A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2) by Darynda Jones

She nodded but didn’t elaborate.

A lock of her hair fell over the side of the bed. He took it and let it slide through his fingers as though fascinated. Auri just liked watching his biceps bunch up with the movement. She wondered how much he worked out because, even as a freshman, he was more sculpted than most seniors. Including the athletes.

“How many times has your life been saved?”

She squinted in thought. “A few, most likely. But two to be certain.”

“Ah. So I have Mr. Ravinder to thank for keeping the enigmatic Auri Vicram alive and kicking.”

“Enigmatic?” She snorted softly. “Have you looked in the mirror?”

“Me? Hardly. What you see is what you get.”

And what a sight it was. “So, for real? You?”

He frowned in confusion.

“What I see is what I get? I see you.”

He stilled, his eyes shimmering in the low light. “I’m all yours.”

A soft knock sounded at the door. “Auri, sweetheart?”

Auri rolled over sleepily and raised a hand to shield her eyes again like she had with her mom. Making sure to add a grogginess to her voice, she said, “Hey, Grandma. Hey, Grandpa.”

They eased into the room. “Your mom said you were having trouble sleeping. We brought some hot chocolate.”

“Laced with barbiturates?”

Her grandma stopped and cast a hapless expression on her husband. “Everything I touch.”

Auri scooted to the other side of her bed, leaned against the headboard, and took the piping hot cup. “Thanks, Grandpa.”

“Are you feeling better, pigeon?”

“A little. How is Levi’s friend?”

“He’s still in surgery.”

“I hope he makes it. Levi was really upset.”

“Yes, he was. But he was glad to see you.”

She lifted a shoulder. “I hope so.”

Her grandma sat beside her on the bed while her grandfather sat on the end.

“We were going to clean out the attic tomorrow if you’re up for it,” her grandma said. “It’s supposed to be cool. A perfect time to climb up there before summer sets in.”

She took a sip and nodded from behind the cup. “I’m totally up for it.”

“Good.”

“Thanks for the hot chocolate.”

“You’re welcome,” Grandma said. “I hope it’s helping.”

“It is. I’m already getting sleepy.”

She smiled, leaned in, and kissed her cheek. “Okay, well, sleep tight, peanut. We’ll come check on you again in, oh, say, thirty—”

“Twenty,” Grandpa said.

“—twenty minutes. Just to make sure the hot chocolate did the trick.”

Auri felt herself deflate. She groaned aloud, and said, “Mom knew, didn’t she?”

Grandpa practically cackled. “How do you think we found out?” He leaned over the other side of the bed. “Hey, Cruz.”

She heard a sheepish, “Hey, Mr. Freyr.”

“Twenty minutes.”

“I’ll be gone in ten, sir.”

“I knew you were a good kid.”

Auri had put a hand over her eyes as humiliation burned through her. She looked through her fingers and watched as a hand rose from the horizon of her mattress and gave her grandpa a thumbs-up.

The couple chuckled and headed for the door, but not before her grandpa turned back with a final warning. “I’m going to hold you to that ten minutes.”

Cruz climbed to his feet and waved sheepishly before they padded down the hall. “Well, that was a disaster.”

Auri looked up the length of him, straight and tall and startlingly handsome, and said, “Not really. My mom could’ve arrested you. She’s apparently really into that sort of thing.”

He rested an endearing expression on her. “It’s good she’s the sheriff, then. If she just went around randomly arresting people without the badge to back it up, she’d have to be committed. I had an uncle who used to do that.”

He started for the window, and Auri practically jumped out of bed. “You still have nine minutes.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to push my luck.”

“You can go out the front door.”

“And ruin the vibe? No way.”

He lifted the window and vaulted out easily. She loved watching him do that, his lithe body like an athlete’s. Or a panther’s.

She went to the window as he got on his bike. “You could come back tomorrow. My grandparents could probably use the help.”

He played with a pedal, bouncing a foot on it. “I have to help my dad tomorrow.”

“Oh. Okay, well I’ll see you at school Monday, then.” When he didn’t answer, she said, “Cruz?”

He turned away from her, looking into the darkness when he spoke again. “I’m kind of in love with you, Auri.”

Her lips parted in surprise. He started to take off when she blurted, “I’m kind of in love with you, too, Cruz.”

He nodded and took off into the darkness, but all Auri saw was a sparkling luminous soul. He kind of loved her. She was good with that.





5


Caller reported a man wearing a

T-shirt that read, Who needs drugs?