“Right,” he nods. We sound like teenage girls. But honestly, this is just the world we unfortunately live in. “So, any idea where those photos came from?”
I shake my head. “Nope.”
“Wild,” he says as he shoves his hands in his pockets. “And now you’re dating her.”
“Allegedly,” I say, and he looks over at me.
“Allegedly?”
I look around before going on. “Nigel says me being in a relationship will give me an edge.”
“An edge against who?” he asks, and like clockwork, Jett Navarro walks up.
“Well, if it isn’t Daddy the Underwear god,” he grins, standing in front of us.
“Well, if it isn’t the captain of the high school football team,” Cal shoots back, but I want to know what he’s talking about.
“You do know that’s what women are calling you now, right?” Jett asks.
“I’m too busy working to read the tabloids,” I shoot back.
“Too busy doing something else from what I hear,” he says. “But listen. I’m not here to judge. Actually, I’m kind of impressed you could pull a girl like that considering your…maturity.”
I want to hit him. If my hands weren’t in the majority of my photos, I probably would. Unfortunately, I don’t think Nigel would be too happy if I came to work with bloody knuckles.
“Did you need something?” I ask.
“Sounds like he needs a few things,” Cal says. Cal has always been a little quicker to fight than me. He’s a bit hot-headed. Ironic, since he does firefighter calendars. I steer the conversation away, less fueling the flame and more dousing the whole thing.
“We have to get back to work,” I say.
“I just wanted to see if the rumors are true, that’s all,” he says.
“Which ones?” I ask. “We live in a world of rumors.”
“That you’re actually in a relationship with that girl and it wasn’t a drunken fling,” he says snarkily. I step forward hard enough and fast enough and with enough teeth showing that Cal actually puts his hand on my shoulder.
“We weren’t drunk,” I say. “And yes. I am dating her. And it’s real.”
A satisfactory smirk crawls across Jett’s lips. “Easy, old man. Just making conversation. She’s a cute little thing. Looks like a good time, too. I’d keep her close if I were you. Wouldn’t want anyone stealing her away.”
Jett saunters off, and it takes everything in me not to go after him. It isn’t until my posture softens a little that Cal’s hand slowly slips from my shoulder.
“That kid is a twat,” he mutters. “He needs to learn his place.”
“Yes, he does,” I agree.
And he better stay the hell away from Ashlyn.
Chapter 8
Ashlyn
“How can you eat that?”Troy’s face is twisted in disgust and maybe even a little bit of uncomfortable disgust as Alice pops an eel roll in her mouth.
“One, it’s good,” she says with a full mouth. “You should try it. And two, I’m half Japanese.”
“I’m half Afro-Jamaican,” Troy says, eating a piece of gyoza. “And you don’t see me eating oxtail at every meal.”
