“I thought we were going for a beer.” Steve frowned, crossing his arms with a huff.
“And I thought I’ve told you I don’t drink.” Adam shot him a look before picking up the menu and glancing at it, even though he knew exactly what he was getting.
“Me either.” Jill took a long whiff of air. “God, I love this place. I used to come here almost every day after school. They have the best hamburgers and their ice cream is to die for.”
“Is food all you ever think about?” Steve rolled his eyes, his mood still salty.
“It’s probably the top five things on my thinking list, yeah.” Jill shot back, wrinkling her nose at him. “What’s your problem?”
“Well, after hearing that we may die soon, I was hoping for an alcoholic beverage.” Steve looked around the diner. His gaze settled on an old farmer who was staring at them. “After you get your prize winning hamburger and ice cream, we are going to Club Zero. I’m getting shitfaced.”
“No, you’re not,” Adam finally spoke up, an edge to his voice. “And we’re not going to die.”
“You two suck.” Steve pointed at both of them with a disgusted glare.
“Yeah, well, tomorrow you’ll be thanking me.” Adam glared back, slamming the menu down. “If Slade even sniffs alcohol on our breath, we’ll be dead, and I’d rather take my chances with anyone other than that big bastard.”
Steve made a thoughtful face. “Guess you got a point, but you still suck.”
Jill set both elbows on the table and cradled her face in her hands. “You afraid to die?” Jill asked Adam, her eyes searching for the truth.
Staring at Jill for a few seconds, Adam sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I don’t want to die, but I’m not afraid to die.”
“Well, I don’t want to die either, and call me a *, but I’m scared to death of dying.” Steve shrugged before glancing at Jill. “What about you? Are you afraid?”
Blowing out a long breath, she nodded. “Yeah, I am.” She looked around at the people around them. Everything about them screamed normal and human. It left her feeling a little lost. “I don’t like pain. If I’m going to die, I hope it’s quick and painless. I don’t want to go down crying and screaming like a little girl. I don’t want to let you guys down being a *.”
“You want a Damon death.” Steve nodded, and then frowned when they were both looking at him. “You know, the Damon decapitation death. It’s quick and…what?”
“I don’t think getting your head ripped off is painless, Steve,” Jill snorted, shaking her head.
“Ah, well, I think it would be, Jill,” Steve hissed her name.
“I know. Why don’t we call Damon for a demonstration?” Jill shot back leaning toward him, her eyes narrowed.
Adam slammed his hand down on the table breaking them apart. “We are not going to die!” he shouted, drawing a few stares. Adam glared until the few who still watched him closely looked away. “We are going to take this thing. We are going to train hard and learn everything we can. We will not fail. Do you understand?”
“You sure your head is on straight after the Angelina thing?” Steve braved the question.
Adam’s eyes glowed hot. “I’ve got my shit under control, Steve,” he growled. “No worries.”
“You need to talk about it?” Jill slid a sideways glance at Adam, who wasn’t looking at either of them.
“No.” Adam’s voice lowered with warning; he didn’t want to discuss it further.
“But—” Jill began again before she was stopped.
“I said I was fine.” Adam’s eyes raised from the table with a glare, freezing Jill to the spot. “I am not discussing this now or ever. It’s done and over with.”
“But if you still love her, fight for her.” Jill didn’t back down, though she did prepare to move quickly by changing position in her chair. “I’ve never known you to be a *, Adam. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and it doesn’t make sense to me. She was so in love with you for years and to just up and get with a guy she didn’t even know. Come on, man. That’s not her. Something’s not right. I think we need to make another visit just to be sure.”
Jill’s words, unfortunately, rang true to him. That night after he found Angelina, the same thoughts had run through his head, but it seemed final to him. What was he to do? Grab her and run? Say to hell with what she wanted, and obviously, it hadn’t been him who she wanted. “Jill, don’t push me on this.”
“But I’m right.” Jill watched his face closely. “You’ve thought the same thing.”
“I read her, dammit!” he hissed, his one golden eye turning dark.
“And you could have read her wrong,” Jill shot back, not backing down, not afraid of his anger. “Your emotions were off the hook. You could have been wrong.”
“I wasn’t wrong.” His hard growl indicated he was done with the conversation. He wasn’t wrong. He knew what he saw in Angelina’s mind, but that nagging sensation in his gut persisted.