by Emilia Finn
“You told her?” He steps back so fast, you’d think I sucker-punched him. “She came out and spoke to you last night?”
“No. She came out this morning. She called you last night?”
He nods. “She heard the new neighbor and panicked. She’s my friend, Chuck. She’s my responsibility. And your loud ass scared her last night.”
Gritting my teeth, I think to the chick in a baseball cap from this morning. I think of the shadows beneath her eyes. The way she broadened her shoulders in defense. “What time did she call you?”
“Around eight, why?”
“Because I saw her this morning, and she was spitting mad I was still noisy at two.”
“You kept her up all night? Dammit, Chuck!”
Kane Bishop is best friends with my boss. His wife is the twin sister of my boss’ wife. He’s always been cool, always ready with a smile. But now I wonder if he’s readying to unclip the Glock he keeps on his thigh, and empty it into my gut.
“Fuck, man. You can’t be keeping her awake at two in the morning.” He spins away and laps the garage while Mac and I watch on with lifted brows. “She’s gonna be a damn mess.”
“Bish…” I set my tools on the small trolley to my right, and wipe my grease-stained hands on the rag I keep tucked in my back pocket. “This chick I live across from…”
“Nora,” he inserts.
“Nora…” I run her name over my tongue. Play it through my mind, and try to place the name over the face I barely – sort of – met. “She came out this morning, spitting mad, and let her dog give me a talking to.”
Finally, Mac chuckles and relaxes against the truck he’s working on. “Galileo. He’s a sweetheart.”
“He is not a sweetheart!” I explode. “He was gonna kill me.”
“He’s a good dog.” Mac leans down and pats Deck’s ears. “They’re a sweet litter. I guess he was pissed you were noisy all night.”
Narrowing my eyes, I look to the spotted Dane by Mac’s leg. Then I think of the white one from this morning. “Same litter? Brothers?”
He nods.
“You know my neighbor too?”
He nods again. “I went to school with her.”
“She’s had a rough time.” Kane comes back and stops only two feet away. “You need to watch yourself when it comes to her. Stay away, stay quiet, and don’t knock on her fucking door.”
“Why the hell not?” I throw my hands up. “How am I the villain here? I don’t even know the chick, but suddenly I’m some kind of monster with a file at Checkmate?”
“You’re not a monster. But you are on notice.” Kane points in my face. “Don’t let her call me again with fear in her voice. Don’t fuck with her like that.”
“Fear?” My gaze snaps from him to Mac. Back and forth. “Scared of what? She’s the one with the killer dog.”
“Just leave her alone.” And with that, when Ang steps into the garage and studies us with tight brows, Kane waves him into the office, and leaves me and Mac standing in the awkward silence.
“Er…” What. The. Fuck? “I think I’m missing a lot of information.”
“It’s none of your business.” Mac turns back to the truck and picks up a wrench. “Just leave her be.”
“I didn’t not leave her be!” I turn back to the Bentley and get to work. “I actually feel like the victim in this entire situation. I moved into my new apartment last night, and today, everyone’s on my ass about my neighbor that I don’t even know. What the hell happened to her that she gets personal phone calls and security detail from a Bishop?”
“Like I said,” he murmurs after a long pause, “none of your business. You’ve just gotta leave her be.”
Nora
Fortune
I sit at the dining table in Ben and Evie’s plantation-style home and study the half a dozen cards I hold in my hand. I’m not losing this game of bluff, but I’m sure as hell not winning either. Galileo snoozes on the floor beneath my chair with his mom – Cass, a promiscuous cocker spaniel that may or may not have whored herself to a Great Dane at some point in her life.
Galileo was the smallest in a litter of seven puppies, most of which have new homes now, but the two that don’t, live here. Mine was the first to be rehomed, since I met the puppies within hours of their birth. I laid down dibs on the only white one, asked if I could keep him, and because Evie is sorry for scaring me for most of our lives, I figure she feels like she owes me anything I ask for.
I’m not against a well overused guilt trip to get my own way when she’s set on saying no to me. It normally works.
“I have two queens.” Arrogance personified, Evie takes two cards from her handful and sets them in the communal pile. She sits back with a smirk, snuggles into Ben’s lap, and hides her cards from the man she not long ago swore a lifetime of truth and loyalty to.
In the silence but for a radio playing somewhere else in the house, I study her confident expression, her pursed lips, her challenging eyes as they stare into mine.
I look to Ben, who keeps his eyes off mine, then to Mac, who only smiles when his girlfriend – or well, his fiancée now, I guess – tries to sneak a look. Back to my handful, I study my own queen, my ten, my joker. I have a couple fives, a two.
She could be telling the truth. She could be a filthy liar.
Closing one eye, like that might help me make up my mind, I flip a coin in my head.
“Bullshit.”
Faux gasp, dramatic hands and wild hair, Evie shoots forward on Ben’s lap. “Bullshit? How dare you?”
“Yeah, she was lying.” Bean – Evie’s cousin – reaches forward and flips the pair that Evie tossed down. Two twos. Rolling her eyes and laughing, she tosses them back to her curly-haired cousin, and pushes a shot glass across the table. “Drink up, liar.”
“Aw, shit.” Evie accepts the glass of bourbon when Bean finishes pouring, tosses it back with a dramatic “ahh!” and swallows it down with a laugh. Then she grabs her husband and kisses him with so much indecency, I have to turn away.
“Nora wins that one,” Bean laughs. “Your turn.”
I’ve never thought of Ben in any way that was romantic. I’ve never wanted to date him, never wanted to kiss him or have him declare feelings that included a relationship. But he’s always been my friend, my smart, strong, champion fighter friend. And he’s handsome. There’s no denying it.
So for as long as Evie’s tongue slides over his to remind him she’s kind of into this new marriage of theirs, I can barely concentrate on what I’m supposed to be doing.
It would be like having a biological brother sitting across from me with a girl in his lap while their tongues danced.
I think I’m a prude.
“Nora?”
“Yeah.” I clear my throat and glance back to my cards. I select three from the end, place them on the table, and meet Bean’s chocolate eyes. “Three nines.”
“Fuck outta here!” Evie breaks her kiss with a gasp, and leaves Ben reeling and wild-eyed. She turns to me with a shake of her head. “Nope. No chance.”
“You calling bullshit?” Mac laughs. “Say it out loud, Smalls.”
“I say bullshit. And since you’re not gonna do the shot…” She pauses and drunkenly studies my eyes. “Right?”
I shake my head. “No shot.”
She rolls her eyes and huffs. “Right, so since you play, but refuse to do the drinking, I have this new guy lined up. His name is Tony – Antonio,” she rolls her tongue like she thinks that’ll convince me. “He’s twenty-five, a fighter, he loves his momma, and helps grannies with their groceries.”
“Uh… how about bullshit?” I swipe up my cards and add them back to my pile. “Nobody helps grannies with their groceries, and I’m not into men with mommy issues.”
“Ben has mommy issues,” Bean jokes. “Hey, Ben. Did you see how Oz smacked your mom’s ass this morning?”
“You shut your dirty fuckin’ mouth.” He flicks a card toward his half-si
ster like it’s a ninja star. “You don’t speak about my mom.”
“She moaned,” Bean snickers. “You know she did. We all heard it.”
“I’m not playing this game if you pendejos are gonna talk shit about my mom.”
“Aww, look. He’s got the Spanish swears out again.” Mac lifts his beer and tips it back for a slow swallow, then he plops it back on the table with a heavy thud, waking Galileo from his sleep. “Benny has mommy issues, and he ain’t handling them all that well.”
“As if you don’t get all protective about your mom!” Ben snaps. “Don’t come at me with your bullshit. We all know you wanna take Eric the fuck out for touching your mom.”
He scoffs. “I walked in on Eric fucking my mom just last weekend.” Like he needs it, he tips his beer back again and chugs. “I backed the fuck up, left, and never mentioned it. What they do in their bedroom on their own time ain’t none of my concern.”
“You’re sick,” Ben glowers. “How do you not take an axe to the back of his head over that? How can you stand having that shit in your brain?”
“Well… I mean… sounded like she was enjoying herself.”
“Argh! Stop.” Ben shoots to his feet and dumps Evie on the table. “Stop it! Gross.” He storms out of the room, and sends Deck into a frenzy as he chases him into the kitchen. “You need help, Mac Blair! You’re a fuckin’ freak. Aw, Eve… You made us a cake?”
“Uh huh! Bring it in here. And forks too.” Then she looks to me. “Tony is taller than that other one.”
“Toby?” I drawl.
“Yeah! Toby. Oh, Toby and Tony. I see a trend.” She flashes a large grin that makes my lips twitch. “Anyway, he seems nice, not weird, and totally has manners. He fights well.”
I lift a brow.
“Not, like, Stacked Deck tournament well,” she amends. “But decent.”
“Would you beat him in a fight?” I ask.
“Yes.”
She answers so easily, so quickly, that I lose my scowl, and my lips turn up into a full grin.
“Would I beat him in a fight?”
“No.”
“Yes,” Bean interjects. “He’s a sweetheart. And he sure loves his mommy. But maybe she let him breastfeed a little too long, because he still sucks.”
“Burn,” Mac chuckles. “Dude is a pansy.”
“But he’s nice!” Evie insists.
The second Ben walks back into the room with a tall cake covered in a rich chocolate icing, she jumps up and snatches it away and takes a fork. She sets it down in front of her, digs the fork in, and comes back out with a large chunk that she shoves in with a grunt. “Damn, that’s good. I’ve been waiting all day for this.”
“Get the hell off it.” Bean pushes to her feet and takes the cake from Evie’s greedy hold. Accepting the plates and knife Ben brought in, she slices it up and hands pieces out like this is her home and she’s in charge of hosting guests. Evie is her cousin, this is Evie’s home, but she still slides a plate to me and grins. “Eat around the teeth marks. Evie doesn’t have cooties…” she frowns. “Pretty sure.”
“I don’t.” Evie swallows down her heaping mouthful. “We test every year for Stacked Deck.”
“Still…” Bean smiles for me. “Ignore the bit she licked. She forgot her damn manners somewhere around her sixth shot.”
“But Tony is cute, though, right?” Evie licks her fork and brings Ben’s gaze to her movement. He’s a slave to her every accidental sexual implication. “He’s tall, and we like those. He smiles a lot, and we like smiley people.”
“How’s his credit score?”
She pauses with a severe frown. “How the eff am I supposed to know that shit?” But then she shrugs. “I’ll ask him next time I see him. So you’re gonna go to dinner with him?”
“No, I’m not. And this cake is awesome.”
“Heard you got a new neighbor.” Mac smiles around his fork. “I heard the drama from like five different directions.”
“What drama?” Evie’s eyes – glassy from too much alcohol – slide from me to Mac. “What drama? What neighbor?”
“I don’t like my business being discussed all over town, Mac Blair.” I eat my cake and toss the last of my cards down, since no one is playing. “Don’t talk about me.”
“Chuck moved into her building.” He completely ignores my request, and turns to Evie and Ben. “I heard about it from Kane. Then Chuck himself. Then Eric, because of Checkmate.”
“That’s only three sources,” I insert.
“Ugh! So I exaggerated. Why do you have to call me out like that?”
“What was the drama?” Evie repeats impatiently. “Why is there drama?” She turns to Mac. “Chuck from the garage? He’s cute, huh?”
Ben growls. “Why is everyone cute, Eve? Why the fuck are you snooping on every other dude in town?”
“Because I’ve been shopping for Nora, duh. I’m trying to find her a man that is cool enough to sit with us on poker night.”
“Sit with us?” he scowls. “Why do we have to invite him? What if he’s an idiot?”
“Who? Chuck?”
“No! Whatever dude she wants to keep around. Nobody said we had to invite him around.”
“It would be rude not to.” Evie rolls her eyes. “So I’m shopping through these people, trying to find one I wouldn’t slam my head against a wall to avoid.”
“And you figure Tony the pansy is the right guy for that?” Ben looks to me and shakes his head. “Don’t say yes to that date, because Tony makes me wanna slam my head against a wall.”
I purse my lips and look to Evie. “You’re trying to set me up with weirdos. Stop it.”
“Tony will be picking you up for dinner next Friday night,” she declares on a dangerous growl. “He is not a pansy. He’s not weird. He’s not going to be pushed aside because Ben didn’t eat his cake and is feeling a little grumpy. Now tell me the drama.”
“There was no drama! For fuck’s sake. And if you give Tony my address, I’m gonna disown you. This isn’t a game to me.”
“Everyone knows where everyone lives in this town,” Bean murmurs. “Like, literally everyone. It’s not like you can keep that information to yourself in a town our size.”
“Well, considering I don’t know Tony, that means he doesn’t know me. Which means he doesn’t know where I live. We’re going to keep it that way, or else.”
“Or else?!” Evie laughs. “Or else what? You wanna fight me?”
“Dude.” Mac studies his cake and shakes his head. “Don’t poke the bear.”
“Nora doesn’t scare me.” Evie tosses her fork down and lifts her hands. “Wanna spar? I’ll show you what I practice in the gym all day while you spend your time on your ass.”
“Evie!” Mac laughs. “Bourbon brain got you making bad choices.”
“I feel like making more bad choices.” She turns in Ben’s lap and wraps her arms around his neck. “Take me to bed, handsome.”
Bean’s lips curl back. “So we’re doing that now, are we? We’re not even gonna try to be discreet anymore?”
“You can have the table once we go upstairs,” Evie murmurs. “Come with me a minute, Sasquatch. I forgot I had a secret to tell you.”
“Secret, my ass.” Standing, I take my almost empty plate and eat as I head toward the sink. “I’m going home.”
“You don’t have to leave.” Ben pokes his head around Evie. Always the gentleman, always taking care of me. “You can sleep in the guest bedroom if you wanna.”
“Nope, I’m good.” The one and only time I heard them fucking, I vowed to never again sleep over with my friends. “I’m seriously tired, so I’m out. Thanks for the cake and shit.”
“It was good, huh?” Evie runs her finger through the icing and slides the digit between her lips. “Damn, I did good on this one.”
“We’re not driving home tonight,” Mac declares. “I already had a beer, so…”
“You know where your bed is.” Ben stands
and lifts Evie in his arms. “We’re gonna go upstairs and tell secrets for a minute. Back soon.”
“Twenty minutes!” Evie throws her head back and laughs. “Maybe an hour, if I get greedy.”
“Filth.” I drop my plate in the deep, stainless steel sink and turn away. I could rinse it and load it into the dishwasher, but I prefer the thought of a hungover Evie tomorrow, dragging ass while she scrubs the dried plates and thinks of me. “You’re all disgusting, by the way.” I turn and point at Bean while she straddles Mac’s lap and slides her tongue against his. “Everyone is disgusting.”
And no one cares about me right now.
Instead, I grab my phone and keys, and head toward the front door. “Come, Galileo.”
From asleep with his mother, to alert and awake, he zooms to his feet and trots out of the two-story home, into the darkness to make sure everything is safe.
Galileo didn’t come from a special litter of emotional support puppies. He didn’t go to a special school to learn how to behave or help me. What we have is unique, and comes only from spending years locked up together until he was able to learn my moods – perhaps better than I know them myself.
He runs a fast lap of the yard, sniffs his usual checkpoints, then because he knows we’re going home, he pees just beyond the trees that surround Ben and Evie’s property.
A moment later, white in the night, he bounds across the lawn and dives head-first into my SUV when I open the driver’s side door. Ten minutes after pulling out of the long driveway and moving onto tarred road, I stomp my way up the concrete stairs inside my apartment building. I forgo the mailboxes, I ignore the loud discussion happening inside 1A, and the movie coming from 2B – Independence Day?
Taking my keys from my pocket, I move along the third floor and head up to the next level with Galileo just a couple steps ahead of me.
I’m going to bed, praying my chocolate cake helps settle the ever-present seed of anxiety that sits in my belly. Then tomorrow, I have work to do and a dozen phone calls to dodge when Evie remembers her plans to set me up with some dude named Tony. She’ll see him at the gym, no doubt her bold ass will ask him about his credit score, then she’ll call me to share the news that he’s probably perfect boyfriend material.