Page 74 of Exposed

Tim – No. Fuck you. And fuck Brax and Micah for thinking this shit is funny. My team is the badass group who likes to go rogue, and I’m the one left to pick up the pieces when my bosses make me eat shit.

Me – Thanks. It’s not like I saw this coming. I appreciate it.

Tim – I’m done. See you tomorrow.

I toss my phone to the sofa and take a long pull of my beer.

Well.

That’s going to suck.

15

HIGH STANDARDS

Goldie

King refills my glass before sitting next to me with a fresh beer.

Last night was a surprise sleepover.

Tonight King came prepared. Awfully presumptuous. After dragging me onto his lap in the parking lot for Mr. Elrod to gawk at, all I can do is sit here and think about King’s expectations for the evening.

I haven’t had a man sleep over in a long time, and not once since I moved to Florida. It wasn’t even a week ago that King lied about his identity in a fake meeting to use me to get to Dex.

The thought should make me kick the man out of my apartment and never speak to him again.

But I can’t.

That alone is making me question everything about myself.

King sits next to me taking up way more of his share of the sofa than he deserves. He pushes his way into my space and rests his thickarm behind me.

“What are we watching?”

I use the small space to shift but ignore his question. “I need to know what happens next.”

He takes a drink before resting the bottle on his bare knee. He’s taken comfort to a new level in my home. Not only did he bring enough food for two people to live on for at least a week, he’s wearing a pair of workout shorts and a worn T-shirt.

He’s not dressed to impress. It looks like he grabbed clothes that were unfolded in the dryer. Gone is his perfect suit—he’s dressed for maximum comfort and to chill.

I, on the other hand, contemplated my outfit for so long it’s embarrassing. King even called from the other side of the door to see if I was okay. I’m wearing an oversized linen button down and an old pair of cutoff jean shorts. I didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard. I downed my first glass of wine while flipping through my closet. I needed it after tonight.

“Next,” he echoes and contemplates that word. “What do you mean?”

“There are a lot ofnexts. I don’t do well with the unknown. I signed on the dotted line to be your informant, but all I’ve done is attend a scary meeting with you, and now you say I don’t have to go back.”

He shifts to face me. “We’ll get to the informant part next. Today was a rush getting surveillance ready for the meeting tonight at The Pink so we could make sure we were ready for any possibility.”

“You mean Dex’s guys holding us at gunpoint? Because if you anticipated that, you could have warned me.”

He shakes his head. “We were hardly held at gunpoint.”

I lean my head back. “Multiple guns were pointed at us. That’s the very definition of being held at gunpoint.”

He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Dex wasn’t going to do shit. It was easy to see he was bluffing.”

“If you’re always so clairvoyant, fill me in next time.”

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