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I finally let go of his hand, wondering how I could remind him of our agreement to just be friends without pissing him off. Maybe I’d let it go until I was behind a locked door.
“Are you serious about Maddox?”
“Mark, why are you asking?”
“I guess I want to know if there’s a chance for me.”
I wondered if there wasn’t something wrong with him. “We’ve established that we’ll be friends.”
“So, the answer is no,” he said.
I forced myself to be firm. “The answer is no. I need to process what you told me about him. That Ryan could be in love with his sister is a huge accusation.”
“Ask him yourself,” Mark said.
The last time I was in Babylon, Ryan had been at Lisa’s house, making cookies with her kids. “I will. I didn’t want to make trouble for you, but I’m going to have to tell him where I heard it so he doesn’t blame my dad, who never said a word.”
“He might not know. Or it might be immaterial. It may no longer be true.”
“I wouldn’t know, and it’s no longer important. He’s leaving for an Adventure Trek taping tonight.” A hint of disdain reverberated in my voice, and I didn’t really care if he heard it.
“Why do you have so much animosity?”
He’d stopped walking and was looking at me. I guessed I owed the guy an explanation.
“I really don’t know except you rub me the wrong way. That’s the best I can do.”
“In what way?”
“Mark, people react differently to each other. That’s all. You’re an attractive, pleasant guy. But there isn’t any chemistry between us.”
“There is for me,” he snapped.
I shook my head. “That’s such a guy thing. So, you want to have sex regardless of what I’m feeling?”
“Yeah, I guess that is the way it sounds.”
“It’s the way it sounds. We’re never going to have sex.”
“It’s more than that!” he shouted. “Women do that. They take all the positive shit a guy has and make it only about sex. It’s not just sex.”
I sped up my stride, regretting ever engaging the guy.
“Look, I’m sorry, again. Give me a chance, please.”
Frowning, I wondered if the guy was nuts, and I was alone on the dark streets with him. “Mark, get away from me, please. You’re making me nervous.”
He reached out and grabbed my arm, hard, pulling me to him. I didn’t miss a beat and let out a yodel that hurt my ears, prompting him to let me go. I broke out into a dash back to my apartment, with Mark calling after me, saying he was sorry for the fourth time. But he didn’t run after me.
I got back to my building, and the night doorman was standing there, like he’d been waiting for me.
“Don’t let that guy in,” I said. “He’s a cop, so he’ll probably try to use that to weasel his way inside.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I ran up the stairs instead of taking the elevator, not wanting to be stuck anywhere. The men in my life were doing a number on me.
My apartment was a safe haven after being out in the open with the cop. The first thing I did after locking the door and placing the chain and bolt in place was to grab my phone to call Ryan. He was on Randy’s private plane, so he could talk, if he dared.
