A pair of strong arms wrapped around me. He smelled like bread, fresh from the oven, and I couldn’t help myself.
“There are worse things, but they took something from you and made you feel unsafe. They stole your peaceful place, and it does matter.”
My head rested in the crook of his neck. I wrapped my arms tight around him and let myself believe for a few seconds that I didn’t have to have all my shit together all the time and maybe, just maybe, someone would give me a little help, even if I tried to pretend I didn’t need it.
I patted his back and then dropped my arms. “Sorry about that. And thank you for the bagels and the croissant.” My voice dropped and I started cleaning up.
“Maybe I can help with the furniture situation.”
“Really, it’s okay. I’m barely here anyway, right. It’s not like I’ve been inviting friends over. And I’ll be moving to someplace smaller once my lease is up. It would only be more to pack.” I closed the lids on the cream cheese and put them and the bagels back in the bag.
Closing it, I held it out for him to take. “Thank you for everything. I appreciate it. I really do.”
“No problem. Keep them.” He nudged my hand back toward my chest.
I walked him to the door with the bagels clutched against me like my own protective barrier. The back of my hand tingled where he’d pressed against it. Gratitude swelled in my chest, not only for the bagels, but everything he’d done for me from the hot dog horror warning to staying with me all night to the groceries.
Opening the door, he turned to me. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Of course. We’ve got to plan another event to destroy Oren & Co. with. I’ll meet you tomorrow at ten at Stark.”
“Make it nine. We’ve got a lot to get through.”
I couldn’t hold back my chuckle. “Look at you, workaholic. Nine, then.”
Leaning against the closed door, I banged my head against it. Don’t even think about having feelings for your fake fiancé, Zara. Who had time for that anyway? Not me.
But a small part of me piped up. Maybe…
24
Leo
“You want me to come up with another front row ticket to one of the biggest concerts of the year with less than twenty-four hours’ notice?” Hunter splayed his hands out on the counter, leaning forward with a take-no-prisoners look on his face.
When I’d found myself in the elevator on the way up, I’d tried to talk myself out of it twenty times, but here I was in Hunter’s pre-war apartment feeling like an asshole. Zara had popped into the office today looking back to normal after four days of harboring a slight green tinge and a non-existent appetite. Every night I’d stayed up, itching to call her and see how she was doing, but I’d kept calm and confined our calls and texts to business only.
“I should’ve asked when we played basketball on Monday.”
Hunter scoffed. “No shit.”
“I’ve been thinking about it more and more, so I thought I’d ask. If it’s impossible, don’t worry about it.”
“No, don’t back down now. Have a seat.” He dropped back into the chair behind his desk. I felt like I’d come in to make a deal with a mob boss, asking for a favor in exchange for hiding a body at some point down the line. “You’d like a ticket for…”
“Zara.”
“The shrew I got the ring for, who was making your life a living hell.”
“She’s not a shrew.”
“Your words not mine.”
“We had a rocky start.”
“And that’s smoothed out now.” He steepled his fingers, resting his elbows on the arms of the wingback chair.
“We’ve come to an understanding.”
“And you think a concert would be an olive branch.”
“Exactly. We’re friendly, and this could make the rest of our time together easier.” She’d dealt with a lot and rode herself harder than anyone else. A fun night out with music, drinks and dancing would be just what she needed.
“And you want to bang her.”
I jerked back in my seat. “What? No.”
He tilted his head, giving me a ‘do I look stupid?’ look.
I scrubbed my chin. “Once you cut through all that intensity, she’s a woman who knows what she wants and isn’t going to let anyone stand in her way.”
“Does she want you?”
“We’re friends.”
“So, no. But you want her to.”
“What the hell is with the million questions? If you can’t get the ticket, just tell me.”
“I’m only trying to figure out how much the ticket is worth to you.” He leaned back in his chair like a super villain.
“Do you want a kidney?”
“Do you have one to spare?” He glanced down at my right side, before holding my gaze for another beat. What the hell kind of shit was he into? Milwaukee had been one thing. How deep did his acquisition skills truly go?
His grim lips parted into a wide grin. “I’m fucking with you. Give me a second.” Picking up his phone, he held up one finger while tapping away using with thumb. “Sent.”
Eight tense seconds later his phone buzzed. “Done. She’s on the list.”
I huffed out a laugh. “That’s it? She’s got a ticket?” I dragged my fingers through my hair, relief washing over me. “No kidney needed?
“Not today.” Even harder laughing. “The look on your face. I do not trade in black market organs. Would you prefer I sucked at getting things done?” He chuckled, wiping away his tears.
“No, I much prefer things this way, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still a little afraid of you.”
His chest puffed up like it was a point of pride.
“I need to let Zara know. She’ll be floored.”
“Yeah, not the tiniest bit of attraction there at all.” His words and nod dripped with skepticism.
“We’ve hit a stride in our relationship.”
“Ahhh, a relationship, is it?”
Asshole. “Our working relationship.”
“A relationship where you’ll be striding into someone’s panties after the encore from Without Grey.”
“No panties will be gotten into.”
“Not by you, anyway.” We left the office. The hallway stretched on past five doorways on one side and three on the other before opening to the living room we all took over for our weekly Chinese food feasts.
“It’s not weird living in this place alone?”
“I prefer it this way. I get in late at night and don’t have to worry about waking anyone up. No dirty dishes other than my own. It would drive me crazy to have to tiptoe around someone else.”
The floorboards creaked under our steps. “Plus, the ghosts would hate to have to share you with anyone else.”
“There’s more than enough of me to go around.” His hand shot out like he’d just had the most brilliant idea. “Do you want to get a drink?”
Giant floodlights painted a pattern in the sky as we got closer to the brightly-lit multistory structure up ahead. There were huge nets stretching up higher than I could see beyond the building.