“Shut up and sit down.” Ember kept clicking through the selection on their smart TV, but she lowered her hand into her lap.
Chapter Thirteen
“Okay, that’s it.” Cheyenne leaned forward in the armchair and snatched the remote off the table. “If I have to watch one more episode about whiney people trying to break out of prison, I’m gonna break the TV.”
“Too much?” With a short laugh, Ember gestured toward the screen. “I promise it gets better after the first few episodes.”
“I’ve already wasted three hours on the first few episodes.” The halfling turned off the show and sent the TV sliding back down into its hidden spot in the table. “I can feel my brain melting.”
“Right. Well, we can’t all be insanely smart hackers who teach their professors’ classes and kick criminal ass on the side for fun. The rest of us need hobbies too.”
Laughing, Cheyenne tossed the remote on the coffee table and stood from the chair. The chains on her wrists jingled when she stretched her arms high above her head. “You can have your hobbies, Em. I’m done with watching weird shows for the next month—at least.”
“What time is it?”
“Almost five-thirty.” Glancing at her friend, Cheyenne raised an eyebrow and spread her arms. “Ready for your first trip into Richmond’s very own underground marketplace? Literally.”
“That’s still a dumb question. Of course I’m ready.”
“I thought so. Let me just grab my stuff.” The halfling went up to the iron staircase to the mini-loft to get her phone off the desk. As soon as she slid it into her back pocket, someone knocked on the door.
“It’s open,” Ember called.
“Em!” Cheyenne pointed at her over the railing as the doorknob turned. “The ring.”
“Shit.” Ember struggled with the illusion charm on her finger as the door swung inward. She managed to pull it off a second before Matthew poked his head through the door, and his gaze settled on her as the flashing light of the broken charm receded. “Hey, Matthew.”
“Hey. You said it was open.”
Cheyenne stomped extra-loud down the metal staircase.
He glanced up at her and chuckled. “I thought it’d be okay to just come on in.”
“Yeah, it’s fine.” Ember’s hand clenched tightly around the ring, which she buried in her lap like she was trying to hide something.
“What are you guys up to tonight?”
“We’ve got plans.” Cheyenne stepped past him to open the coat closet between the front door and the kitchen. “Jeeze, Em. Have enough jackets?”
“Grab the purple one.” Saying the word “purple” made her snort, and she glanced into her lap as if the illusion charm would slip right out from within her tightly clenched fist.
“Sure.” The halfling held back a chuckle and grabbed the purple jacket off its hanger before shutting the door.
Matthew glanced between them with a confused smile and opened the front door a little wider. “What kinda plans?”
Cheyenne lifted Ember’s jacket hooked over one finger and nodded at their nosy neighbor. “The going-out kind.”
The fae took her jacket and shot Cheyenne a warning look.
“On a Tuesday?” Matthew cocked his head.
“Why not?” Cheyenne grabbed her baggy hoodie with the white hand flipping the middle finger on the back and tugged it on.
“I need to get out,” Ember added with a shrug. Then she patted the armrests of her chair. “Can’t drive myself anywhere unless it’s in this thing.”
“Oh.” Matthew’s smile faded a little. “Well, I’m having some friends over a little later. If you guys wanna drop by when you get back, you’re welcome to.”
Ember sat straighter in her chair and smiled. “Thanks. That sounds fun.”
“If we have time.” Cheyenne stopped beside her friend and stuck her hands in the front pocket of her hoodie. “Who knows how long we’ll be out?”
“Right. Sure.” Matthew’s gaze dropped quickly to Ember’s fist in her lap, which she tried to hide by folding her arms. “You know where I live, so just knock.”
Ember laughed and smiled at their tall, weirdly intrusive neighbor from across the hall.
The halfling glanced from her friend to Matthew Thomas, neither of whom seemed capable of pulling out of their shared gaze. What is up with these two?
“Okay, well.” Cheyenne stepped behind her friend’s chair and grabbed the handlebars. “Time to go. Have fun at your house party.”
“Yeah, I will.” Matthew stepped back into the hall as Cheyenne pushed Ember out of their apartment. “You will too, if you decide to come by.”
“We might.” Ember stared up at him with a goofy smile, her puffy purple jacket folded in her lap while Cheyenne pulled her keys out to lock up.
“If we have time.”
Their neighbor chuckled. “You mentioned that part already.”
“Oh, good.” Grabbing the chair’s handles again, Cheyenne nodded at the guy and pushed Ember down the hall. “See ya.”
“Have fun.”
“Thanks.” Ember looked at him over her shoulder one last time. She laughed when she saw the halfling’s skeptical frown and whispered, “What? It was nice of him to invite us.”
Cheyenne waited until Matthew’s front door closed again with their neighbor on the other side of it. “How much do you wanna bet he wouldn’t have invited me if I wasn’t standing right there next to you?”
“Huh. I wonder why.”
Shaking her head, the halfling punched the elevator’s call button and folded her arms. “I’m a lot nicer to him than I am to the people I really don’t like.”
“But you don’t like him, either.”
“I don’t know.” Cheyenne squinted down the hall at Matthew’s front door. “There’s something weird about that guy. Beyond his ridiculously obvious crush on you.”
“Why is that weird?”
“It’s not. He just makes it creepy when he walks right into the apartment and stares at you.” The elevator doors opened, and Cheyenne pushed her friend inside before hitting the button for the lobby. “If I didn’t have all this other stuff going on, I might do more than Google the guy.”
“You Googled him.”
“Yeah. That’s a thing.”
“Cheyenne.”
