Steele
Somehow, waking up early for the second day in the row sucked more than the first.
At least with the first, there was, in a fucked-up way, the novelty of it being the first day. Novelty did not equate to enjoyment, but it did mean that I was running on a sort of low-level adrenaline as the day went on.
But today, when my alarm went off half an hour past seven, I wanted nothing more than to hit snooze, curl back up, and imagine that Elizabeth could handle herself. And truth be told, she probably could. The Bandits caused most of their trouble during the night…
Well, that wasn’t fucking true. Brock’s store robbery had taken place in broad daylight.
“Goddamnit,” I mumbled as I got myself out of bed.
I struggled to get my clothes on. I made coffee with the enthusiasm of someone waking up in prison, drinking only half my cup before I trudged out the door. Even my motorcycle barely woke me up, though at least the pleasure of being on my favorite seat made the morning a little better.
When I got to the building, I put my sunglasses on and leaned against the wall. I wished I had brought myself another drink, but I just hadn’t had enough alertness in the morning to do anything about it. Even standing up, I found my eyes half-shutting, and I really hoped that Elizabeth would show up soon just so…
So I had something to look at to keep my eyes up.
I got my wish not too long after. I saw Elizabeth’s car pull up, though I made no motion toward her as she got parked and got out of the car. She also had sunglasses on, as well as some tight-fitting slacks and a nice pink button-down. If I had to say so, for someone dressed in boring, professional attire, she did not leave my imagination a ton of gaps.
“I’m sorry, Steele.”
Oh, God, for what?
“I told my father about you being here yesterday. I didn’t mean to, it just slipped out, but…you should go.”
A part of me felt relief that I’d get to go home and take a nap and didn’t have to deal with this.
But most of me actually felt disappointed. Just like that, huh? Just like that, one day after I’d provided security, shit had ended. I guess maybe it was easy to predict what would happen had I let myself realize things would end poorly.
“You know we did this for you, right?” I said with a snort, too exhausted to chuckle. “You know the whole reason I came here wasn’t to piss off your father or get back at Tara somehow. It was for you.”
“I know, and I regret telling him.”
What?
“Also, I’m sorry for asking about your parents yesterday. It wasn’t my place.”
Am I being trolled right now?
I stared at Elizabeth for a good half-dozen seconds, just waiting for her to crack and laugh, to say how she would never want a biker to come and protect her office.
It never came.
She was serious.
She was…genuine?
I thought this girl was a prude. I thought this girl didn’t want to get closer to me, at least not emotionally. I didn’t think she’d ever apologize for anything, let alone for wanting to know more about me—which made me feel closer…
“Cool, don’t ask me again,” I said as I walked past her.
No, those weren’t the words I wanted to say. Not good enough. Too cold.
Not even Tara had apologized like that to me before.
But if I said more…
Not worth it.
