“Be serious. Is there footage somewhere?
“No, the camera is motion activated once you step into the hallway.”
“Oh.”
“You sound disappointed.
But it’s not that. It’s the implication of what I’m about to say next.
“I’m going out this evening.” I close my eyes, my shoulders hunching as though expecting a blow and press my hand to my head. “I’ll give it a wave as I pass by.”
“Going anywhere nice?”
“Out for coffee.”
“One of your dates?” he says as though he’s been expecting this. Expecting it and is totally okay about it. Unbothered, even.
“Yeah.”
“So you decided to go out with Greg, after all?”
“Gosh, you’re invested,” I reply lightheartedly. Because his tone isn’t the same as it was. Where’s the snark? The vitriol?
“I thought I’d made my feelings crystal clear last night.”
Oh, there it is…
“You don’t really mean that. You can’t want to help me pick my dates.”
“We agreed you’d run them by me.”
My expression kind of twists. “I don’t think I did.”
“It looks like we’ll be revisiting last night’s conversation,” he says, his tone suddenly dark.
“That wasn’t a conversation. It was more like you were waging war on my body.”
“Look, Mimi, I don’t want you going out with any old creep. I also don’t want you going out with anyone you might prefer over me.”
I actually laugh because he doesn’t even bother to sound serious. That wasn’t a chink in his armor, more a man throwing me a bone.
“I don’t agree with your methods, but I know why you’re doing this.”
“Of course you know why,” I retort as my stomach flips unpleasantly. “I told you why.”
“I know what you said. I also know you want to make me insanely jealous.”
“You’re ridiculous,” I say flatly.
“So insanely jealous that I’ll kidnap you and drag you to my lair, spank your arse, tickle you until you can’t breathe, and then fuck you over and over again.”
“So basically, a repeat of this weekend?” Now I’m amused, mainly because he sounds like he is, even if this conversation is really weird.
And the prospect strangely tempting…
“For me, yes. For them, they’d better not even look at you in that way.”
“That’s not what this is about.”
