Page 16 of Nocere

"Jordan and Ainsley didn't set you up, Rose. Yes, I asked you here because I wanted to get to know you better." Samirah's posture remained calm and steady. "And they came along because you asked them too."

"I'm not a child. We're both in our thirties. You could've just said you liked me or something. I don't like this and I want to leave," I said, standing up and turning back toward the trail.

"Okay. We'll leave then." Samirah stood up first, and the others followed suit.

This time, I led the way toward the completion of the trail. All three of them walked behind me and I didn't turn around until we were back near the cars. My heart pounded, my body tensed, and the anger in my chest only seeded itself deeper. Ainsley caught up to me in the parking area.

"Rosie—"

"Leave me alone, Ainsley. I trusted you and you set me up. All of this was. Dinner, bringing Samirah to your house, Jordan doing my hair. All of it." I shoved away from her when she stepped in front of me. "In fact, get away from me. I'll call a cab."

"Rosie. Stop. None of that is true." Ainsley hurried after me, but when I swung around, Jordan was the one in front of me.

"Hey," she said, holding her hands up. "Rosie, I swear. We didn't try and set you up. Sami coming to dinner was a total surprise to all of us."

"Believe them, Rose. This was all me, not them," added Samirah when she approached. She crouched down in front of me, blocking my path and attempting to catch my gaze. "Hey. Can you look at me a minute?"

I let my eyes flicker in her direction.

"I'm sorry, Rose. They're telling the truth. This was all me."

"I don't believe you." I swallowed down the lump in my throat. "I don't believe any of you. Leave me alone." I stormed away from them, and headed toward the information desk at the beginning of the trail head.

***

An entire week passed, and I ignored all of Ainsley's phone calls. She knew how I felt about trusting people, and I didn't believe that she had nothing to do with Samirah's attention to me. Instead, I retreated to where I was comfortable, in my own space doing what I wanted to do.

Work the following Monday continued my routine, and I plucked my way through a series of reports. Detective Stiles brought me his sex crimes cases for the past three years and I began to compile the data. I moved out from behind my desk to the table I kept on the opposite side of the room where I spread out the files. Unmarred by yet another disappointment from people I hoped to call friends, my dismissive stance only served to focus me more on work.

By the time lunch rolled around, I'd plucked my way through half of the banker boxes, and moved on to the second half. My phone chimed on my desk, interrupting my flow, and I took a second to check it. A text from Alex lingered on the screen.

Hi, Rosie. My roommate is having a rager tonight. Can I crash at yours?

A rager on a Monday?

I need a new roommate…

Clearly. Yeah. You can.

Cool. I'll spring for pizza if you're up for it.

Pizza is canon.

Agreed. See you later.

See ya.

"Bryant, how you doing with those sex crimes cases?" Sadie startled me so bad that I dropped my phone. Her heeled boots clicked on the floor, and I looked up in time to catch a glimpse of her tucking her wallet into the back pocket of her jeans. Sadie wasn't intimidating in the looks department, but I didn't enjoy her loud voice when she came at me unexpectedly.

"Good. Trudging through."

"Excellent." She joined me at the table in the back of my office and fingered through a few files. "Would it make me an asshole to admit I didn't want to read these files myself?"

"We each have our limits," I said simply.

"Nice hair, by the way. Looks good. Brings a little light to your face." She nodded as if my hair was suddenly a part of our job duties.

"Thanks." I ran my fingers through it. Despite the shitty end to my time with Jordan and Ainsley, I really did like my hair.

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