Once on stage, I do the hip bounce three times and watch as Chris gets up from his seat and leaves out the hallway to the back. For some reason, it lets me breathe. Now, it’s all just a waiting game to see if we fucked anything up.
Once my last dance is over, I change and take the walk to the playground again. I pull out my phone and risk calling Chris.
“Hey.”
“How’d it go?” I ask.
“Good. Everything was seamless. And I got to keep an eye on Nico,” he says.
I sigh as relief loosens my body.
“You okay?”
I startle. Chris’s voice didn’t come from my phone. I look down at it, confused, before I feel him walk up next to me.
“I’m not sure.” My eyes drift up to his. “I’m too in my head, sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about.” He places his hand on my lower back. “You want to come back to mine and watch the camera?”His smile is hesitant, like he’s unsure how to handle me for the first time since we met.
“I think I do.” I match his smile with a small smile of my own.
The hand pressing on my back leads me to his SUV. His gentlemanly act is more gentle than usual; he’s using more care. The soft touches to my thigh and my arm send goosebumps down my limbs.
This attraction is something I’ve never felt before. It’s dangerous. Scary.Thrilling.
God, my head is a fucking mess. I’m supposed to be focused on Cano, and yet Chris is making that extremely hard.
The drive to Chris’s place is much shorter than I expected. We pull up to one of the nicest apartment buildings in the city, park underground, and head to the elevator without speaking a word. He seems to understand that I need to think.
My first step into his apartment makes me more confused. “Where’s all your stuff?”
“Uh, I moved just recently. Haven’t had time to decorate much.”
“This is a step lower than a bachelor pad.” I smile at him with a tilt of my head.
He rubs the back of his neck with a self-deprecating look. I realize he’s embarrassed. It’s oddly endearing. I’m used to him being sure of himself.
“I have my laptop set up in the bedroom. Let me just … go grab it.” He rushes off.
The awkwardness makes me smile. Maybe I’m affecting him too.
He brings it back and sets it on the couch since he doesn’t have a coffee table. We both sit on the threadbare couch, with barely enough room between us for the laptop. The video shows a view of the back lot.
“When are we supposed to see who did the dropping off?” I ask.
“Any minute now.”
“How’d you convince Cano to let you put up cameras?”
“Uh, told him he could watch his merchandise, and that included either of us for pick-ups so he could see who was fucking him over if they ever did.” He glances at me. “I added one to the cave too, so we’ll see.”
“Play to his need to know all the things.” I nod, but there’s something about the way he explained it that makes me question things. Oh well, there’s too much to think about already without adding that to the mix. Not my problem.
“Exactly.”
We sit and watch the branches sway in the breeze on the video.
“How was work tonight?”
