I crushed the box of donuts against my chest. “That’s a really sweet offer, Mal.”
“Pumpkin, if you’re still walking straight, my work here is clearly not done. Hell, we haven’t even gotten around to breaking in the new couch yet.” He turned to Reece, enjoying himself way too much if the light in his eyes was any indicator. “She’s worried we’d stain the material. Like I wouldn’t just buy her another, right? Women.”
No answer from Reece apart from the white lines around his mouth.
Mal exhaled hard. “Next time let’s stick to leather. Wipe clean is so much easier and it won’t chafe your soft skin nearly as much as you think, Anne. Not if we–”
“Enough,” I barked, feeling the cardboard box cave in.
“Too much sex talk in front of friends?”
I nodded.
“Sorry,” said Mal. “Real sorry. My bad.”
So much hostility in such a confined space. And there was no question, Reece was genuinely jealous. He was all puffed up and radiating fury. His gaze shifted between Mal and me, mouth fierce.
You have to understand, before now, I hadn’t been entirely certain Reece even realized I was female. Yet here he was, edging toward me as if I was territory to be protected. Something Mal didn’t intend to allow if his side-stepping maneuver meant anything. It was like some strange animalistic caveman dance, the two of them slowly hemming me in. Amusing in a way.
The first male to pee on me, however, would pay with his balls.
“Thinks I’m a hook-up,” scoffed Mal with a side look. “Set him straight, pumpkin.”
At those words, Reece’s nostrils flared. I stood, pinned to the spot. My heart beat so hard, I’m certain ribs were bruised in the process. Wild bed hair or not, this moment was glorious. I wanted it up on YouTube for all time. (Okay, maybe I didn’t want it on YouTube. But you get what I mean.)
I cleared my throat and steeled my spine. Today, I stood about ten times taller. “Reece, Mal and I are seeing each other.”
“We’re living together,” Mal corrected.
“Right. That too. I’ve been meaning to tell you. Mal and I are living very happily together since the day before yesterday.”
“Mal?” My boss froze. “Mal Ericson, the drummer?”
“Yep.”
Reece’s reddened eyes blazed even brighter. Nothing more was said.
“Now that we’ve got that straightened out, I’m gonna hit the shower,” Mal announced. “Give you two kids a chance to talk.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“No problem.” His hand smacked into my ass, making me jump. Then, fingers lazily scratching at stubble, he sauntered into the bathroom. My butt cheek stung. I made a mental note to kill him later, once we were alone. Kill him or screw him, whatevs. My hormones were so confused.
The second the door clicked shut Reece grabbed my arm and hustled me into the tiny kitchen. Dawn had yet to make an appearance. Light from the living room shone weakly on his surly face. His black-rimmed glasses were askew, adding to his whole thoroughly ruffled appearance. I probably should’ve been jealous. But for once I actually wasn’t.
“What the hell is this, Anne? You said you met him, that’s all. Fuck, I thought he looked familiar …”
“It came as something of a surprise to me as well. But it’s great, right?” The boy had bed head and it wasn’t from sleeping. No way was he coming into my home and giving me shit over finding me similarly (allegedly) occupied.
“Great,” he replied flatly.
“He’s a really nice guy when you get to know him.”
“Sure.”
“He makes me smile, you know? Doesn’t take me for granted,” I said, going in for the kill. So I had some early morning bloodlust going on. It wasn’t like he didn’t deserve it for being rude to Mal. I might not like most of the women he had hanging around at various times, but I sure as hell never insulted them. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t insult him again.”
Reece’s mouth fell open. “Anne, the way he talked to me–”
“You’re going to go with he started it? Seriously? You don’t knock on my door at this hour and call the person that answers it an asshole, Reece. That’s not cool.”
“Sorry.” He gave my battered old fridge a foul look.
“What’s happening here? You’ve never cared about me dating before. Not that I’ve done much of it recently.”
“Nothing. I just wasn’t expecting …”
I waited, but he didn’t finish the sentence. Maybe the subject was best left alone. “Would you like some coffee?”
“No, I’m heading home.”
“Okay. Well, thanks for the donuts.” I sat the broken box on the counter.
“No problem.” He just stared at me, his eyes a mixture of mad and sad. I didn’t really know what to do with that. Anger still gripped me.
“Reece …”
“It’s fine.”
“I don’t want this affecting our friendship.”
His shoulders pushed back. “No. Of course it won’t.”
“Good.” I don’t know what came over me, but I had to hug him. He was feeling down, I wanted to fix it. Mom had never been into the touchy-feely stuff and I’d inherited the talent, or lack of one. Accordingly, my arms were stiff, awkward. I patted him once on the back and then got the hell out of there before he could react. A surprise attack, if you will.
“How did your date go last night?” I asked.
“It was nothing special. What were you up to?”
“Mal ordered dinner. Just a quiet night in.” As soon as I mentioned Mal’s name, Reece’s face turned grumpy. It’d have been easier to empathize with him if he hadn’t reeked of sex and behaved like an entitled jerk.
“I’m going to go,” he said. “I’ll see you later.”
“Later.”
I was still standing there staring after him long after the front door slammed shut. Deep down inside, I was neither angry nor sad. Just a little shocked perhaps to find Reece cared about me in that way after all. How it would affect things, I had no idea.