“Do you want to come in for coffee?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’ll come in for coffee.”
Her heart began to race, heat growing between her legs. She couldn’t keep the happiness out of her voice. Turning the lock, she walked into her apartment and flicked on the light, only to come to a sudden pause.
“What is it, babe?” he asked.
“Someone’s been in my apartment.”
Tank stepped around her, and she grabbed his arm. “I need to call the cops,” she said.
“No one’s been here,” Tank said. “Your place is clean.”
She pointed to the ground. “The muddy boot prints, Tank. I need to call the cops. I have no idea why anyone would sneak into my apartment.” She glanced toward the door. “But my door was locked. This makes no sense. I have absolutely nothing to steal.” As if her day couldn’t get any more embarrassing.
Tank moved toward her. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Someone was in my apartment.”
“It was me.”
Bell frowned. “You were in my apartment?”
“I didn’t realize my boots were muddy, and I’m sorry.”
“How did you get into my apartment?” Bell asked.
“A key. I got it from your landlord after I paid the additional rent.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a replica key.
“Why were you in my apartment?” Bell asked.
Tank ran a hand down his face.
She knew instantly this had nothing to do with romance. He wasn’t leaving a surprise for her. There were no good intentions here.
Bell hated dirt. It was why every available moment she had, she cleaned this place. It wasn’t a lot but to her, this was everything. This was her life. Tank had come to her apartment, why? Did she even want to know the answer?
“Look, let’s just forget about it, okay? It’s nothing.”
He didn’t like the reason why.
“What happened?” Bell asked. “Look, Tank, I’m not stupid, okay? I know that there has to be some reason for you to sneak into my apartment and try to hide it. You weren’t going to tell me.” She stopped, waiting for him to deny that, but he didn’tsay anything. “There are no flowers or chocolates, so why did you do it?”
The euphoria she had just moments ago fizzled out and just faded. There was no excitement anymore.
“The guys back at the club, they got into my head.”
“They know about me?” she asked.
“Yeah. The brothers you saw at the picnic, they were saying shit, and anyway, they thought it was a little suspicious how I met you, and I guess I wanted to check everything out. Make sure you weren’t, you know…”
He didn’t say anything else. Just allowed his accusation to remain unsaid.
Bell was a little in shock. At their picnic, she had felt a little like he was embarrassed to be seen with her. Now, his club or brothers, or whatever the hell they were called, doubted her, and so did Tank.
“You thought I was the enemy?” she asked. “After our friendship and late-night conversations? All that we’ve talked about, you thought I could lie to you?”
“Bell, it’s just … look, it means nothing, okay? The things that go on in my world are fucked up. I know you’re not that person.”