Merissa tucked her hands under her chin and mocked the girls, giggling as they had, batting her eyelashes, all in all acting foolish.
Yvette and Stack both laughed.
Even Armie cracked a smile.
“Our adoring fan club,” Stack said. “Too bad they aren’t twenty-one-year-old hotties instead of jailbait.”
Yvette remembered a time when she’d been jailbait, shamelessly coming on to Cannon.
Dropping the act, crossing her arms and aiming her ire at Armie, Rissy said, “Or what? You’d mosey out there and offer yourself up?”
“Something like that,” Armie replied with identical challenge.
Stack raised a hand. “I would, yeah.” He glanced again at the girls, a brow lifted in speculation. “Hell, if I knew for certain they were eighteen—”
Gasping, Merissa threw up her hands. “You guys are shameless!”
In an aside to Armie, Stack asked, “Does she believe her brother really is a saint?”
Not wanting to hear about any of Cannon’s escapades, Yvette interrupted. “I can’t thank all of you enough. Just look at this place now.” She turned a circle, giddy with exuberance. “It’s almost full and I still have more boxes.”
“What else will you need to do?” Stack asked.
“Nothing more today.” A glance at the time on her phone told her she needed to get home and get ready.
“Well, if you need me, just let me know.”
She smiled at Stack.
“Same here,” Armie said.
Marveling at their generosity, Yvette nodded. “You’re all...wonderful.”
“It’s how it works,” Armie told her. “Cannon’s saved my ass more times than I can count.”
“Me, too,” Stack said.
“I know about you,” Rissy told Stack before she turned to Armie. “What’d he do for you?”
“Not your business, Stretch.” He pulled on his shirt. “Let’s just say we’re family, okay?”
“Not you and me,” Rissy said.
He scowled at her. “I was talking about Cannon and me.”
“I’m his sister.”
“Is that a news flash?”
Speaking over them, Stack said, “They squabble like siblings, don’t they?” With an arm around Yvette, he said, “If we’re all done here, I need to get back to the rec center.”
Armie said, “Merissa is heading that way. She can take you and I’ll go with Yvette.”
Merissa opened her mouth to argue, but must have changed her mind. “Sure. Come on, Stack. We’ll talk. About things.” She shot a look at Armie so he’d know exactly what she wanted to discuss.
Smirking, Stack murmured, “Oh, the stories I can tell....”
As they disappeared out the door, Yvette expected Armie to blow, but instead he laughed.
“You aren’t worried?” Turning out lights, then digging the keys from her purse, Yvette rejoined him.
“No.” He took the keys from her and, after they stepped out, locked up everything. “Stack enjoys needling me, but he’d never tell anything he shouldn’t. He’s as dependable as they come.”
“Such a big secret,” Yvette mused. “Now I’m dying of curiosity.”
Not taking the bait, he opened the truck door for her. “Gotta know, huh?”
“Oh.” Surprised at how he’d said that, she shook her head. “No, I was just—” He closed her door and walked around to the driver’s side.
“You realize what a great guy Cannon is, right?”
“Absolutely.” Reaching out, Yvette put her hand on his forearm. “But, Armie, really, I wasn’t prying. It was a bad joke.”
“It’s all right.” He started the truck, but didn’t yet pull away. Staring straight ahead, he said, “I was once accused of something...pretty bad. The sort of thing no up-front guy wants to be accused of.”
Feeling his emotional distance, Yvette retreated. “I’m sorry,” she said again.
He chewed his lip, then shook his head and put the truck in gear. After a quick glance at the road, he pulled away from the curb. “I hadn’t done it, just so you know.”
She had no idea what “it” might be, but she nodded. “Okay.”
“Cannon knew it, too. No questions asked. No doubt. He believed in me one hundred percent.”
Sounded like Cannon. He was a man of very strong convictions, and obviously a great judge of character. “I’m glad he was there for you.”
“If he hadn’t been... I dunno. It would have gotten pretty ugly. But Cannon did what he always does. He got involved. Found the right people who could clear me, stood up for me even when others didn’t.” He flexed his shoulders, cracking his neck. “Feel free to ask him about it if you want.”
“I don’t need to.” She could tell it was a very private, still-painful incident for him. “I trust Cannon, and if he trusts you, that’s good enough for me.”
Armie relaxed enough to wink at her. “See, this is why you fit right in.”
Did she? She hoped so. Around Cannon’s friends, she felt more at home than she had since moving to California. “The thing is, that’s between you and Cannon. It doesn’t obligate you to me by extension.”
“Sure, it does.”
“No—”
“If Rissy needed something, you’d try to help her out, right?”