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He hadn’t really meant to ask but he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it.
The moment he’d pulled that sweater off her head, she’d taken one look at him and then…stopped. Stopped speaking, stopped looking. Like he was invisible.
Her lips parted and her eyes widened a fraction. A light blush touched the top of her cheeks and she shook her head once.
“Um.” Her voice dropped lower, and her eyes flicked to his friends who were now listening intently instead of arguing. She set the tablet on her leg and opened her hands to explain. “I work for a lot of celebrities…they usually don’t like it when I lookdirectlyat them.”
“Seriously?” Dave had heard of things like that but none of those type of people were in his circle. So she didn’t look at him because she assumed he was just like every other famous douchebag out there.
“I mean…” She folded her hands together and bobbed her head in thought, bottom lip curled in thought. “It’s common enough that I just make sure I avoid eye contact. My job sort of relies on recommendations in the right circles.”
“The tutoring gig you mean?” She couldn’t mean this job. Being a server. But maybe she did. Hell, he didn’t know anything about either job. His jobs before getting famous consisted of shoveling rocks (no, really) and fast food.
Her eyes lit from within at the mention of teaching and she nodded. “But it’s not that big of a deal. It doesn’t bother me.”
“It bothers me.”
He wasn’t lying. The more he considered it the more he realizedhow muchhe was bothered.
So much.
She tilted her chin down just a bit and those lips of hers that were perpetually in an almost smirk twitched.
“Well, I won’t do that with you again.”
His eyes dropped to her mouth and then back to her hazel eyes. “People are just people. No one is better than anyone else. It’s fucked up that they think they are. You shouldn’t have toavert your eyesfor some.”
Her head tilted slightly to the left and she studied him with intelligent eyes. Seeing him in a way that made him second guess his previous statement.
“I think,” she said slowly, diplomatically. “I think it’s not about that. I think when someone reaches a certain recognizability, they don’t want to be gawked at. It can make them feellesshuman. And more like a commodity.”
Surprise rippled through him and he lifted his eyebrows.
Max stood and barked a laugh. “She just Uno reversed you, son!”
“Don’t say son,” Leslie corrected.
Dave coughed a laugh and sat back on the couch, stunned.
And delighted. He covered his mouth with a hand and slowly shook his head because dammit. She was right.
Wasn’t that why he was hiding in VIP instead of exploring the bar? Wasn’t that why he’d chosen Chicago? For the anonymity?
Not only that, but she’d defended the other side with sweet understanding. She hadn’t jumped to being a victim even though he’d provided the avenue.
Oof. Another sucker punch to his assumptions.
“I’m not sure I follow.” Sabine eyed the three of them.
“Dave looooves to play devil’s advocate. It drives us crazy because he’s always trying to give a good excuse for someone’s bad behavior.” Max arched a knowing eyebrow at Dave. “Like arson.”
“A-arson?” Sabine questioned, with not a small amount of shock registering on her face.
Dave waved away her question.
Max took a huge bite of chicken wing.
“I just think assuming is dangerous and there’s always more to a story.” Dave shot a grin to Sabine. “It’s not often someone gets me back.”
