Page 40 of Dare You to Run

“You’re late,” Miss Shirley barks as I walk into the office.

I look at my watch, already knowing I’m late, but seeing just how far past starting time I am. I haven’t bothered to look at a clock today, because I was too busy being wrapped up with Dagen. When I see the time flip to eleven twenty-three, I cringe.

“Yeah. Sorry. I had some things to take care of this morning.”

“Mhmm,” she mumbles, eying me skeptically.

I hang my head like I’ve just been scolded by my mother, and beeline for my office where I promptly close the door and sit at my desk.

Before I can even fire up my laptop, my phone begins buzzing in my pocket. With a sigh, I lift up from my chair slightly andretrieve it from my back pocket. My sigh turns deeper when I see Malik’s name on the caller id.

“What’s up, Mal?” I answer.

“Hey loverboy.” His voice is drawn out and lyrical like he’s singing a song. “How’s married life?”

“What the fuck are you talking about.”

“You and Dagen. Are you like two birds sitting in a tree, KI-SS-ING?”

I roll my eyes and I wonder what I was thinking when I agreed to be this man’s brother. “You’re an idiot. The girl needed a place to stay. I wasn’t going to leave her out on the streets. That’s all.”

He laughs sarcastically. “A pillow to rest her head on is one thing. But offering her rides on your dick like it’s a carousel is another thing completely.”

“Shit,” I curse under my breath because how the hell did this fucker find out.

“In case you’re wondering, Kinsley told me after she went by your place this morning to take Dagen to breakfast. When she wasn’t in the room, she let herself into the main house and heard you two…talking.”

I groan and flop my head back against my chair. If ever someone wants to announce something to the entire town of Cattywump Bay and surrounding cities, all you have to do is tell McKinsley Sawyer. Forget hiring a billboard sign. She’ll be in people’s ears with business that isn’t hers to tell quicker than a jackrabbit during mating season.

“So. Are there wedding bells in your future?” He sounds like one of the obnoxious kids he teaches.

“No, there aren’t wedding bells. She’s just…someone to pass the time with. Why are you even asking me that?” I pound my password into the keyboard, irritated and ready to rush back home and lock myself in and the world out.

“Oh Henny. I don’t think she’s someone to pass time with. That kiss you two shared at T and D the other night wasn’t a simple peck on the cheek that I suspect Danté would have received if he had won. I’m sure he would’ve tried, but I don’t think she’d take the bait. But you…you had her hooked like a goddamn mudcat. She watched every twitch of your muscle. It was so obvious she wanted you. Then I hear you took her out last night.”

“How do you know that?” I jump up from my seat and grip my phone tighter.

With a huff he replies, “I have my ways.”

I begin pacing around my office, feeling like the walls are caving in on me. If Kins knows and is talking to Dagen the way Malik is speaking with me, then maybe she’s starting to form ideas in that pretty head of hers. What if she thinks we’re a couple after sleeping together. I don’t know if she’s a clinger.

“Mal, I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Wait. Wha–” I abruptly end the call and don’t bother to hear what he was about to say.

I quickly stab at the numbers on my phone, copying the same ones on the paper that still sits on my desk, and bring the phone to my ear. It rings three times before she answers.

“Hello?”

“Hey. Dagen?”

“This is. And who may I ask is calling?” Her voice is proper and stiff like I’m some fucking solicitor trying to sell her new phone service.

“It’s Hendrix.” I bark out, slightly harsher than I mean to be.

“Oh. Hi. Um, is everything okay? You just left like, thirty minutes ago.” I hear water running in the background and I wonder if she’s washing dishes.

“Yeah. I just want to check to make sure we’re on the same page about–are you washing dishes, or something?” I finally ask when the loud splash breaks my focus.