“He looked like he was about to smack you,” I said, and I couldn’t stop a small smile from curling my lips.
“I’m being nice,” Tru said primly. “I’ve been giving him compliments. Talking about how big his arms are. Thinking about how big other things might be.”
Now it was Heath’s turn to roll his eyes. “Seriously, Tru?”
“You get used to it,” I said to Heath with a smirk. For as long as I’d known him, Tru had never been able to keep a lid on a crush. “Once Beau’s done inside, we can start pulling out the things that might be salvageable. I know it’s going to be a long road, but Beau thinks the brick structure of the building is all right, so it can be gutted and rebuilt inside.”
“Same as it was?” Heath asked.
“I don’t think so,” I said. It’s something I’d given a lot of thought to, but after everything that had happened, it didn’t seem right to put things back exactly as they were. “Finally going to make some layout changes I’d always wanted. Plus, we can get you a bigger office.”
“With a window. Please. It was so bleak in that little room.” Heath slipped his fingers under the hem of my shirt and traced comforting circles on the skin of my hip. He tipped his head up and smiled at me, an odd but comforting mix of nostalgia and anticipation in his eyes.
“Love you,” I murmured, punctuating it with a kiss that had Heath sighing the words right back into my mouth.
“God, can you two get a room?” Tru asked. “I’m literally standing right here.”
“Way ahead of you,” I said.
Tru’s eyes widened. “You mean—”
“I’m moving in soon, yeah,” Heath said with a grin. “So you’d better get used to me.”
“I’m more worried about you having to deal with Dare twenty-four-seven,” Tru said with a smirk, but then his expression softened. “But seriously. I’m happy for you two.”
“What’s the holdup?” Coop hollered. He waved us over to the bulk of the group that was gathered a ways down the sidewalk.
“Coop, please,” Blade said, with an exasperated eye roll that made Logan hide a laugh behind his hand.
The Hell’s Ankhor inner circle had come to aid the Crew in the cleanout of the wreckage, to get the hardest part over as quickly as possible, but it’d turned into a little bit of a block party. It was good for morale, and seeing the Crew and the Hell’s Ankhor guys get closer boosted my mood, as well. Coop was hanging off Rebel while Rebel chatted with Eli, Nix was demonstrating what appeared to be a complicated mimed version of a chokehold to a somewhat confused Jazz, and Star and Siren were sitting on the curb in the midst of a serious, animated discussion.
At the edge of the group, Dad and Priest were catching up with Blade and Logan. Priest said something with a little half-smile that made Dad bark a laugh and clap Priest on the shoulder. They hadn’t seen much of each other in the past two years, and it warmed me to see them reigniting the friendship that had been such a cornerstone of my childhood.
“Chill out!” Tru called back to Coop. “Beau’s making sure it’s not gonna fall down and kill us all.”
“Well, tell him to hurry up!” Coop said. “I want to get to the cookout part of this cleanup!”
“At least everyone’s getting along,” Heath said with a grin.
“Pretty decent silver lining,” Tru agreed. “Especially with the Crew’s numbers the way they are, it’s nice to know we can get some backup when we need it.”
Blade and Dad glanced over at Tru, and then caught each other’s eyes. Blade nodded.
“All right, everyone!” Blade boomed. “Listen up!”
The group didn’t quite snap to attention, but conversations wrapped up as all eyes turned curiously to Blade. He moved to stand at the edge of the group, closest to me and the former Stella’s, with Dad at his side.
“We’ve got an announcement to share with everyone,” Blade said.
Heath was nearly vibrating with excitement. We both knew what Blade was announcing—Blade had addressed it with Heath before Heath had burst into my room that night I’d been wallowing in self-pity, and both Heath and Dad had addressed it with me. It wasn’t just a good solution to the hardships the Crew had been facing.
It felt like the start of a new life. An even better life, if that was possible.
“Mal?” Blade said, once he had everyone’s attention.