He looks exasperated now. But I’m feeling exasperated too. “Grateful that I killed a possibly poisonous bug on your doorknob. Goddamn. I guess you really are all looks and no brain.”
I glare at him. “Shut up, Jason.”
He stares me down for a moment. I’ve never spoken to him that way before. I’ve never spoken to any man that way before. I always just take his annoying and rude remarks like I don’t hear them, or I shuffle by with a nod.
My blood turns cold as he watches me. I almost flinch. But no. This time, I won’t be deterred.
“Goodbye,” I grit out between my teeth.
He stares for a moment longer. Don’t you fucking flinch. Then he nods. “Yeah.”
I’m relieved as he steps out of the way, slowly stepping back toward his apartment and then turning around. I wait until his door’s shut before getting my keys out, my hands trembling around the metal, barely making it into the locks and turning the door.
When I’m finally inside, I crash on the couch.
My eyes are watering. I actually think I might . . . cry?
Over what though? A mere woman walking into Mack’s apartment?
A confrontation with Jason?
Jesus, maybe Mack’s on Tinder or something. Maybe there’s a fish Tinder.
Fuck, why did I never think of that before? People have fetishes. It’s a thing.
Is it my thing? Oh my god.
I pick up my phone, and I see a message from Kate.
KATE: LITTLE MERMAID DRAG SOON DON’T FORGET! ALSO PEOPLE ARE SERIOUS ABOUT THESE COSTUMES SO DRESS TO IMPRESS. I’M GOING AS URSULA THE SEA WITCH BECAUSE SHE’S THE HOTTEST CHARACTER BY FAR
As if. Right now, nothing could pull me out of this apartment. Not even wild horses.
I lie on my back, my head flopped to the side, my arm hanging off the edge with my phone dangling from my hand.
I don’t have the energy to respond to Kate. I feel crushed.
Mack. He belongs to me. He’s mine.
Yikes. Where did that come from? Maybe I need to call my therapist again. What would she have to say about this situation?
Maybe she’d agree with Mack. Maybe this thing between us really is toxic or bad or dangerous or something?
But then, my phone rings.
Mackthefishguy
He’s . . . calling me?
Thoughts swirl a mile a minute in my head. What do I do? Do I answer? When was the last time I even answered a phone call? When was the last time anyone answered a phone call? In these days? In this economy?
The phone vibrates again in my hand, and I almost throw it.
Fuck it.
I pick up the phone.
“Hello?” I croak out and clear my throat.
“Hey . . .” His voice is soft. “Can you talk?”
Chapter 18
“It’s kind of funny. I had this feeling you would come over today. Show up uninvited, like how you do.”
I’m pacing around the apartment, phone stuck to my ear and my hand behind my back. Like my mother used to do when I was a kid, except this was when people still had cords on their phones. She’d talk and talk and talk, and walk and walk and walk, expanding the spiraled cord until it was pulled taut and straight. When I’d grasp at the corner of her sleeve to get her attention, she’d wave me off, an irritated scowl on her pale pink lips, shaking her head.
But as I’m not attached to anything, I meander to my desk. My embarrassment piques at Mack’s words because I did go to his home today. Uninvited, as usual.
But I won’t let him know that. When all’s said and done, he behaved pretty shitty to me, actually. Messing around with me and then freaking out and then, as usual, going radio silent.
That’s no way to treat a person.
I plop down on my computer chair, the hinges creaking noisily. “Well, I didn’t go to your apartment today. Because you basically hit it and quit it. Or don’t you remember?”
There’s a brief pause on the other end. “I’m sorry. That’s not how I want things to be between us. You have no idea.”
I lean back in the chair. “Then tell me.”
