Page 33 of Clashing
“What do you take me for?” Tammy huffed. “If you hook up in the supply closet with the door open, you’re kind of asking to get caught. You’re lucky Danny didn’t arrive a few minutes earlier.”
She had a point. Tammy returned to work, and I really wasn’t concerned she’d say anything. She wasn’t a gossip.
That wasn’t the problem at the forefront of my mind. My problem was I had a pretty good guess who’d called for Scarlett, and a stupid nagging in the back of my brain wouldn’t stop asking why the hell she didn’t tell me.
Chapter ten
Overprotective
Scarlett
SeeingDanhadalwayswarmed my soul. This was the first time my shoulders lifted from tension, and my stomach knotted. Dan being here meant I couldn’t get distracted ogling Ryker. I couldn’t make eyes or tease or really acknowledge his presence because I didn’t trust myself not to give it away. Difficult before, but even worse now that I knew what he felt like. Sex with Ryker was an otherworldly experience.
Dan would freak if he found out. Especially since Ryker wasn’t only a regular, he also helped Dan out. A friend was worse than a regular. Dan never let anyone help with anything, so it spoke volumes that Ryker found a way around his stubbornness. I was shocked when Dan let him fix my sink. Then, when the light went out and a new lightbulb didn’t do the trick, Tammy said Ryker would take care of it as if it was normal.
He did take care of it.Add “make Ryker teach me how to do handy tasks” to the list of things I want from him.As if that list wasn’t long enough.
Dan sat at the bar and made small talk about his gun show. After I brought him a burger, my nerves heightened. His stern expression dredged up memories of me as a young girl, awaiting a scolding I probably deserved.
Dan ignored the burger. “You got something you wanna tell me, Scar?”
Oh God, he can’t already know.I glanced at Ryker, but he wore a similar disapproving frown. My gaze returned to Dan, and my brows furrowed, unsure where the sudden animosity from both of them had developed from.
“Uh, I have another art show coming up?” I tried.
Dan hmphed. “What’d you do this weekend?”
Ryker. Several times.Guilt kept that information at the forefront of my mind. Dan couldn’t know. Ryker didn’t seem nervous—more tense, like Dan.
“I worked and . . . Okay, for fuck’s sake, tell me what you’re trying to get out of me.” I threw my arms up. “Because I don’t know what it is, and you’re making me nervous.”
Dan released a doubtful huff. “You don’t know what it is?”
“I truly don’t. Spit it out. What’s wrong?”
Gaze assessing, he sat up straighter. “Who called for you today?”
Oh, fuck.Tammy, that traitor, must’ve told him. To be fair, I didn’t tell her not to say anything. Still, though. I curled my arms around myself. “Your tone implies you know.”
“Were you not going to tell me?” Whether he was more annoyed or hurt, I couldn’t tell.
“No. I wasn’t going to tell you. What are you going to do?”
He ground his teeth. “There’s plenty I could do.”
“It’s not like anything happened. He called, I blocked the number, that’s it.”
“I thought he didn’t know where you were.”
“I didn’t think he did, but so what? He’s not going to cross two states to find me.”
“Then why’s he bothering you?”
“I don’t know. Because he gets off on fucking with people?”
“You’re too nonchalant about this.” Dan wagged a finger at me. “Is this the first you’ve heard from him, or has he contacted you already?”
I opened my mouth to say no, then slammed it shut.The letter. The text.Dan’s eyes sharpened, and I cursed myself for not being more stoic. Now I had to tell him, and I couldn’t put into words how much I didn’t want to ever talk about Todd again.
