I raised my glass in silent acknowledgment as Hayes shrugged off his jacket, revealing a gray cable-knit sweater that seemed more suited for the library than a night out at a bar. A faint hint of something woodsy followed after him—pine, maybe. His eyes scanned the room before landing back on me. This time, they stayed.
“Where’s Naomi?” he asked.
“She left already. You’re late.”
Hayes hummed, as if he found my terseness mildly amusing. “Or maybe you’re the one who’s early.”
I bit back a sigh.
He didn’t bring up Naomi again. Instead, he settled into his seat, posture loose and relaxed. He looked completely at ease, like this was a routine we did, just two coworkers going out for a drink.
The bartender materialized in front of us, wiping down the scarred wood with a rag that had seen better days.
“What’ll it be?”
“Club soda with lime.”
I raised an eyebrow at his drink of choice. “Going wild tonight, I see.”
Hayes met my eyes, seemingly unfazed. “I don’t really drink alcohol.”
“Don’t like to lose control, huh?”
“Something like that.” He offered me another one of his easy smiles. “Truth be told, I’m a bit of a lightweight.”
Well, at least he admitted it. He was already doing better than Naomi in that department.
I finished off the rest of my drink and set the glass down with a soft clink. And that would be my cue. “Well… this was nice and all,” I said, pushing away from the bar, “but I should get going—”
“Have I done something to offend you, Detective?”
I paused mid-motion, one hand braced against the edge of the bar top.
The question had been stated plainly, like the thought had occurred to him just now.
“I’m sorry?” I asked.
“What I meant to say is… I have a feeling that you don’t like me very much. And I can’t help but wonder why.” There was no bite or accusation in his tone, only curiosity, like he was genuinely puzzled by this.
Who the hell even asked a question like that out of the blue?
I tried to keep my annoyance in check. I really didn’t have the energy to do this right now.
“No, you haven’t done anything to offend me. If you had, trust me, you’d know.”
It wasn’t even a lie. I had no concrete reason to dislike Hayes, and yet… I couldn’t explain it exactly, but something about him justfeltoff.
Maybe it was the way in which he held himself, like a coiled viper—motionless for now, but ready to strike the moment it suited him. Everything about him seemed calculated, like he’d mastered the art of moving through a room without leaving ripples. It never failed to make the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end, some primal instinct warning me to be careful.
While he seemed friendly enough on the surface—polite, considerate, even charming at times—none of it felt real.I’d learned to trust my intuition over the years, and right now, it was telling me that Hayes was full of shit.
A flicker of amusement crossed his face, laced with something that almost looked like a challenge. “You can be honest with me, Detective. I promise I won’t get offended.”
I sat back down and gave him a long, assessing look.
Fine. I tried to be nice, but if that was how he wanted to play…
“Alright. If you really want to know… I had this dream once. In it, you were my dentist. But not, like, in a normal way. You kept talking about my emotional baggage while trying to pull out my molars with a pair of rusty pliers.”
