Page 65

Chapter thirty-one

Workplace (In)Appropriate

Rusty

At the sound of Toni’s voice, Gem jolted so severely he stumbled back a step, gripping Oliver and Willow’s shoulders to steady his balance.

His face turned ashy as he rounded on the Elas standing in the doorway of the cafe.

All eight of Gem’s eyes were wide with panic, and Toni’s brows furrowed, head cocking as he scrutinized the Araknis.

Rusty barely resisted the urge to reach out and take Gem’s hand in reassurance. He had a feeling Gem wouldn’t appreciate it, and it probably would get him murdered by the Elas frowning at them.

“Toni!” Gem cried, laughing somewhat manically. “Hey, guys, Toni’s here. Oh, happy day. Toni is here. Right now. Which is, just, so great!”

“What, uh”—Toni glanced around the room, at the group of them behind the counter and the crowd of customers watching—“what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Gem said, wringing all of his hands. “We were just—well, you see, we were just… uhhh—”

“Giving Oliver advice,” Glyma chimed in.

“Sex advice,” Willow agreed.

“Aw, come on,” Oliver whined.

“About his flaccid noodle,” Tad added.

“Yeah, he’s got a—” Gem flopped his wrist limply, and Toni’s brows flew up.

“Oh, well, I’m sorry to hear that, Ollie.”

Oliver, face pink and mortified, cleared his throat and nodded. “Trust me, so am I.”

“But it ain’t nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s more common than you think,” Toni said as he strutted across the room until he stood on the other side of the bakery case. “Gem had this friends-with-benefits—”

“Oh, I already told him,” Gem said, and Toni nodded.

“Well, there you go. They got it figured out. I mean, that was because he was asexual, apparently, so there was nothing to fix. But it’s good to know these things about ourselves.”

“Yeah, self-discovery and understanding is important to a healthy life,” Gem said, and Oliver glared at him.

“Thanks for the words of wisdom,” the human bit out. “Maybe we can change the subject, though? To more pressing matters. Right, Gem?”

Gem shot Rusty a panicked look. “Right now? I don’t know if it’s the time or place for that, Ollie.”

“Oh, but it is the time and place to talk about my apparent erectile problems?” Oliver shot back.

Clearing his throat primly, Gem tucked a curl behind his ear. “Okay, I see your point.”

“Seriously, what the fuck is going on?” Toni demanded, hands on his hips, arm fins twitching. “Gem’s hearts are racing, and you all look like you’re about to witness a murder.”

“If things go well, we will,” Tad said, rubbing her webbed hands together as she smiled at Rusty.

Rusty bared his canines at her, but her grin simply widened.

“No murders,” Gem squeaked, wiping numerous palms on his clothes like he was drying them as he met Rusty’s gaze. “I was planning out a speech in my head, but I never wrote it down. But that’s okay. I’m really good at winging things.”

Since Gem was absolutely not good at winging anything, Rusty took a fortifying breath and set his shoulders. If he was going to die today, he would do it fighting for Gem. So he turned toward the Elas and said, “Hey, Toni, could I talk to you outside for a second?”

Several people audibly gasped, and Gem nearly toppled over with a squeal, having tripped over nothing. He caught himself on Oliver and the espresso machine, and the human squawked as he struggled to keep Gem from actually falling over.

“About what?” Toni asked suspiciously.

“Uh, Rusty, I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Gem said as he straightened.

To be honest, Rusty wasn’t either, but he was sick of tip-toeing around whatever issues Toni had with him.

The Elas had hated him from the start, and he still didn’t know why.

Before, it hadn’t mattered, but it did now.

Toni was Gem’s best friend, and Rusty hated that Gem was stuck in the middle of a one-sided squabble that could be solved by a frank conversation .

Sure, one of the solutions could also be his body in the Dark Sea, weighed down by cinder blocks, but it was a risk Rusty was willing to take. Toni was all bluster anyway, and he wasn’t afraid of him. Mostly.

So he adopted a confidence he didn’t fully feel and shrugged. “Nah, it’ll be fine.”

“I don’t know about that,” Gem said.

“Don’t worry,” Rusty said with a small smile of reassurance. “I got this.”

“I really don’t think you do,” Gem whispered, and Oliver nodded.

“Yeah, man, I might be with Gem on this one.”

“You worry too much.” Brushing past Glyma and Quin, Rusty motioned for Toni to follow him. “Come on, Toni. Let’s get this over with.”

At first, Toni didn’t follow him, and Rusty paused at the kitchen doors. Black, endless eyes studied him intensely, but Rusty didn’t cower. He waited for Toni to finish his search, and at long last, the Elas slowly made his way behind the counter, thick brows furrowed in a frown.

“I ain’t gonna like this, am I?” he grumbled as he shot the group a glare.

“Maybe not,” Rusty said as he held the kitchen door open for Toni to pass through.

Like Toni knew their conversation was not meant to be overheard, he stalked through the kitchen and out the back door, stopping only a few feet into the teal sand. He crossed his arms over his chest, feet wide, jaw set. Ready for a fight.

Now that they were here, Rusty wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say.

Leading with, “So I fucked your best friend last night,” didn’t seem like a wise choice.

Plus, that might not have been his place to share, anyway.

The biggest reason Toni would take issue with that was because Toni had an issue with Rusty himself.

And that was something Rusty could address .

“What’s your problem with me?” Rusty asked bluntly, and Toni reared back slightly in surprise.

“What?”

“You’ve had a problem with me from the moment I stepped through those cafe doors. At first, it didn’t matter, because you’re a douchebag, and I don’t care what douchebags think about me,” he said, and Toni’s scowl darkened, “but things are different now. So let’s have it. What’s your problem?”

“Currently? Your smart-ass mouth insulting me,” Toni said.

“Fair enough,” Rusty conceded, tucking his hands in his pockets. “But you know what I’m talking about. Is it because I’m a Pyclon?”

Genuine offense colored Toni’s features. “So I’m a douchebag, and I’m speciesist? Fuck right off.”

“Is it because of Flesh Street?”

“No! I don’t care that you fucked people for money or that you’re a Pyclon or any of that shit, okay?”

“Then what is it?” Rusty demanded, voice rising in volume. “You’ve treated me like I’m a pile of vomit you slipped in, but I haven’t done jack-shit to you.”

“You didn’t have to!” Toni barked, taking a threatening step forward, blue finger pointed at Rusty’s face. “I don’t care how you treat me or what names you call me. I can fucking take that shit, baby, and it’s no skin off my teeth. But I draw the line at you talking shit about Gem.”

Blindsided, Rusty shuffled a half-step back. “What?”

Toni smiled down at him, sharp and jagged. “I heard you, you little punk. Smoking out back with Jaki, having a good ol’ laugh about all of us suckers inside. But mostly Gem, because he was an easy target, right? ”

Shame and regret settled heavy in Rusty’s gut at the memory, and he dropped his gaze to the sand. “That was a long time ago.”

“Oh, but I remember it. Word for fucking word,” Toni sneered, leaning in, finger jabbing Rusty’s chest. “Brainless bimbo. Annoying. Obnoxious. Um, slutty, if memory serves me right. Ringing any bells?”

“I—” Rusty tried, but Toni snarled, cutting him off.

“Gem never did anything but welcome you with open arms, and that was how you repaid him. Smearing his name like you were better than him.”

“I never—”

But Toni wasn’t done. He had six years of pent-up frustration, and Rusty had opened the door voluntarily, hadn’t he?

“You’re entitled, and you’re rude. And sometimes, you’re a stick in the mud,” Toni said with another jab at Rusty’s chest. “And I get that your life ain’t easy, but newsflash, you and your trauma ain’t special.

We all got shit. At least, we deal with it and try not to make it everyone else’s problem. ”

And okay, Rusty hadn’t expected to be berated so harshly. His eyes burned, but he fought it claw and canine because there was no way, in this life or any other, that he would let Toni fucking Maryno make him cry.

“I didn’t—”

“Say it?” Leaning away, Toni laughed cruelly. “Don’t even try to deny it. I heard you loud and clear that day.”

“I’m not denying it!” Rusty interjected, fighting the urge to punch the smug grin off the Elas’s face. “I did say that shit, okay? I shouldn’t have, and I wish I hadn’t, but I did. But I can’t go back in time and take it back. All I can do is try and make up for it now.

“Gem knows. About all of it,” he admitted, and Toni blinked in shock. “I told him, and I apologized, and for some crazy reason, he forgave me. Because he’s better than I am. He’s better than you,” he added, and Toni snorted but didn’t disagree. “He deserves better than both of us.”

Crossing his arms over his chest again, Toni worked his jaw. “You ain’t wrong about that.”

“But I was nineteen years old. I was young, and yeah, I was a punk. So of course, I ran my mouth in hopes that none of you would catch on to how scared I was. All the time.” Rusty’s breath hitched, and Toni’s arms dropped to his sides, the anger burning in his dark eyes snuffing out.

“You were all older and had a history, and I was the outsider. And I was okay with that, because I didn’t need friends or family or kindness, but you offered it anyway.

Gem offered it anyway, and I didn’t know what to do with that.