Page 15 of Hunter

“I bet,” I murmur before I’ve even thought about it.

“Is that supposed to mean something, Miss Flynn?” he asks, sounding amused.

“Not at all,” I fluster.

“Do you think I’m…vain?” he asks, sounding affronted but in a jovial way.

“Do you?” I shyly ask, chewing on my nail as I await his answer. Suddenly, Phoenix is all up in front of me, arching a questioning eyebrow. I try to turn away to avoid that vein that’s managed to surface again, all the while Daniel’s husky laugh greets me down the phone.

“Well, let’s just say, you’re not the first person to accuse me of being such a thing,” he says, his smile showing in his voice, which only has me grinning with my teeth. Phoenix turns me by my arm and catches me smiling, so he arches that damn brow of his even higher. I try to wave him off, but as always, he’s still all up in my business.

“Come to the office as usual and we’ll go from there,” he says when I make no attempt to respond to his jesting. I was too busy shaking Phoenix off to think of anything to say. “Take care of yourself, Louisa, and remember I’m always here if you want to talk, or… Well, I’m here.”

“Thank you, Daniel,” I utter, sounding disappointed for some reason. “Bye.”

“Speak!” Phoenix practically barks, looking very much like an angry dog.

“What?” I ask innocently, turning away from his penetrating stare.

“You were flirting with that guy, Lou!” Phoenix cries out accusingly.

“I was not! How would you even know what flirting is? The women you meet are either partnered up with butch gang members or they are the butch gang members. It only takes an exchange of eyebrow movements for you to hook up with a girl.”

“Hey, I can be romantic when I want to be,” he says, feigning insult at the same time as Jake bursts out laughing. I must admit, I find myself giggling over the idea of my big burly brother trying to charm a normal girl. “Fuck you and fuck you!”

“Oh, Phoenix, you have to admit, neither of us has ever seen you with a girl who wasn’t some chick you met through this bar or your previous line of…er…work.”

“Have you been with a girl outside of here or your-er-other-er-line of work?” Jake teases.

“None of your damn business!” he snaps.

“Then why is my life always your business?” I argue, even though I know what he’s going to say. I should have kept my mouth shut.

“Lou, I want you to be happy, really, I do, but not with a suit,” he says as he lays one of his most terrifying looks on me, one of concern and pity.

“Well,” I begin, coughing back the pain of an awaiting sob at the back of my throat, “your suspicions are wrong about me and that ‘suit’. He just wanted to let me know that I’ll be spending the day with a stylist. Apparently, A-list celebs don’t date girls who wear old cardigans that used to belong to Grandad Joe.”

“No way. You have a strict dress code when it comes to being outside of these four walls,” he says, leaning away from me and shaking his head.

“Phoenix!” I snap, finally at the end of my tether. “I can’t fucking breathe, just back the fuck off, will you?”

“Come on, Phoenix,” Jake pleads on my behalf, “Lou would have said if something was up with those guys by now. It’s been two years and as far as we know, there’s been no hint of anything dodgy from them. I think she’s ok, Phoenix.”

“Who asked you?” he shouts, being the total hothead that he is. Jake throws his hands up defensively, looking a little hurt if I’m not mistaken. He smiles sadly at me before walking away.

“Was that really necessary? Why are you being such an asshole?” I cry out in frustration. “I get it, Phoenix, I get what you’ve had to take on, I get what you’ve been through, but I am not that same girl anymore. I swear I will always come to you if I have any problems with anyone. Ok? I know I trusted the wrong guy, but I thought…”

“I know,” he sighs as I struggle to get the words out because that sob has crept out of me anyway. He takes me into his arms and becomes the gentle giant I know he can be. “Hey, Lou, I know. We all thought that too.”

“So will you back off a little bit?” I weep over his shoulder.

“This is why I avoid ‘normal’ girls,” he sighs, “they’re far more devious when trying to get their own way.”

“Answer the question, Phoenix,” I push, fully taking advantage of this moment.

“Fine,” he says, kissing my head and pushing me away again, “I’ll back off…a little. But you’ve used up your crying card for at least a year.”

“Thank you, big brother,” I tell him as I shuffle off toward the back, “and go and make things right with Jake. We’re all he has.”

---