“Anything else?” I ask, blowing out my breath impatiently.
Her smile never waivers, if anything it seems to brighten another watt as she begins to tap the pen against the side of the notebook.
One, two, three, four.
“Actually yes,” she replies thoughtfully.
Five, six, seven, eight.
I raise my eyes from the pen, from my point of focus, and look at her again. She’s starting to look a little funny, almost like she’s beginning to melt or something, but I do my best to listen to the pen as she continues to tap it.
It’s the only way I can keep us both safe for the moment.
Nine, ten, eleven, twelve.
“How long have you lived here?” she asks as the tapping stops and she readies herself to write down my answer.
“Huh?”
My tone is low, thick with confusion, and I can sense the shift in her demeanor. She probably thinks that she’s on to something right now, but it’s how normal people who understand reason perceive things as simple as a tenor change.
“I asked how long you’ve lived here,” she repeats slower. Like I’m stupid or something, but I’m not.
I’m just different and no one gets me. Only Auggie—only ever Auggie.
“I don’t know,” I finally say with a shrug. “A month or two?”
Embry’s eyes narrow slightly and I can see the watts starting to dim in her smile. It means she’s almost ready to play with me and that’s when the fun can begin.
“How long have you lived here?” I shoot back, dropping my arms to my sides. I lean against the door frame and look directly into her eyes. It’s a trick I learned one time in Singapore. You can get almost anything you want by making eye contact and having a pocket full of sticks and bricks.
“Born and raised,” she replies curtly as she flips her notebook closed and slips the pen into her back pocket. “I guess that will be all for now. Would it be okay if I come back should I have any further questions?”
I nod as I push away from the frame, then slam the door shut in her face.
It’s not okay, but I know I won’t be able to stop her.
She wants to know about the fires and apparently, she thinks I know more than I’m willing to say.
I guess time will tell.
Chapter Six
Since the day turned out to be nicer than I thought it would, I decided to put my demons on a leash and take them to the park. I’ve been sitting on a bench by myself, tearing off pieces of bread from a stale loaf and tossing them into the grass.
Pigeons have been keeping me company and my mind off of Embry McVee. There’s something about her that bothers me. I don’t know if it’s because she’s making assumptions about strangers, or if it could be that she’s asking all of the wrong questions.
I have the answer she wants but I only told her what she wanted to know since I seemed like nothing more than a pit stop on the way to bigger and better things.
I don’t like being treated like I’m second best, but it comes with the territory.
I was the second born son, the second thought of anyone that’s ever known me, the second to leave since Auggie went first.
The only person that never treated me like a piece of shit, I think glumly as I rip another piece of bread off and toss it at the flock.
It breaks my heart to think I ran him off, and to this day, I don’t know if it was me or just meant to be.
I take a deep breath as I lean over and toss the empty plastic bag into the small, metal trash container then lean back against the bench. There’s no way I’m going to be able to become my own man if I keep thinking of August. It’s not something I want to do, but I know I have to push him out of my thoughts and leave him in my heart where he belongs.
A car backfires somewhere in the street and the pigeons scatter. I chuckle as I watch them fly away and think of how I would do the same if afforded the opportunity, even though I know I’ve run as far as I’m willing to go.
Wow.
I get to my feet thinking of how I’ve never addressed my brother as August before my recent thought of him.
But that’s who he is.
August Grant.
And no matter how hard I fucking try, I’ll never be Trent.
I’ll always be Robbie and I have to work on making myself the man that I know I can be.
The small cafe at the edge of the park is full of people that I don’t know.
Some of the young girls are looking at me with stars in their eyes and I do my best to ignore it.
We Grants have always been good looking men and that’s the only time I never came in second. I’ve gotten more pussy than August because I was looser with my morals than he was.
At least that’s what Mom would say when she would chide me for it, but I’m pretty sure it’s because I’m the better looking of the two of us, and that’s saying something because my brother is one handsome son of a bitch.
“Hey, Robbie!”
I glance around the cafe until my eyes settle on the cheerful voice. My heart is beating a little faster at someone recognizing me in a place where no one should but when I see Embry, I roll my eyes and begin to tap my foot against the checkered floor to give myself something to concentrate on.
She walks over to me with her smile shining brightly, the watts starting to hurt my eyes the closer she gets, and I tap my foot a little faster.
Onetwothreefourfivesixseven.
The faster I tap, the more the numbers begin to gel together, but it seems to be helping.
“Hi,” I say curtly with a nod when she stops next to me. When the young gang of female friends behind us start to complain about Embry “cutting” I turn to glare at them. “She’s with me.”
It stops their bitch-fest almost immediately and Embry nods at me in thanks. I suck my teeth and shuffle forward as the line continues it’s slow stop and go progression.
Something about running into her so soon after slamming the door in her face isn’t sitting right with me.
“Are you following me?” I ask bluntly as I glance down at her. The smile on her lips widens slightly as she shrugs and turns her attention toward the back of the man in front of us.
The obvious way she’s decided to not answer me tells me everything I need to know. Perhaps Embry has played a game or two in her time and she thinks that she can ensnare me into one of hers.
I’ll teach her, though.
Just like I did to the girl in Singapore.
Just like I did with the priest at St. Sebastian’s.
If one wants to dance with the devil, one should always bring more than just their soul to barter.
Chapter Seven
Embry led me to an empty table near the back of the cafe. Considering the place isn’t very big, we didn’t have to walk too far. It works in my favor in a way because I doubt she’ll start asking me questions with so many ears ready to capture every word we speak to each other.
“So, tell me why,” I say conversationally as I bring the tip of the cup to my lips. As I drink down some of the hot brew, I keep my eyes firmly planted on her. If she wants to engage me then she needs to see up front that I don’t rattle easily.
“Hm?” she asks as she takes a sip of her latte. Some super rich bitch thing I can’t even pronounce but paid for anyway. It’s the least I could do for someone who has balls as big as she does.