She glares at me but surges forward, her voice vulnerable. “I’m going to miss Gwen...and the others. It was nice having...people.”
“People in general or those people?” I ask.
“I thought I had the floor,” she shoots back.
“My apologies. Go ahead.”
“People, and then more specifically, those people,” she admits.
“You’re lonely,” I say.
“No!” She stares straight ahead, and I see the way her throat quivers before she swallows. “Yes.”
“Surrounded by people and yet always lonely,” I fill in.
She looks at me out of the corner of her eye. “Sure.”
She tries to play it off, but I’ve hit the nail on the head.
Before I can press her for more, we’re pulling up to the studio.
“I don’t have time to rehearse today,” she says. “We’re late, and I have plans. I’m sure you can find your way home from here...”
“I am your plans.”
She pulls into a parking garage and parks. When she turns the car off, she turns to face me. “Not today.”
“Look, how about making this easy for me—you know I’m not afraid to resort to following you.” When she doesn’t respond, I scrub my face with my hands. “Please, Phoenix. With everything going on right now, don’t force me to worry about you too.”
“You don’t need to worry about me. I have a date with Sean today. It’s been on the schedule for weeks. You’ve had a long couple of nights. Go take a nap before your appointments. You’re looking dusty.”
“Date? As in a romantic interlude with the governor?” I glare at her. “Where are you going? I don’t trust him.”
“We’re going to lunch and you don’t have to trust him. He’s my friend. You can back off now.”
Gwen’s statement about me not acting like me makes me bite my tongue a few seconds longer than usual. Who should I act like? Foley? Maybe Kasper—women seem to like the way he tells them to do things.
“I order you not to go on that date.”
She cocks an eyebrow at me.
“No? That sort of thing not for you?”
“What the fuck are you even talking about, Jackal?”
She steps out of the car and walks away without looking back. I’m forced to walk quickly to catch up with her, which makes me even more foul. When I reach her, she comes to a stop and steps up on her tiptoes, lips brushing my ear.
“How’s that patience working out for you?” she whispers. “You’re not…”
My breath catches and I lean in for her to finish her sentence a little closer.
She doesn’t finish.
“Not what?” I ask. “Not what, Phoenix?”
She walks away and I’m left staring after her, dick raring to go, and more confused than I’ve ever been in my life.
“Who’s hunting whom?” I yell and she gives me the bird before going through the door.