to embarrass me. Not on purpose, anyway.
I throw a hasty glance at Murphy, then Rooster. “I hope it’s not one of those black kitty cat patches, because I’m still having trouble figuring out why the fuck you got those on your cuts.”
Murphy squeezes his lips together so hard, his cheeks bulge from holding in his laughter. Teller closes his eyes and inhales a long, slow breath, like he’s fighting the urge to punch someone.