Page 103 of Danger and Dominance

Shit.

“He likes mild to moderate spicy,” Claudia admonished Jensen, hands on her hips as she glared at him.Ian was already starting to choke, his eyes bulging as sweat beaded on the edges of his forehead.“He’s not going to be fine.”

“Oh.My.God.It’s like getting pepper-sprayed in my mouth.”Ian gasped for air, looking wildly around like he was searching for something to help.“I can’t breathe.Everything burns.”

Manuel slapped him on the back, which obviously wasn’t going to help at all.Not that Ian was in a position to protest.He was now bent over, hands just above his knees, bracing himself to keep from falling over while he shuddered and tried not to die.

“He said he liked spicy!”

“You know your level of spicy and everyone else’s level of spicy is completely different,” Claudia snapped.She shook her head, waving her hand at Manuel.“Come on, let’s get him to the break room.We have some milk and bread in there.”

“Please…” Ian gasped, straightening up.

Cassidy had her hands over her mouth, and she was laughing so hard, she had tears running down her face.Kind of like Ian, but for a completely different reason.

Normally, Jennifer would have found the whole situation hilarious, but today, she glared at Jensen as Claudia, Ian, and Manuel disappeared down the hall.

“That wasn’t nice,” she scolded.

The smirk on Jensen’s face faded immediately, and he frowned back at her.

“It was hilarious, and Ian will be fine.You know, the last time he was here he convinced me to try that awful canned fish thing he brought.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to lower yourself to his level.”Jennifer sniffed and turned her attention back to her computer.“Besides, that just tasted terrible.Yours caused him actual pain.You should apologize.”

“I’ll take that under consideration.”Now scowling, Jensen turned on his heel, only to realize he had an audience.Immediately, his expression changed and softened.“Hey Cassidy, what are you doing here?”

“I had a panic attack,” she said sheepishly.

Now that the room was a little emptier, and she was talking about it, David didn’t hesitate to move closer, slinging his arm over her shoulder.He did his best to ignore his grandmother’s beaming nod of approval.Although he liked that she approved, he also didn’t want her meddling in his relationship.

Cassidy leaned into him, reaching up to rub her forehead, her voice a mixture of shame and regret.“I just… I don’t know.I was getting in my head at the store, then I saw a blond man who could have vaguely resembled Don in the parking lot, and I just lost it.It was ridiculous.”

David tightened his hold on her.

“It’s not ridiculous.You’re going through a lot, and we don’t know where he is or why he hasn’t popped up yet,” he consoled her.

“I shouldn’t have made us go to the store,” his grandmother said, coming in from the other side to hold Cassidy’s hand.

“You didn’t.I made us because I’m supposed to be helping you get out and around, not being the reason you have to sit at home,” Cassidy replied, obviously frustrated.“I know I need to be safe, I want to be safe, but I also don’t want to spend my whole life hiding.I just… I need to get out of my head.”

“Hey, you’re going through a big thing,” David said gently.“Something you don’t have much control over, if any.That’s going to make everything harder.You need to be easier on yourself.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jennifer nod approvingly behind her desk.Yeah, a very different conversation than the first time she’d seen him in here with Cassidy.

“I just want it to be over with.”She sighed.“My brain just latches onto something and spirals, then all I can think about is how everyone around me is going to die a horrible death while I’m either dragged away or dying with them.And it’ll be all my fault.”

“Well, that sounds… unpleasant,” Grandma said, making David snort.“But sweetie, I could die tomorrow from a heart attack or old age?—”

“No, you can’t,” David interjected, scowling at her.He was also completely unsurprised when she ignored him and kept talking as if he hadn’t said a thing.

“That wouldn’t be your fault any more than some if some asshole takes me out.And believe me, I’d rather go down defending you than end up rotting in a hospital bed someday.”

David face-palmed, sighing.

“You could just work onnot dying,you know,” he said.

“Oh, I don’t have any plans to at the moment, but if it happens, it happens.And I would love to have a badass epilogue, like ‘went down defending her friend and taking out a dickhead at the same time.’”Grandma grinned, and Cassidy burst out laughing.