Fuck. I’m lying out of my teeth so bad and he knows it.
“Remember at the last staff meeting when you told Sheldon ‘if I ever have to double-check your math again, I’m going to come to your house every morning at five a.m. and blast Iron Maiden right as you’re getting those really nice dreams you like.”
“Okay, Imayhave said something like that. But people change.”
I stand up and flip the football around again. “Look, Ty. So I’m not going to the floor? What’s the big deal? You guys can handle it.”
“Fine. I got my eye on you, though, Holloway.”
I clear my throat. “So, how’s the, uh, new trainee doing?” I ask, trying to be nonchalant. “Forget her name.”
He shakes his head. “Okay, now Iknowsomething is up. Daphne said you had her give Faith an applicationspecificallywhen she came in here with her friends.”
“Who?” I squint, feigning like I have no idea what he’s talking about.
“Faith Easton. You know. The girl who was our server last time wee ate at Easton’s place and you two couldn’t keep your eyes off one another. Also the daughter of the guy you almost got in a fight with at church. How can you not remember her name?”
“How’d you know about that fight?”
He guffaws. “The entiretownknows about that fight. It was in the freaking lobby of the biggest church. You know how gossip spreads around Vansborough.”
“Like wildfire,” I grit out.
“Tell me what the hell is going on.”
I stuff the football in his stomach. “Fine. Remember that girl I was flirting with at Mont du Marquette?”
“The little dirty blonde hottie with a body. She was an out of towner, right? I noticed all her friends had northern accents.”
I hold up a finger. “Her friends were from out of town. But she’s not.”
“Who is she?”
“Well, that night she wasLunaand I wasThor. But…she’s actually Faith Easton.”
His jaw drops. “That girl from the club is Faith Easton. The girl who’s training with Daphne right now? How’d you figure that out?”
I nod grimly. “I put two and two together when I saw her at church the next day and I heard her voice.”
“But she doesn’t recognize you?”
I shake my head. “I had the full mask on that night. Plus, I don’t think she knows my voice. She doesn’t really know me except from bible camp when I was like fourteen and she was twelve. My voice had barely dropped then.”
Ty’s blue eyes bulge out of his head. He wrinkles his forehead, then runs a hand through his short hair. “So you flirted with Faith Easton. Isn’t she engaged?”
“She didn’t have her ring on at Mont du Marquette, and we were miles away, well past the outskirts of town. And remember how that bastard Keith was talking about hooking up with other women in D.C.?”
“I do recall that. But man, this sounds messy. Really messy. If Keith is an asshole, but she’s still engaged, this is none of your business.”
“I know. And I wasn’t exactly on the lookout for her that night. I was a little busy watching my first public flogging, if you recall.” I waggle my eyebrows.
Ty gets this goofy grin. “Pretty cool, right?”
I clench my jaw. “I’m not making a point about that girl getting paddled by Mr. Punisher. My point is that I wasn’t in a million years expecting to see a girl likeFaithin a freakingsex dungeon.”
“Like seeing a fish out of water. So - what, do you think she’s supposed to be some kind of angel? Every man and woman has that bit of naughtiness inside them. It’s natural.”
He makes a good point. Never again will I assume.
