Page 44 of Wild Card
“Made sure to clean that up before I got here? That’s good. It’d have been awkward if I had to see it.” I grin at him and the irritation on his face grows. He takes another bite of his donut and grabs the coffee.
“Do you know what you want for lunch?”
“I don’t give a fuck. My nutritionist has meals in the fridge and freezer.”
“All right. I’ll see what’s in the fridge and pantry. Maybe I can cook something for dinner.”
“I just said I have meals. You don’t need to cook.”
“I know.” I shrug. “Am I allowed in the closet and bathroom to clean things up?”
“If you fucking must.”
“All right. I’ll leave you alone and have Harper show me where things are.” I start to leave the room.
“Scarlett,” he calls after me.
“Yeah?” I freeze, a tingle in my spine because I’m hoping he says anything that could possibly bury this tension.
He takes a breath and then there’s a long pause.
“Nothing, just… don’t fucking move stuff around too much.”
“Of course.” I walk out and close the door behind me, feeling like I’ve just signed up for the longest few weeks of my life.
TWENTY-FIVE
Tobias
“Hey,”I answer when I see my brother’s name light up my phone.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like fucking shit, and now Xander’s got me a fucking babysitter.”
“Did you need one?”
“I’ll remember you asked that someday.”
“I’m just saying… Xander’s usually one to live and let live so if he intervened, I’m guessing there was a reason.” Easton plays devil’s advocate.
“I just don’t want people around right now.”
“I can see why he was worried then.”
“I’m aware that I’m usually the one who has everyone around, but right now I just want to be alone. I don’t need people gawking at me and watching me struggle every minute of every fucking day.”
“I get that. I’d feel the same way, but you need someone there with you. This isn’t the kind of thing you do alone.”
“I was a fucking idiot for letting him convince me to have her do it. I should have just picked an aide service and had them come in. Risked the fucking bullshit that would come along with that.”
“Who is her?”
“Scarlett. He said she was at the hospital. I never saw her, did you?”
“The redhead?”
“Yeah.”
