“Y’all have no game,” Kord snorted as Edie ran past them and gave him a thumbs-up.
“Okay, guys,” Gator yelled. “On the count of three, let go and haul your asses inside!”
Trent focused on Bubba as Gator counted down. It looked as if Skye had come to him, so one way or another they were going to hash this out—if he didn’t get bitten by Bubba first, that is.
“Three!” Gator yelled.
Trent, Granger, and Kord rolled off Bubba and leapt up in perfect synchronization.
“Here, boys!” Skeeter held the door to the diner open and they rushed inside.
Trent closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, Skye was flinging her arms around his neck, and just like in his nightly dreams, she was in his arms once again.
Trent pressed his face into Skye’s neck and held her as she lost all semblance of being calm, cool, and collected. Skye started rambling with a mixture of tears and sniffles, and all Trent could think about was how good it felt to have her back in his arms and in his life.
“Shhh, sweetheart. It’s okay. Big Bertha is back at the river with her baby and Bubba is—” Trent looked out the window and saw Bubba staring back at him. “Mary Jane, can you get me an order of chicken and waffles for Bubba?” The waitress nodded and hurried off to get the chicken frying. Bubba loved his breakfast and would go back home after he had a snack.
“I was so scared, Trent. Two alligators downtown, a man with a hunting knife that was bigger than he is and who talks to ghosts, and then I don’t even know about that Gator guy.”
“Skye, I don’t mean to sound harsh, but what are you doing here?” Trent asked and noticed the entire diner was quieter than the ghosts who haunted it.
“I thought I’d come for a visit.” Skye smiled up at him, but he wasn’t fooled.
“And where’s your boyfriend?” Edie asked for him as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared Skye down in the perfect imitation of a big sister.
Skye’s nose wrinkled as if smelling something bad. “I don’t have a boyfriend. The last man I was with was Trent.”
“No one likes a fibber, dear.”
Skye turned to see the grandmotherly, plump Miss Ruby right behind her with the plucked-chickenlike Miss Winnie standing next to her. They looked as if they would grab her by the ear and wash her mouth out with soap if she lied.
“It’s not a lie. I’m not that good of an actress. I swear.”
Miss Ruby gave her the stink eye and several of the younger generation took an automatic giant step back in fear. “I may be old, but I know what I saw on my gossip shows. And they show you all over Mason Hemming. Not that I blame you, but just don’t be fibbing about it or we’ll have a problem.”
“I swear I have never been with Mason. I think the movie studio leaked those photos to make it look like something was going on. It’s their oldest trick to drum up interest in a movie. If you could see the whole photo, you’d see it’s not what it looks like. There’s only been one man to have my attention and that’s Trent. Who hasn’t even texted me back after a night together. What kind of manners are those?”
Miss Winnie’s chicken wing of an arm shot out and smacked Trent on the back of his head. “That is no way to treat a lady!”
Okay, so she wanted to do this here. Fine, to hell with the nondisclosure agreement. He’d have it out once and for all in the middle of the diner with half the town watching. “You’re right, Miss Winnie. It was rude. Do you know what else was rude? Waking up after the best night of your life to find her manager standing at the bedroom door and telling me I was just one in a long line of blue-collar men Skye liked to play pretend with. He then shoved a nondisclosure agreement in front of me and threatened to take everything I ever worked for from me if I ever told anyone about our night together.” Trent stared down in helpless anger at Skye’s shocked, wide eyes. “There, are you happy? I broke the NDA so are you going to take my life’s work from me now?”