Page 12 of Break You

“What? No. I have work to do.” I tried to keep a lid on my irritation. Whether I asked him to or not, or liked it or not, he’d just done me a solid in running off the drunk guy, especially as it saved me from having to make a scene.

“If you make me say it again, I’ll carry you there myself.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Would he?

From what I knew of him so far, my guess was that he probably would.

“That’s not a risk I would take if I were you.” I could see the anger pulsing through his body from the vein throbbing at his temple, to the set of his jaw and the clench of his fists. “Remember our deal.” His voice was barely audible above the merry din of the bar, but that made it all the more menacing as he hissed between his tightly pressed lips.

As much as I wanted to defy him—because how fucking dare he?—I also didn’t want to draw attention to what was going on. I’d already almost lost one job because of him, and I really couldn’t afford to jeopardize another.

“I need to go place this order for your friends, they’re waiting for their drinks.”

“They can wait. And don’t worry, they’ll still tip generously.”

I wanted to swipe the smug leer from his altogether too-good-looking face for the way he condescended to me about my need to get paid. Instead, I balled my fists and dug my nails into my palms, focusing on the pain, and trying not to think about how good it would feel to slap him hard across the face. I stood momentarily rooted to the spot as I watched his back retreat in long confident strides across the room.

As I burst out of the fire doors into the yard bar behind him, I was so angry I could barely see straight.

“You had no fucking right to do that.” Fury hummed through my whole body as I spoke.

“To do what? Run off a lecherous weirdo who was probably one step away from raping you?”

Jesus.

“Nobody was about to rape anybody. What I meant was to come to my place of work and cause drama. Another of my places of work and another drama, in fact. Telling people you’re my boyfriend. Are you out of your living mind?” The more I thought about it, the angrier it made me. “Just because you’re richer than God, surely you can understand that some people actually need to earn money to do simple things like eat and have somewhere to stay? You seem to be following me around determined to wreck that ability for me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m not following anyone.” He paused to take a cigarette from the packet he’d pulled from his back pocket and lit it. I figured that telling him he couldn’t smoke there would fall on deaf ears, so I didn’t bother. Instead, I watched as he took the first drag, pulling on the cigarette as though it was a lifeline. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled, closing his eyes like he was in heaven. When he spoke again, his voice was calmer and more even, but as he paced the small space, the tension between us was obvious.

“I didn’t know you yesterday, and believe me when I say that even before I saw you here, I had no desire to be in this shithole. It was Drew’s choice for his birthday. I just went along with it, because I didn’t want to be a dick about it.”

“So, you just save that for me?”

“What?”

“You said you didn’t want to be a dick to your friend, yet you seem to be a card-carrying asshole to me twenty-four seven.”

“Fuck you. I do you a favor, and that’s the thanks I get?”

“No, fuck you. I don’t need to thank you for something I didn’t want or ask you to do. I can handle my own shit.” It was a skill I learned as a matter of survival.

“It didn’t seem like it from what I just witnessed.”

“Well, looks can be deceiving. I’ve been taking care myself since I was five years old. Not that it’s any of your business.”

“Au contraire! Didn’t you read the instructions from Dr. Reylton? This is all absolutely my business now, as part of the assignment.”

“It’s ‘funny’ that I practically had to beg and grovel for you to help me out earlier today, and now here you are jumping to my rescue when I didn’t ask for it, and it’s all apparently for the assignment. What the actual fuck is your problem?” He didn’t answer, just squared up to me, staring down at me with an inscrutable look on his face. Again, I had no idea what he was thinking. “You know what? Screw this.” No grade was worth dealing with his shit. “I’m pulling out of the assignment.” Failing was better than having to work with him.

“Nope.” He stared me down, bright-blue eyes blazing.

“What do you mean, nope?”

“I mean we’re doing the fucking assignment.” He set his jaw the same way he had earlier, and I was quickly learning it was a sign he meant business.

“So, you expect me to believe that you’re suddenly all for it?”

“I don’t care what you believe. We’re not dropping the assignment.”

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