Page 109 of Bossman

I heard the smile in his voice, and I turned, wanting to see it. I’d missed it so much. For a brief second, the way he looked at me, I could see that everything he felt for me was still there. He’d just buried it so damn deep, I could only catch distant glimpses of it before it was out of reach again.

Figuring I’d pushed as much for one night as I probably should, I forced myself to get up. “I’m going to head to bed. Thanks for listening, Chase.”

“Anytime.”

“I’ll leave you the plate. I figure cops get free donuts, the least I could do was give my bodyguard some cookies.”

I started on my way and then turned back. I was so thrilled to catch his eyes on my ass, I almost forgot what I wanted to say.

“Why aren’t you the man for me, Chase?”

Some day, I’d get him to tell me. Today just wasn’t that day.

***

We went on that way for another week. I’d bring him a snack, and we’d sit and talk for an hour or two on the steps of some random apartment building across the street from my place. Each morning when I woke, the plate I’d left behind was sitting outside my apartment door.

While it was great for my sleep—I’d never slept better, knowing someone was watching over me like a hawk—I began to think he’d never come around. Chase seemed content with our newfound friendship. Me, not so much. So I decided to push a little harder.

It was a misty night, and I’d made him cupcakes. I went outside to offer him his daily snack. He was wearing a windbreaker with a hood, and the craziness of him sitting outside in the rain provided the perfect opportunity.

I opened my golf-sized umbrella and held it over us as I sat on the wet steps.

“Hey.”

“It’s gross out here tonight,” I said.

“Had to happen eventually. We’ve had good weather the last few weeks.”

An unseasonably warm breeze caught the smell of his cologne and reminded me of our nights together. His chest would glisten with sweat, and the cologne he’d put on that morning would rise to the surface. I wanted to lean in and take a deep breath. But I couldn’t. It was frustrating as hell.

Losing my patience, my invitation came out differently than I’d planned. “Just come inside,” I blurted. “You don’t need to sit out here all night.”

It seemed like my suggestion was completely unexpected. Chase just stared at me. Could he really be that blind? Did he think we would just go on forever with him sitting across from my apartment all night and me delivering baked goods?

When he still hadn’t answered, I repeated myself. “Come inside. This is silly. It’s raining out, and I have a perfectly dry apartment just footsteps away. You can stand guard from the couch all night, if you want. Just come inside.”

The nice, friendly face I’d come to expect for my nightly visits transformed, replaced by the stony and distant face he’d used when he dumped me. I knew what was coming next, and I wasn’t accepting it anymore.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Reese.”

I stood. “Well, I do.”

“Things between us are good. I don’t want to give you the wrong idea.”

He couldn’t really believe that crap, could he?

“Things between us are good? What are we even, Chase? Tell me.”

His jaw flexed. “We’re friends.”

I could see him shutting down, and I didn’t care. My emotions had been all over the place lately, and I needed an outlet. Unfortunately, the outlet was going to be Chase tonight.

“I don’t want to be friends!” I yelled. “We were never friends.”

I hadn’t come out planning to give him an ultimatum tonight, but somehow I was there.

It was time.