@inherentvice
Pick up.
My jaw aches from how hard I’m clenching my teeth.
No ‘please,’ just a straight up demand.
The phone vibrates with another call. I look at Haven. She’s still curled up, hair splayed across her face. If I wake her, she’ll apologize for missing his first call. She’ll submit to him.
Fuck that.
I swipe to answer and press the phone to my ear.
“She’s sleeping.”
Silence.
Then the sound of ice clinking against glass. Because obviously he’s drinking top-shelf bourbon at two in the morning.
“Screening her calls now?” He’s not surprised I answered, just amused.
Jesus, he’s so fucking condescending.
“It’s two in the fucking morning,” I grate. “Don’t you have papers to grade, or puppies to kick?”
His low chuckle vibrates against my ear. “If I’d wanted to speak to you, boy, I’d have called your number. Now put her on the phone.”
“She’s sleeping. Leave her the fuck alone.”
“That’s not how this works, Kai. I call, she answers. That was the agreement.”
“Fuck your agreement.”
“Careful,” Rooke purrs. His amusement evaporates, replaced by cold steel. “I can put you back in that cell faster than you can blink. And next time, you won’t even make bail.”
My knuckles whiten as my grip tightens around the phone case. “What do you want?”
Rooke hums in my ears like he’s considering ordering me to fetch Haven again. But I guess he enjoys seeing how far he can push me.
“I want you at my house. Tomorrow night.Bothof you.”
I scoff. “Fuck, no.”
“This isn’t a negotiation.”
“You’re right, it isn’t. We have plans.”
“Plans,” he repeats dryly.
“We’re going to a party.” Why the fuck I sound so defensive explaining myself…Jesus, I don’t know.
“A party?” He lets out a dark chuckle. “Seems like you’re invested in going back to jail.”
“We made costumes,” I say, forcing the tremor from my voice. “We’re going to dress up, and we’re going to dance, and we’renotcoming to see you, you fucking asshole.”
I wait for the explosion.
“What are you going as?” Rooke sounds…intrigued. And I like it even less than when he was being condescending.
