seem so bad,” I inform him, trying to ignore the mouthwatering scent of the waffle.
“So, you’re agreeing to it?” Jax double-checks as he picks up a slice of bacon.
I nod. “Sure.”
“Good.” He bites off a chunk of bacon. “Hunter, you’re up.”
Hunter looks at me. “I’m gonna tell you the next rule, but while I do, eat up.”
“I’m not hungry,” I lie, my stomach churning in protest.
“Liar.” He pushes the plate closer to me. “Your stomach’s been grumbling all morning.”
I resist a sigh. “Look, I appreciate it, but I’m not gonna eat food I can’t pay for.”
Hunter’s mouth tugs up into a half-grin. “You don’t have to pay for it.”
I push the plate toward him. “I already told you that I’m not a charity case.”
“This isn’t charity.” Hunter shoves the plate back at me. “We own the diner, so we eat for free.”
I tuck my hands to the side, refusing to touch the food. “Yeah, but I don’t own the diner.”
"Oh, for the love of God, I can't take any more stubbornness," Zay says then reaches over with his fork and cuts into the waffle.
I expect him to take a bite, which is why he catches me off guard when he moves the fork toward my lips and stuffs it into my mouth. A protest works its way up my throat, but then the taste of the waffle touches my taste buds and …
“Holy shit! This is so, so good.” I moan.
Smirking, Zay sets the fork down on my plate. “Maybe you should start listening to us more.”
“She definitely should.” Hunter dives into his own waffle. “Which brings us to rule number two: you’re to always listen to what the other circle members have to say, even if you don’t want to hear it.”
“It doesn’t mean I always have to do what you tell me to do, though, right?” I reach for the bottle of syrup. “Because I can’t agree to that.”
Strands of Hunter’s blond hair fall into his eyes as he shakes his head. “Nah. But sometimes you might have to back us up, even if you don’t want to.”
I consider what he’s saying. Can I do that? I think so … “Okay.”
Hunter gives me a pleased grin. “Good. Now take another bite of your waffle.”
“Is this your attempt at being bossy?” I quip with an arch of my brow.
He grins back at me. “Yeah. How’d I do?”
I stuff another bite of waffle into my mouth. “Good enough to get me to eat. Although, that might be because these waffles are so freakin’ yummy.”
He grins then shoves a mouthful of waffle into his mouth before glancing at Zay. “You’re up, brother.”
I twist in the seat to face Zay who’s looking at me with his arms crossed, his jaw working as he chews.
“Rule number three,” he states. “You will always have our backs, even when you don’t agree with us. But you’ll always support us, even when shit hits the fan, which it will.”
Again, that doesn’t seem so bad. “All right.”
A flicker of surprise sparks in his eyes, probably because I’m being agreeable. But the look fades as he goes back to eating.
“And rule number four and the last rule,” Jax says, drawing my attention to him. “You’ll never stab us in the back. Ever.”
“Okay.” Again, these rules don’t sound that bad. “Is that it?”
Jax nods but then wavers. “Well, and the one I set yesterday about everyone remaining friends.”
“Okay,” I repeat, kind of surprised about how easy the rules are.
Honestly, with how big of a deal they were making it out to be, I thought they were going to be way more intense.
Jax nibbles on his lip ring, his gaze dissecting me. “Now, for the task.”
“Aw, yes, the task,” I remark, stabbing my fork into a sausage. “If this task is anything like the rules, I should be fine with it. Although, I have to say, you guys really overhyped the rules. Seriously, it’s a bit anticlimactic.”
Jax’s lips slightly twitch, either with annoyance or amusement—I can’t tell. My guess is the latter.
“The task is simple in theory. Though, I’m a bit doubtful you’ll be able to pull it off,” he taunts, probably trying to get a rise out of me. And it works.
“I can pull off anything if I want to.” I flash him a cocky grin.
He barely smiles. “I guess we’ll find out.”
“I guess we will,” I reply haughtily. Then I realize he hasn’t even told me what they want me to do. “Wait. What am I supposed to