Page 58 of Close Quarters

“I wasn’t!” Elliot protested.

“That’s a goddamn lie, and we all know it.”

“Well, you can’t tell someone not to think about it. That’s the best way to make someone think about it.”

“I’m not thinking about it,” I said, refusing to glance at Dom because, goddammit, Elliot was right. By telling myself not to think about it, I would keep glancing at him and imagining what it could be like. I had enough trouble dealing with Elliot all the time. I wasn’t going to drag sexual possibilities about his best friend into the mix.

“And I'm definitely not thinking about it,” Dom grunted. “Now go. We’re not going to kill each other. Apparently, you giving it up has taken some of the grumpiness right out of him.”

“I hate that you have a good point about that,” Elliot said with a frown.

“And I hate that both of you agree that that’s a thing in the first place!” I growled at both of them.

“I want to talk to both of you…” Dom began.

“Then do it!” Elliot barked at him.

“But I want to do it separately,” Dom finished, rolling his eyes. “Alright? I’m not trying to start shit.”

“It sure feels like you’re trying to start something,” Elliot said with a suspicious glare.

“I’ll start something alright, but it’s going to be with you,” Dom told him, eyes narrowed.

My brow shot up when Elliot cocked his hip, batting his eyes. “Ooh, promise?”

“Seriously?” I asked before Dom could say anything, only to straighten when they both stared at me. “What?”

“I…okay, fine, whatever,” Elliot said, suddenly sounding flustered as Dom stared at him with a look I couldn’t decipher. “You two talk. But there had better not be any bullshit, alright? I mean it.”

“I’m sure we’ll manage,” Dom said, still refusing to look at me.

Some private communication was running between them, and it was getting on my nerves. Whatever was going on had something to do with what had just been said, and I didn’t understand. Usually, Elliot would be tripping over himself, eager to explain something in full, exhaustive detail. Now, he was practically ready to start running.

I watched him go, frowning when he gave me a final, strange look before turning a corner. “He’s heading the wrong way.”

“He’ll figure it out once he comes back to the present,” Dom grunted. “Which could take thirty seconds or ten minutes when he realizes he’s wandered half the ranch and needs to run back in the right direction.”

“If he can even…” I began but found myself shoved against the wall of the storage shed. The simmering anger in me roared to life, and I felt the bite of my nails in the palm of my hand. It took everything in me not to immediately swing as he gripped my shirt in his fist, glaring at me. “Do you have something to share with the rest of the class, Dom? Or are you going to keep breaking your promise to Elliot?”

“Oh, I told E I wasn’t going to start shit, and I’m not starting shit. See? We’re just talking,” he said, fist tightening so hard on my shirt I could hear the thin fabric beginning to tear.

“You’ve got a funny way of talking. Seems a lot like the talking I used to do that everyone gave me shit for,” I snapped back at him, still resisting the urge to lash out.

“Yeah, and notice how you’re not doing it? Now, is that because I’ll fight back, unlike Riley.”

“Enough,” I growled, snapping my arm up. It wasn’t to hit him but to knock his arm away from me, and to my surprise, he let go. I pushed him away from me, looking down at my shirt and scoffing. “You were there when I talked to Riley. I apologized, it was a dick thing to do, and I’m never going to do something like it again. That was between him and me, so you don’t get to give me shit about it.”

“Right up until you do something like that to E, then it’s my problem,” he said, taking a step back. He didn’t look like he was readying himself for a fight, but I kept my eye on him all the same, just in case he decided to lash out again.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Elliot isn’t Riley. He wouldn’t let something like that happen in the first fucking place.”

“Yeah, is that why you two looked beat to shit last month?”

“As a matter of fact, yeah, it is. Happy now? You know the huge secret we were keeping from everyone.”

“As if everyone couldn’t have figured it out on their own. You guys looked like you’d been in a bare-knuckle boxing match.”

“Well, that was pretty much what it was. Elliot can take care of himself, and he’s not taking any shit.”

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