been me. We'd busted it open a long time ago, but left the fortune cards we'd found in there tucked into the slot at the front where they used to be dispensed. Whenever we came here, we each picked one out and tossed it into the ocean as a little fuck you to destiny. It had become a tradition of ours, but we were gonna run out of cards soon enough. There could only have been ten left by the looks of the pile.
I tucked the cigarette in the corner of my mouth, reaching for the top card and picking it up.
"What's it say?" Rogue's voice sounded behind me and I turned to her, arching a brow.
"Does it matter, little one?" I asked, my voice hardening as I tried not to think of her standing half naked in front of Maverick, offering him everything I could never have. But it was impossible. It was all I could think of. And my heart wouldn't quit with its breaking.
She shook her head. "Nope, but I always like to read them before they're tossed." She moved forward, snatching the smoke out of my mouth with a teasing grin before toking on it.
My gaze automatically moved to her tanned legs as she walked past me, climbing onto the wooden fence that overlooked the dark ocean. She’d clearly taken Fox’s sweatpants off at some point and it was seriously weird to see her wearing a pair of his boxers. The moonlight was filtering through the clouds, just highlighting the waves as they lapped beneath us. Somewhere out there was a dead guy because of us. And I hoped the fishes were picking his bones clean right about now, putting him right where he deserved back at the bottom of the food chain, just pond scum for the lowest creatures to munch on.
Smoke billowed out around Rogue in the wind and I moved to stand beside her, stepping up onto the bottom rung of the fence and it creaked under my weight.
"Read it out, Ace," she encouraged and I snatched my cigarette back from her before twisting the card over in my fingers.
"In the dark you'll meet, in the storm you'll wait, in the end you'll fly," I read it, rolling my eyes then flicking it out toward the ocean and it fluttered down into the water.
"I could write better fortunes than that shit," Rogue said, turning to grin at me.
"Go on then, write me a fortune," I urged, toking on my cigarette so the cherry lit up her beautiful face. And goddammit, it was such a beautiful face. I remembered when she'd been just a little girl with sandy feet and tie-dye dresses that were far too big for her. It was why I called her little one. She'd always been so fucking tiny. She was getting taller now, but I didn't think she'd ever be eye to eye with me.
"Alright, but I need to get a read on you." She shuffled closer then reached out, pressing her hand to my forehead and closing her eyes. "Ohmmm," she hummed dramatically and I snorted a laugh. "Shh, don't throw off my process - ohmmmm."
My eyes roamed over her face as her dark hair fluttered around her, caressing her cheeks like I so badly wanted to. But she was Rick's now, right? I'd seen what I'd seen. Nothing could change that. But her hands on me still made my heart pound and my breaths come heavier. I just wished...fuck, it didn't matter what I wished now I guessed.
"I see a crab in my mind's eye," she said in a deep voice as she did some weird ass impression of a man. Shit, I just couldn't help but grin. "I see this crab doing an enchanting dance for you that will be of great significance in your life."
She dropped her hand, opening her eyes slowly and pretending she was coming out of a trance.
"Where's this crab then, little one?" I played along.
She leapt off of the fence and dropped down into a squat, waving her hands and snapping her fingers together like pincers as she shuffled along sideways then back the other way. I fought a laugh for as long as I could, staring at this mad girl and trying not to love her. But it was impossible on both parts. My laughter filled the air and she snatched my hand, pulling me down beside her as she tried to get me to crab dance with her, bumping