Page 32 of Ugly Duckling
He held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
The way he studied my face had my stomach bottoming out.
So used to the way people took me in, knowing that I was ugly, it was a gut instinct to put some space between us.
I yanked off the beanie and allowed my hair to come down and cover some of my face.
He clocked my reaction and narrowed his eyes.
I pulled my hand away and turned my face, finding Gunner finished with what he was doing and shoving his phone back into his pocket.
He took my face in, along with my hair, and then looked at Auden. “Can we sit in the back and eat today?”
“Sure.” He jerked his chin. “Come on back.”
We followed him into a back hallway that eventually led to an office space.
There was a huge table and chairs in there.
Gunner made himself at home, walking to the fridge and pouring two glasses of milk into two red Solo cups that were sitting off to the side of the fridge.
Auden continued to study me.
“Do I make you nervous?” he asked, calling me out.
“I don’t like people staring at me,” I admitted.
“Stop, Auden,” Gunner ordered. “She’s with me.”
Three words had changed my whole world.
“With you, with you?”
“For now,” Gunner answered. “Why are you here?”
“Stopped for a lunch break,” he returned. “Maven ordered in. Just got through.”
Gunner looked at me and said, “I’m going to grab our stuff. Be right back. Take a seat.”
I took a seat, but only after they left.
My stomach started to settle down the longer Auden was gone.
When Gunner got back with a huge bag of food, all of it fattening and filled with sugar, I said, “He was intimidating.”
“He’s a cop. You were acting funny.”
“I don’t like when people stare at me,” I admitted. “I know I’m not the most attractive person to look at, but staring is rude. They can look away.”
His head tilted. “You’re not ugly.”
I snorted. “Maybe not anymore. But it’s a knee-jerk reaction.”
“You weren’t ever ugly before.”
He was being nice.
“We’ll have to agree to disagree. Even my own father thought I was ugly.”
