(Ryder's POV)
Jade shoved open a creaking door behind the bar.
"Home sweet home. Sorta," she told me with a cunning smile like she was waiting on me to point out how bad the room was.
And it wasn't a room—not really.
The space smelled like dust and stale pretzels. Shelves crammed with industrial-sized ketchup bottles and napkin dispensers lined one wall. In the corner sat a narrow cot with a thin mattress. It was basically a storage room.
"Say hello to the storage room slash panic room slash your new palace," she announced, and tossed a blanket at me since I hadn't complained.
"Thanks," I said, genuinely meaning it.
She followed my gaze to a white board nailed crookedly to the wall beside the door. Scribbled in faded marker was a chaotic list:
*Fix roof leak.
Unclog toilet (AGAIN).
Exorcise walk-in fridge demon.
Relocate the bee hive... maybe.
Fix bar stool
Pay electric bill (lol).*
The list kept going.
