Please say yes.If he rejected my invitation, I might never ask him to do anything again.
Theo’s fleeting smile was so big it knocked the air out of me. He patted the front pockets of his jeans and checked he had what he needed. “Yeah, I’ll come with you.”
“On my way!” I called down to Varesh, encouraging Theo with a tilt of my head.
“Let’s do it,” he said.
As we hurried toward the stairs together, I threw a glance over my shoulder, making sure Dustin wasn’t following us.
The careful adjustment of his glasses, the way he watched me…
Unease prickled my skin, and I sucked in a sharp breath. I may have gotten the upper hand this time around, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be our last confrontation.
Four
theo
“Sure you’re okay with this?” I pushed the passenger seat back as far as it would go, resting my knee against the console.
When Varesh found out I was joining them, he suddenly remembered a few jobs at home that apparently couldn’t wait, leaving me to make the trip alone with Sadie. Subtle as a sledgehammer.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” She reversed out of her allocated parking space, focusing on the task rather than on me.
“How are you doing?” I asked. “It got intense with Kerger back there.”
She cruised by the row of cars parked behind our building and headed for the exit. “He said some awful things, but he didn’t touch me.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
With a loud sigh, she hung a left and drove down Sanderson Street, passing the tennis club and medical centre, the dental clinic and pizza place. The medical centre was the only businessstill operating on this stretch of road, and sporadically at that. If you spotted the A-frame board out front, they’d take drop-ins for any issues other than Ultimus. Today was not one of those days.
“I’m good now.” She gripped the steering wheel and stopped at the first intersection. “I’m just not used to people talking to me like that.”
When I first saw her clenched fists in the hallway, I didn’t know how he’d upset her; I only knew for sure he was to blame. “Sorry you had to hear it. It was a shitty thing to say.”
“It’s not your fault, but thanks for standing up for me.” Sadie threw me a quick smile, her mouth tight around the edges. “After the way he acted, I’m not sure how to feel about him anymore.” Her eyes remained on the road, and she tapped her thumb against the steering wheel. “Remember Gavin?”
I nodded. He'd lived alone on the opposite side of the hall from me. “Gamer by day, medieval knight by… night.”
Gavin used to attend Renaissance festivals, and I’d accepted a few heavy packages on his behalf that could have been pieces of armour or mock weapons. He’d always seemed like a harmless guy who embraced his nerdiness, but maybe Sadie had a different perspective.
“He had no idea how to talk to the opposite sex, but he never hovered or acted weird around me.” She paused and flicked her gaze over the street. “In the beginning, I thought Dustin was just like him, but now I think he might actually hate women.”
“Can’t argue with that, but why’d he turn on you so fast? He’s been hung up on you since you moved in.”
Sadie flinched and turned right. We passed a row of houses and a couple of small shopfronts. “I don’t know,” she said in a rush.
“And how’d he get the idea you’re sleeping with me?” I still had too many unanswered questions, including why someone would drop a couple of thousand dollars on my rent. The only womanwho’d do something like that for me was Mia, and she didn't have that kind of money to throw around. “We’ve never been close,” I said. “I mean, at all,let alone like… that.”
Sadie slowed for a group of teen boys in hoodies and baggy jeans crossing the road, only she pressed too hard on the brake, and we both jolted forward. “Do we really need to talk about this?”she asked, as one of the little shits flipped us off.
“Just trying to work out why he was so pissed,” I said as she picked up speed again. “How long were you in the hallway with him before I showed up?”
“I don’t know. Two minutes? Three?” She swung into an angled parking space outside Schultz Outdoors and cut the engine. “We’re here.”
Conversation to be continued—or not, given how antsy my questions had made her.
We slid our masks into place and climbed out.
