Page 30 of Bent, Not Broken

I wasn’t even worth a fuck you too text.

Well, shit. I slumped in my seat and my coffee sat poorly in my stomach.

Instead of going to brunch with Mom, I remained at Grounds and Gears, staring at my phone. I went in and got a refill and then came back outside to stare some more. Finally, at about two o’clock, I gave it up for what it was. I’d said the words first, but he’d gotten to be the one to give me the brush-off, and that rankled.

“Okay, so this has happened to you before, probably, even if you can’t remember a single instance. Get over it. He started it, you ended it, so you still won.”

I didn’t sound so sure to myself, but I was also a fucking liar half the time, so what did I know? I checked around to make sure no one saw me being insane and then walked back to the office.

Upon my arrival, River didn’t comment on my lateness. River was smooth when he was pissed off, unlike some growly cops. Rather than yell, he dropped so much work into my lap that I’d have no choice except to stay late, and he had nary a fuck to give when I whined about it to him on his way toward the exit at the perfectly reasonable time of six.

He just glared over the top of his gold-rimmed glasses as he left. “Lock up when you’re done,” he called.

So I got back to work.

My paperwork pile dwindled while I focused extra hard and refused to acknowledge how much I felt like shit because Slater hadn’t fought back. All that arguing he’d done with me, and this was the time he let me have the last say? The receptionist was gone by the time I left through the ostentatious lobby on the first floor, but the security guard lifted an absent hand at me from behind the desk.

“Bye, Herbert. Have a fantastic night,” I said, trying to lift my own spirits. He nodded in my direction without picking his head up from his newspaper. Groaning, I went outside onto the steps and hopped down each one till I landed on the sidewalk. The heat of the day was gone, and the sun was a purple-pink streak to the west. Stars sparkled here and there, and the moon rose big and fat over the tops of buildings to the east. Part of me really wanted to go find a good bar. I stomped my way along the sidewalk toward my car. No more booze this week. I already felt awful enough.

When I rounded the side of the building, my gut lurched. Big bruiser leaned against my car with his phone out. Had to be Officer Slater, in that really delicious cop uniform that made his shoulders seem like they could support an entire building. The outdoor lights weren’t on yet, but I knew the shape of his body by now. Had I thought I was done with him? Was I nuts? My mood soared and I felt like a fucking idiot as I grinned at him and walked his way.

“What the fuck was that at the station today?” he asked, mean as ever.

My heart jumped happily. Yeah, I was nuts. I needed to just go with it. “Uh… I defended a client?”

He tipped his hat back on his head and pursed his lips. He held up his phone. “You’re right. I’m not even gay, so. Yeah. Fine. We’re done.”

My stomach did a freefall off the high dive. Fuck. Really? Clearing my throat, I felt like I’d just stepped into a large room with a pit in the middle. At midnight. With no lights. I groped my way through the conversation. “Yeah, that’s why I sent the text.” I made myself smile again.

Slater chose not to move himself out of my way, and I didn’t have it in me to ask him why. After about a minute of us staring at each other and no one making the first move to actually go, our standoff had me chuckling. My mind spun, and I got a stray thought about Mom harassing the pool boy, and the next thing I found myself randomly blurting, “Want to come swim at my house? It’s still warm enough.”

“What?” He tilted his head to the side and stared at me, eyes in shadow.

“You know. With water. You wear small pants. They make your package look good, well, they make mine look good. I’m assuming they’d make yours look good too.” My hand slipped up to rub the back of my neck, and I had trouble forcing myself to stay still when he shifted from foot to foot.

“Why would I want to do anything with you?” he asked, stepping to the side, finally allowing me to open my car door.

My stomach dropped again, and I felt like an abused yo-yo inside. Usually I loved snark and verbally sparring, but… this wasn’t a battle of wills. I was actually trying to be nice, and he was just mean. I liked him pushing at me, and I liked him dominating me, and I even thought him being growly and snappish and rude was fun… but… my stomach hurt again. I didn’t say anything as I tugged open my car door and then climbed in.

“Hey—” he started.

I slammed the door closed and hit the ignition button. The lights flashed on automatically. He jumped back when I reversed the car out of my spot, and then I shifted into first gear and managed to squeal the tires on my way past him out of the lot.

“Fuck the police,” I grumbled under my breath and honked for good measure as I sped away.

When I got home, Mom was outside by the pool, still lounging in a red-and-white polka-dotted bikini. She looked good for her age, perfect lines earned by going to a trainer year-round. She was determined to beat Father Time, and so far, she had.

“Darling, I missed you today. What happened?”

I waved at her and didn’t stop to gab. I had no energy for it. Instead I stomped up the stairs on the side of the pool house to my apartment and went inside without much ceremony. I stalked directly into the bathroom, stripping as I went, to shower off the summer sweat and this awful fucking day. Things had started out… okay, not great, but the morning had held promise.

Now everything was a pile of suck.

The hot water didn’t help. I shaved, but that didn’t make me feel any cleaner. Sighing, I stared in the mirror. My face looked younger than I was, always had, which caused me issues. I still couldn’t buy beer without people squinting at my ID. Shaking my head at myself, I went to my bedroom and pulled on a pair of comfy cotton pajama pants. There was a knock on the door, and I sighed. It was too much to hope Mom would have gotten the message that I didn’t want to sip expensive, sour wine and gossip about the neighbors.

Ready with excuses, I opened the door and had to stop and readjust my gaze upward. Slater stood there in his uniform, and with the lights on in the living room, I could really see his face. He seemed tired, but there was something in the way he held his mouth that said loud and clear he was ready to talk. This close, I wanted to run my hands over his chest. He dipped his gaze quickly down my body and his tongue flicked out to lick the corner of his mouth. I could hear Mom tittering at the bottom of the stairs. “Look what I found wandering around the driveway. Have fuuuun.” She sounded like she’d been deep in the Zin already.

“How did you find me?”