Page 41 of Outcast
I’d loved art for as long as I could remember—and I’d fit in as many classes as I could in high school and college alongside the required curriculum for my business degree.
I’d gotten an MBA so I could eventually take over the bank. It had been in our family for four generations now, and it was my duty to follow in Dad’s footsteps. But art would always be my happy place.
I made an easy dinner and flipped on the television while I ate. Here, surrounded by color and art and comfort, it seemed silly that I let Dallas rattle me so much.
As I finished up, my phone rang with a FaceTime call. Allison. I should have expected as much.
She’d been nearly as excited about Gray’s invite as I had.
I set aside my plate and hit the button to answer. Her face filled the screen. She was still at work; the generic wall art depicting flowers in a vase, probably purchased at freaking Walmart, loomed behind her.
I shuddered. “That pathetic excuse for art kills me every time, Ally.”
“Sorry.” She shifted, altering the screen view so I wouldn’t have to look at it. “Didn’t mean to offend your artistic sensibilities.”
“I die a thousand tiny deaths every time I see it.”
She laughed. “You’re so dramatic, and it’s acrimeyou have to work in finance. You should be curating museum exhibits or illustrating graphic novels, babe.”
This was an old discussion and one I didn’t want to cover tonight. “At least Dad let me hangrealart at the bank.”
“It was that or put up with your whining for eternity.”
“Pretty much.”
She grinned. “Okay, enough small talk. Show me what you’re wearing to meet Gray tonight!”
“About that…”
“Nooo! Emory, donottell me you’re going to stand up that gorgeous man.”
“I mean, he said to stop by if I wanted. It wasn’t like a datedate.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Are you really going to hit me with semantics right now?”
I blew out a breath. “I saw Dallas on the way out of work, and he said some things…”
I recapped the exchange—minus my pathetic inner quaking. I’d eventually told Allison about the whole sordid night with him because she made it impossible to keep a secret. She’d noticed I was keeping something from her and pushed until I caved. She was pissed enough I was still glad I hadn’t told her the night of the gala. She might have hopped in her car and hunted him down. As it was, she still wanted me to file a report, even if his dad was the sheriff.
I was holding out because I didn’t want to stir up trouble, but trouble had come looking for me, anyway.
“Dallas is just giving you an excuse to bail out because it’s a scary step,” she said.
“He threatened to out me!”
“And he would have to out himself too. Not to mention, what he did to you was a crime. You could still report him.”
“It would just be my word against his. Besides, that would only start rumors…”
Allison nodded. “Well, maybe people would finally stop expecting us to get married.”
“Not funny.”
She smirked. “A little funny.”
My lips twitched. “Seriously, Ally. This guy is a creep, and I don’t know what to do if he starts shit.”
“Let your man go beat his ass?”
