“Is that Queen?” Ryder’s voice was muffled by the pillow covering his head. Spud sat like a good boy on the floor but was big enough he could lick Ryder’s ears if Ryder didn’t take morning pillow position.
I pushed up on my elbows, pointed at the dragon pig. “Off please. I’ll get you breakfast after I deal with the door.”
“Thank you,” Ryder mumbled. “Coffee too?”
I leaned over and kissed my man on the bare shoulder, right by his tattoo. “I was talking to the dragon pig.”
Then I yanked the pillow off his head. He scrabbled for it.
“Too slow,” I grinned. I smacked him in the face.
He howled. I ran out of the bedroom as he hollered threats I knew he’d never actually follow through on.
I got to the door before he’d even launched out of bed, and when he skidded into the living room, I held up a warning finger. “Someone’s at the door.”
He was wearing boxer briefs and nothing else, his hair sticking up on one side. He crossed those gorgeous arms over his hard chest and leaned his shoulder against the wall.
“Go ahead,” he said. “I’ll wait.”
I tucked my hair behind my ears and made sure Ryder’s T-shirt, which I’d thrown on last night, covered my underwear.
Good enough.
I looked through the peephole and groaned.
Crow waggled his fingers at me and kept knocking.
I threw the chains and locks and opened the door. “What?” I asked. “I haven’t had coffee yet. You should know I have killed men for trying to talk to me before I am caffeinated.”
“Bunny-boo,” Crow said. “This is your Uncle Crow. You know I’ll take care of you.” He lifted his other hand which held a coffee carrier and three large, lidded cups of coffee.
I tore my gaze away from the delicious smelling beverage and studied him.
“What do you want?”
He smiled like a lying Mc-lying-faced liar. “Coffee with my favorite Reed sister.” He lifted the cups higher.
He was so full of shit. I knew this was a bad idea, but I hadn’t had coffee yet, and I tended to make the worst decisions before breakfast.
“Okay, fine.” I stepped out of the way so he could come inside. “But I know you’re here for something.”
“I am,” he agreed, unzipping his hoodie. “I’m here for coffee. But look at you, Ryder Bailey. That six pack is making me jealous. Also a little turned on, if I’m honest.”
Ryder rolled his eyes and turned toward the bedroom. “Delaney, you want me to bring your pants?”
“Yes.”
Crow watched Ryder walk away, then pivoted on the balls of his feet. “Wow,” he whispered. “Didn’t he grow up nice?”
I grabbed the carrier out of his hands and stomped off to the kitchen. “You’ve seen him in his swim trunks every summer. All that isn’t anything you haven’t seen before.” I pulled one of the cups out of the cardboard and took a huge swallow.
Hot, bitter, with chocolate and caramel to take the sting out of it. Delicious. “That’s my fiancé you’re ogling, Crow.”
“And can I just say how happy I am for you two kids. Starting a new life together, soulmates finally tying the knot. Like some kind of dream come true.”
I narrowed my eyes and gulped down half the cup. The caffeine hadn’t hit yet, but the heat of the drink, and the shifty-eyed god who’d brought it had woken me up. All the way awake.
So awake, I knew what this visit was about. Well, not the details, but the basics for sure.
“What did you do?” I asked.
Crow strolled over, his hands behind his back. His forest-green hoodie was wet at the shoulders but not soaked all the way through. The storm had finally blown itself out in the early hours of the morning leaving a cloudy sky and only spits of rain.
“I brought you coffee,” he said, taking one of the seats at the kitchen island.
“Uh-huh. And?”
“And Ryder too. And one for me. So we can all have a nice cup of coffee together.”
“Why?”
Ryder came through the kitchen with Spud and the dragon pig hot on his heels.
Ryder had changed into jeans and a white Henley shirt under a navy flannel. He came straight to me, kissed me on the mouth, then pressed my favorite pair of jeans into my hands.
“Morning,” he murmured.
I smiled, liking him this close. Liking that freckle on the edge of his eyebrow, the laugh lines at his eyes, the smell of his deodorant mixed with the caramel scent of coffee.
“Morning.”
“Morning, Ryder,” Crow cooed.
“What did you do?” Ryder asked, moving to the door.
Crow made an affronted sound. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Ryder opened the door so Spud and the dragon pig could go outside and do their business. Not that the dragon pig actually did any business, but it liked to trot around in the yard so the other creatures understood that this yard, this house, and those within it were its domain.
“You brought us coffee.” I shoved my legs into my jeans. “It’s five in the morning. I know all the steps to your little dance of unaccountability, so whatever you’re about to tell me is absolutely your fault, and you’re going to have to clean up your mess. Talk.”
Crow reached over, plucked up a cup and took a sip. “You were such a quiet child. How did you grow up so…”
I raised an eyebrow.
He laughed. “All right, fine. This wasn’t my fault.”
Ryder snorted and took the last cup in the holder.
I made the hurry-up signal, rolling my finger. “Get to the point.”
“Well, there’s good and bad news.”
“Talk, or I’ll tell Bertie you’re going to be her new right-hand man for anything she needs to keep the festivals running.”
“Yowza. You’re leading with the big guns this morning, aren’t you?” he asked.
“Talk, Crow.”
He took another deep swallow of coffee, held up his finger, then put the coffee on the counter and stepped back.
That was not a good sign.
“So, good news, the storm broke.” He smiled. “Bad news, some of the roads are flooded and a driftwood log slammed into The Whistling Sails, busting out a wall, some windows, and knocking down the balcony.”
“Shit.” I jogged to the bedroom for my phone.
“No one was hurt,” he called after me. “The motel rooms weren’t rented out. So that’s good news too, isn’t it? See how I’m a bringer of good news?”
I pushed the comforter, which had fallen off the bed, to one side. “Where’s my phone?” I said. “Ryder?”
He was there, on the other side of the bed, checking in the sheets. “Nightstand?
“No.”
“Dresser?”
“No.”
He dropped to his knees and reached under the bed. “Got it. Oh.”
“Oh?”
Ryder stood. “I’m gonna blame the dragon pig.” He held the phone out to me. Or rather he held half the phone out to me, the bottom half having been neatly bitten off.
“It ate my phone?” I took the destroyed electronic, having to actually touch the broken and melted edges to believe it. “It ate half my phone. Why? Why would it do this?”