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Can we meet for coffee this week? There’s something I need to tell you.
I sighed. The last thing I wanted to do was spend time with my ex-boyfriend. I’d kinda, sorta started to forgive him for being the world’s biggest asshole and seeing him now could undo all the good my time away from him was doing.
It was three-thirty a.m. I’d text him in the morning. While I peed, I debated about taking Drew with me to coffee. I didn’t want to drag Aithan into a conversation with his employee, but I also didn’t want to deal with Tristan alone. I still wasn’t sure if he’d used me as an alibi the last time we’d talked. Maybe Drew could get a good read on him, since they’d never met. Unless, of course, Drew got pissed and stuck a fork in him.
“Figure it out in the morning, Zel,” I whispered and returned to bed. I plugged in my phone, then crawled between the guys. Drew slept like a corpse. Aithan rolled over to face me. He kissed me, rested his hand on my waist, and dropped back into sleep.
But I lay awake wondering what Tristan wanted. Was it good or bad? He’d asked to meet for coffee. That meant someplace public. To keep me from chewing him a new asshole?
Fuck. Shut up, brain. Go to sleep. You’re not getting any answers tonight.
It was good advice, but sleep took a long time coming anyway. Worry had a way of worming into my mind and running around like a hamster on a wheel.
9
DICK
The next morning,Drew was in the guest room writing the first draft ofGrisly, headphones on, fingers flying across the keyboard when Zelda appeared in the doorway.
“Hey, Playboy?”
He raised a finger to ask for a moment and kept typing. She waited, ankles crossed, arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe, looking tousled and sexy. He nodded to himself as he finished the paragraph. Satisfied with where the scene was going, he looked up and took off the headphones, attention one hundred percent on her. “What’s up, babe?”
“I need a favor.”
“Sure. Anything.” He put the laptop aside and opened his arms. She came and snuggled into his lap. Drew pressed his face to her hair and inhaled. She smelled like a fuckin’ bakery and he couldn’t get enough of that scent. “Clean the cat box?” he asked. “Give you a Brazilian? Wash your bras? Just name it.”
Zelda laughed. He loved how she felt when she laughed in his arms, all soft and a little bouncy.
“Nothing so exciting as all that.” She hesitated as if reconsidering then continued in a rush. “Tristan texted me last night. He wants to meet to discuss something. Publicly. Which means it’s probably going to upset me, piss me off, or both.”
Ah, fuck.Drew didn’t like the idea of Zel having anything to do with Tristan Blaylock. The guy was a prick and a coward. Aithan let him stay at Blue Water ’cause canning a dude was a pain in the ass, but Drew didn’t hesitate to show his hatred for the SOB. “Can’t he fucking call you?”
“Apparently not. He wants to explain whatever it is in person.”
Drew pulled a face and sighed. “Sounds like bullshit. The guy’s a manipulative fuck.” She shrugged, so he asked, “What’s the favor?” and thought,Please ask me to come along.
Zel bit her lip. She made vulnerability look really fucking sexy. “Will you come with me?”
“Absolutely.” He brushed her hair over her shoulder and smoothed it down her back. “I’d do it anyway, even if you didn’t ask. I don’t want you alone with him.”
“It’ll be at a crowded coffeehouse on Phinney Ridge,” she pointed out. “I think I’ll be okay surrounded by caffeine addicts. Besides, it’s just to talk.”
Drew gently said, “Don’t normalize him, babe. He was a dick to you. He didn’t hesitate to fuck up your self-confidence. I see no reason why he won’t keep messing with your head.”
“Drew, he had an abusive dad. I’d think, of anyone, you’d understand that.”
“Yeah, I do.” He carded his fingers through her silky curls. “And I also understand that’s not an excuse for abusing other people.”
She looked down then wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him with her whole, luscious body. “You’re so good.”
Hugging her back, Drew said, “Nah. I’m just good at figuring out who deserves my spite. Like, in this case, I relish the opportunity to gloat about his loss and my gain.”
She leaned back and captured his stubbled chin. “Please be on your best behavior?”
She looked like she meant it. But if she’d wanted good behavior, she should’ve asked Aithan to go along, not him. Drew gave Zel his most charming grin. “Define ‘best’.”
They went upstairs and Zelda stared at her open closet, fretting about what to wear. “I want to look good, but I don’t want to look like I’m trying to look good.”
