“I had a lot of fun,” I said because it seemed like the thing to do. “Who did you come to see?”
“What makes you think I didn’t come to see you?”
My spine went stiff. His delivery was straight out of aDexterepisode. Then he laughed as if he was joking, which made me even more uncomfortable.
“Just kidding. I’m a big fan of Nathan Cooper,” he said.
“Oh.” That relaxed me, if only marginally. Sometimes horror fans were weird. It wasn’t their fault. They just lost themselves in dark world, and it became normal to them. “Nathan is a funny guy.”
“Yes. I enjoyed talking to him.”
It wasn’t as if I’d spent my entire evening watching Nathan—not by a long shot—but I couldn’t remember him talking to this guy. In fact, when I racked my brain, I couldn’t remember seeing this guy at all.
“I’m Bree James,” I volunteered, making up my mind on the spot and extending my hand.
“Joey Hill.” He took my hand and shook it, lingering a bit too long. He showed his teeth again when he smiled. “I saw you when I was in there. I wasn’t certain what you wrote.”
“Paranormal,” I replied, finally managing to pull back my hand.
“Ooh, like paranormal smut? Not-safe-for-work stuff?” He winked in a way that made my skin crawl.
I was about to tell him where he could stick his assumptions—even though that was technically what I wrote—when I felt a warm presence move in at my back.
“You’re still here?”
I almost cried out in relief when I recognized Brody’s voice. It wasn’t that I needed anybody to save me—especially him—but Joey was giving me the creeps. There was something off about the guy that I couldn’t identify. He made me distinctly uncomfortable.
“I’m waiting for my Uber. Although … it looks as if they dropped me.” I hadn’t realized that until I glanced at the app for an update. They were searching for another driver, but sometimes that took forever. Would I be stuck out here with Joey for another twenty minutes? I didn’t think I could survive that.
“You can share one with me,” Joey offered. “Mine will be here in two minutes.” Somehow, he managed to look smug delivering that information.
“That’s nice,” Brody said blandly. “Mine will be here in one minute, though, and she lives right down the road from me. I’ll take her.”
Disappointment rocketed over Joey’s features. “Oh, are you sure?”
I’d never been surer of anything in my life. “Yes. I wouldn’t want you going out of your way.” I gripped Brody’s forearm, earning an eyebrow raise from him. “This works out great.”
I waited until we were both seated in Brody’s Uber and on our way to the Landings to speak again. “Thank you.”
Brody’s face was only illuminated a little bit in the back seat. “You didn’t look like you were enjoying your conversation with him. It’s no big deal.”
“There was something off about him.”
Alarm replaced discomfort as Brody turned to face me fully. “Did he say something to you? Did he touch you?”
“No.” I shook my head. “He just had a vibe. That probably sounds lame.” Saying it out loud that way, it sounded lame to me.
“No.” Brody solemnly shook his head. “Never apologize for protecting yourself. If he made you uncomfortable, that’s the only thing that matters.”
He could have tried to hold this over my head. He didn’t, though. It was a relief.
“Still, thank you,” I said.
“Don’t thank me for doing the bare minimum. We were going in the same direction anyway.”
“I still appreciate it.”
He sighed. “Don’t let it go to your head. I still basically think you’re the devil.”
