Page 179 of Positively Pricked

Chapter 60

From the open doorway, I stared at the guy who'd rocked my world only a few hours ago.

If he wanted to cuss me out, fine. He could go right ahead. But he'd be hearing some choice words in return.

I crossed my arms and waited.

Zane looked down and gave a slow shake of his head. When he finally looked up, all he said was, "You didn't answer your phone."

"What phone? The hotel phone?"

"No. Your cell. I called you maybe thirty minutes ago."

Ihadreceived a call while I'd been talking to Charlotte. But I hadn't recognized the number, so I'd let it go to voicemail.

I asked, "Did you leave a message?"

"No," he said. "I came in person."

I gave him a look. "Yes. You sure did."

"Meaning?"

I made a sound of frustration. "The thing with Bob, are we just going to pretend that it didn't happen?"

"If you're lucky, we are."

Was that a joke? It didn'tsoundlike a joke. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, you were supposed to stay out of it."

My arms dropped to my sides. "Why?"

"Because it's not your problem. And I don't want it to be."

This might've been a lovely idea, if only the so-called problem hadn't arrived on my proverbial doorstep. With a sigh of frustration, I looked away.

Zane said, "If you've got something to say, go ahead."

I looked back to him and said, "Well, I guess Iamwondering how you can be so awful."

His mouth tightened. "To you?"

That was the million-dollar question, wasn't it?

Whatwasthe price of my soul? Even if this was more than a fling,andeven if hedidend up treating me wonderfully, would I seriously be able to stand by while he abused everyone else? And if so, what kind of person would that make me?

His question was more complicated than he realized.Was he awful to me?No. Especially not lately. But itwasawful to see him kick someone when they were down. I murmured, "I don't know."

His voice was flat. "You don’t know."

Obviously, he didn't get it. Desperately, I tried to explain. "I just don't know what to think, you know, after the thing with Bob."

"Forget him," Zane said. "He's gone."

"Yeah, but to where? I mean, you kicked him out of his house."

"No," Zane said in a tone of forced patience. "I kicked him out ofmyhouse. Big difference."