Cecilia again:Can I stop by for my first lesson?
Lennox straightens, gives me a look, then shakes his head. “We can’t ditch surveillance. Besides, how is this going to work?”
I motion to the entire street of darkened storefronts. “Are you trying to get out ofteaching?”
“We have all the case information out at the house.”
“We can put it away.”
“Too risky. Our vests and guns.”
Cecilia:You fall asleep?
“Fuck! She asked if I fell asleep. Is that a joke about how old we are?”
Lennox’s laugh is tinged with darkness. “Sensitive about your age?”
Me:Very funny
Cecilia:If you’re not up for being my teachers, I’ll just go to the club and find a tutor.
Me:A club?
Cecilia:There’s one in the city.
Me:Do not go to a club.
Cecilia:Then give me your address.
Me:We’ll come to you.
Cecilia:I live with my parents.
I explain the text thread to Lennox. “We can’t let her go to a club unless we’re with her.”
Lennox pauses, presumably sorting logistics. “We can’t go out with her and we can’t have her over.”
Cecilia:My shift ends at midnight.
A second later:A good boy won’t be late.
Good boy. I need her to stop calling me that. It makes me feel things I’d rather deny. The temptation to go straight to the diner and bend her over one of the tables has my balls ready to blow.
“What’d she say?”
I show her text to Lennox and wait. Watching the agony cross his expression settles the question of whether he already fell for her. The squirm makes it clear that he also feels things when she calls us good boys.
He opens his mouth, clenches his jaw, then opens again, exhaling hard before saying, “She can’t just fuck the first willing stranger at a club.”
Playfully punching his shoulder, I say, “Midnight it is.”
An unstated question lingers between us. Are we just convenient to her?
I’m not about to let her use us and walk away.
“You sure we’re making the right decision, abandoning the surveillance?” Lennox asks.
“The informant said their schedule is loose. The local courier is a one-man-show, somebody more interested in making money than asking questions. We can try again tomorrow.”
