The second thing that came out of someone's mouth was, "Get out."
Dex.
"Excuse me?" I asked, still looking up at the patterned ceiling.
"Get out, Ritz," he repeated.
What the hell? I lowered my gaze down, suddenly more confused than scared at his response. Dex had pulled the lid of his cap down tighter on his forehead, his fingertips white and pinched. "Why?"
"Get the fuck out," he snarled.
Ouch!
"Dex—"
"I said get the fuck out!" he yelled.
My heart started pounding so fast, I thought it was going to explode. My face went hot. My chest started to hurt. It was like my skin was being flayed.
I felt awful. So friggin' awful. Why the hell was he yelling at me like that?
So I snapped back for the first time in my life, because here was this stupid dick-brain of a man that I’d slowly started to like, started to feel something for, and he was going to act like a complete friggin’ dick? "Go fuck yourself, you...you...mean asshole!" And then I let out a breath that could probably rival a dragon minus the fire and bad breath. "Don't you talk to me like that."
I was embarrassed, so embarrassed that I felt a lump in my throat. I was mortified. No one had ever talked to me like that, and he was out of his mind if he thought he could get away with it.
Getting out of the chair like my joints were those of a senior, pissed and hurt, I shook my head but didn't bother looking at him. I didn't know how I'd feel if I saw his face. Right before pulling the door open with a little more force than was necessary, I muttered, "Dickface," under my breath.
The moment I was out of the office, my heartbeat tripled. The urge to throw up and cry was so overwhelming, I managed to stifle the gag and settle for sucking in a ragged breath that did nothing to keep my eyes from tearing up.
Those damn traitorous tears slipped out in sporadic pairs, streaming weak lines down my face before I wiped them off.
I wasn't going to cry.
You are not going to cry, Iris.
Wiping at my face again, I sucked in a breath that sounded strangled and weak but it worked.
The hallway seemed shorter than normal, and when I immediately spotted Blue, Slim, and a customer sitting on the couch, looking in my direction with pity in their eyes I wanted to bang my face against the nearest wall.
I couldn't catch a friggin' break.
Slapping a shaky smile onto my face I marched straight toward the exit, promising myself that I wouldn't burst into tears before I was out of sight. I wouldn't do it, damn it. I wouldn't.
"Iris!" It was Slim calling out after me as I stopped at the door, hands planted flat on the glass to push.
I looked him in the face, keeping hold of the reins that fisted my smile closely.
"Here," he said right before digging into his pocket and tossing something underhanded at me.
His car keys.
That made me want to cry even more. I gripped them in my hand, ready to toss them back, already shaking my head. "He'll get mad at you."
My sweet friend Slim shrugged, not worried at all. "He'll get over it." Tipping his chin up, he winked. "I can catch a ride home with Blue."
Blue opened her mouth but didn't say anything. Her gaze slid over to me and she nodded, solemnly. "Get outta here, Ris."
Ahh, crap. I had to wipe at my cheeks again to catch the tears that had slipped out like sneaky ninjas.
"Thanks, guys." My voice sounded all wobbly and raspy. I sniffled and gave them the best smile I could pull out of my battered emotions. "You guys are really good friends to me."
Not wanting to waste any more time at Pins, I waved at my two coworkers quickly and rushed out the door. Slim's Scion was parked in the furthest corner of the lot. Taking in a deep breath, I tried to steady my breathing as much as possible before pulling the car out of the lot.
I didn't know where I was going. It took me all of a second to decide that Sonny's was out of the question. My keys were at Dex's and I wasn't fond of the idea of trying to stage a break in. There was also no way in hell I'd go to Dex's. At that moment, the last thing I wanted to do was even think about that asshole.
Well, that was a lie, as soon as I thought of him, my blood pressure went up.
I mean, what the hell was his problem? To yell at me like that. To talk to me like that. Maybe he was used to being able to talk to people in that way. He hadn't exactly been kind to most people I'd seen him interact with but still. His little temper tantrum had gotten the best out of him—out of me, too.
I drove around for a while. I didn't know where I was going and half the time I didn't even know where I was. I'd have to fill up Slim's gas tank before I drove his car back to the shop later, or tomorrow, whatever my mind decided.
That was when I remembered that I'd left my purse and phone at Pins. That's how pissed—err, upset—I'd been. I never even went to the bathroom without my phone.
The only money I had on me was the twelve dollars and change I had left over from the deli in my back pocket. Well, that kind of screwed me over.
I finally found my way back to the side of town I was familiar with, closer to Sonny's house. With only a quarter of a tank left, I pulled into the parking lot of the mall and theater I'd been to before. There was no point in me driving around or sitting in the car, moping. I didn't want to replay The Dick's tone any more than I already had on the drive.
Friggin' asshole.
~ * ~ *
I'd finally, finally, gotten into the acting after staring at the big screen for two hours when I saw the figure standing at the foot of the stairs that led up the row. I'd snuck into the second movie after I'd seen that it was only nine, and there was no way in hell I was heading back to Pins earlier than I needed to.
Because I still hadn't come up with a plan.
If my car hadn't been at Dex's house, then I would have had more options. But it was. I didn't have my cell on me so I couldn't even try to call Sonny and explain to him the situation, because I'm sure he'd hear about it eventually and I didn't want to lie to him. If anyone was going to tell him I'd done something stupid I hoped it'd be me.
Then at some point during the movie that I watched without paying attention, I'd started crying. Just silent tears that burned on their way out. Treacherous little things that embarrassed me even more than I'd already been.
The figure at the foot of the theater took two steps up. I could tell it was a man in the dark. Tall and muscular, but that was all I managed to recognize. Frankly, I didn't care so I looked back at the projection of the two onscreen actors laughing instead.
It was probably my desire to lose myself in the movie that made me blind to the figure that took the steps two at a time before shimmying down the empty row I was in and taking an elegant seat next to me.
I tensed up but I didn't turn to look at the man—at Dex.
The movie played on for what seemed like ten or fifteen more minutes. He didn't say anything though I could feel the weight of his gaze on me. Only he could look at me in such a physical way.
And then he sighed, loud and clear.
"Ritz," he murmured for no reason. There were only three other people in the theater and we were scattered.
That didn't mean I was going to pay attention to him.
Two minutes later, he whispered again. "Ritz."
Nope, still wasn't going to pay him any attention.
"Ritz."
"Ritz."
He must have repeated my name at least five times total. A mix of a whisper that eventually blended into a weak hiss.
Still nothing.
I kept my eyes on the screen even though I'd stopped listening to the dialogue after the second time he said my name.
Me ignoring him was nothing to him. He lifted the arm rest between our seats, and I shifted over, away.
Long fingers crept up over my knee before I tried to jerk it away uselessly. He clamped his grip down to stop me, not necessarily rough but
it wasn't gentle either. "Quit," he ordered to deaf ears.
I just went back to keeping my eyes forward, ignoring him again.
He lengthened his palm to hold as much of my thigh as he could, his fingers curling over the rest of my muscle. He leaned forward, across the gap of our seats, and dipped his head close to mine. I froze but kept looking straight ahead like he wasn't there.
"Babe," Dex cooed, his nose to my temple. "Don't ever do that shit to me again."
Ha!
Neither one of us said anything else for a while. He didn't move and I kept pretending like he wasn't there until finally, he sighed again, exasperated. "Ritz."
Dick.
He brushed a line from my temple down to my jaw with the tip of his nose. What I really wanted to do was ignore him and pretend that he wasn't there but I knew this guy. He didn't understand subtle. "Leave me alone, Dex," I said as calmly and detached as possible.
He answered the same way I should have expected him to. "No."
Tipping my face away, I pushed my left hand against the center of his chest. "Leave me alone."
Dex let out a long breath of air from his nose that whispered down my throat. "No, honey."
Screw him and his honey. Dick.
"Stop," I ground out.
He gripped my thigh harder, pushing his nose against my jaw. "We need to talk," he whispered.
"No, we don't," I hissed back at him.
"Yeah, we do," he insisted.
This friggin' man was the devil. "Would you please just leave me alone? I think we've done enough to each other."
Another drawn out sigh escaped him. "Babe," he said again in a low coo.
There was nothing for us to talk about. Nothing that I wanted to hear him say. Well maybe with the exception of explaining to me how he'd found where I was at. That would be nice. But no.
We were both quiet again. I watched the movie screen only because I didn't want to see him while he watched me.
It felt like a quarter of the movie went by before he spoke again. "I'm not so good at this," he whispered. "It was bad enough that that asshole shows up and was tryin' to take you away from me.
"Then you tell me that you went to fuckin' Busty's to talk to 'em? You know what could’ve happened to you? What those worthless pieces of shit do to pretty things like you? They eat 'em for lunch. They would’ve taken you and hurt you just because of who your daddy is, because of who Son is, Ritz," he growled.
Dex tightened his fingers once more for just a second before loosening them. "It's a fuckin' miracle that they let you get outta there."
Well, he had a point but regardless, I was still pissed.
And when I didn't say anything in response to his explanation, I realized that he was still pissed off as well. "Ritz, quit trippin'."
Yup, still not saying a word.
The rest of the movie went by in a blur. It was words and actors, meaningless on top of mindless. If anyone had asked me what happened, I couldn't tell them anything.
The lights in the theater lightened as the credits rolled and I stood up, glancing down at him for just a second. Was that a bruise on his chin? That wasn’t the moment to feel bad for him, if it was. I had more important things to focus on. Like him being a total jerk.
"I get that you're mad because I did something stupid—really stupid, but you were an asshole, Dex. Maybe other people are used to you yelling at them and talking crap, but I'm not and I'm never going to be. I've put up with too much to put up with you making me feel like crap. So I'm gonna go to Pins and give Slim back his car, and go back to your house. If you don't mind, I'll stay there tonight, and then figure out something else to do."
"The hell you will." His eyes went wide in disbelief and filtered frustration. "You can be pissed off all you want, babe, but you aren't goin' anywhere."
This friggin' guy. I was going to end up in jail if Sonny didn't get back soon. Why couldn't he just say that he was sorry? Maybe I'd still be mad even if he apologized but the fact that he wouldn't say the one word in the English language that I wanted, bothered me more than anything.
"Whatever, Dex."
It was his turn to give me that impenetrable silence. The only difference was, I didn't wait around like he had. I slipped past him and left.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Two days.
For two friggin' days I didn't speak to him. To the biggest pain in the butt I'd ever met.
That first day, after I'd driven back to Pins, I hadn't spared another word in his direction. Even after he stopped me outside and asked, "Are you fuckin' serious?" when I wouldn't look at him. After all, it wasn't like I wanted to be around him at that moment or for any other moment in the near future. If I didn’t care about pissing Sonny off even more, then the situation would have been a completely different story. I could have taken a much needed break from The Dick by staying at a hotel.
But that wasn't the way it worked out. I could tell Dex was furious that I hadn't accepted his puny attempt at an apology—that lacked the keyword: sorry—and since I was mad and hurt, I didn't give a crap. Then he’d gotten even more mad that I was serious about it, which made matters worse.
And the silence. Crap. The friggin' silence sucked.
It might have been made worse because I wanted to find out why Dex had a purple and blue splattering of blood vessels on his chin. I wanted to know how he got it, but it wasn’t like I could ask.
He could stay pissed off for all I cared.
The next day was the same. We'd gotten into such a tight routine that there was no need to communicate. I recognized when he was getting ready to leave every afternoon and we went through the motions quietly, tensely, like clockwork.
At Pins, we'd avoid each other. Anger seeped from his pores, from his gaze, from his body language. I let myself soak in a mixture of embarrassment, frustration and disappointment when I had to face Slim and Blue's pitiful eyes.
Luther had come in for the second time ever—or at least the second time since I'd started working at Pins—and given me a sad little smile before patting my hand.
I got mad all over again. Wasn't that exactly why I hadn't told anyone about my arm? The answer was a blaring yes. Only this time it was because I got yelled at by Dex, the neighborhood schizophrenic that got mad when he wasn't immediately forgiven for his transgressions. Jerk.
The night went by in the same way, except Dex made dinner and we ate on opposite sides of the couch, silently.
Even the guys at the shop were quieter than normal, handling me with kid gloves.
Annoyed didn't even begin to describe how I felt. And I hated it.
On top of that, I'd been dodging Sonny's calls. Getting yelled at by one person I cared about was more than enough. Two would just be overkill. It was probably asking to get the pinch of a lifetime when he got back but I'd take my chances with my brother.
Dex on the other hand...
"Do you think I'm being a bitch?" I asked after completely ignoring Dex when he stood by my desk, talking to a customer a few minutes before.
Slim cocked an eyebrow at me from behind the tablet he was currently pecking at. "A bitch?" He said the word so slowly it immediately made my hackles go up.
"Yeah."
He scrunched up his face. "I wouldn't say a bitch exactly."
Oh lord.
For Slim of all people to put it like that...damn it. Guilt brushed at the sides of my mind. Did I have a good reason to stay mad? I thought so. On the other hand, did Dex have a good reason to have lost his shit like that? Not to that extent. To add onto that...he had tried to apologize in his own Dex-way.
Slim glanced up before looking back at the screen. "Do you want me to tell you the truth or do you want me to be nice?"
Double oh lord. Had I really been that much of a bitch?
"The truth, Slimmy," I huffed, already feeling like a jerk before my friend had even started talking.
"Well, Ris, you're kinda being just a wee bit unreasonable,"
he stated evenly. Slim tapped at his tablet. "If somebody yelled at my sister like he yelled at you, I'd try to beat their ass." I almost snorted at the keyword in his sentence: try. But he kept going so I couldn't make a crack. "But if my sis did the shit you did, I would've yelled at her like that."
Ugh.
"He only got that pissed off because he cares, you know that?" he asked carefully, finally glancing up at me with those bright green eyes.
And that comment deflated me.
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