Page 74 of Snake

But now he didn’t understand what the fuck—and she was fucking lying right now, so ... what? Was there some kind of dance he was supposed to do, to get her to tell him the truth? Did he need a password? What?

“I want to know what’s wrong with you, and I want—”

“There’s nothing ‘wrong with me,’” she said, cutting him off and making stupid air quotes while she did it.

Cox liked this woman, but he hated liars. She was manifestly upset, he could literally see it on her face, hear it in her voice, but she stood before him acting like he was an idiot for asking what was wrong.

This whole thing was a mistake. He’d been a fool last night. Nothing about Autumn was special, and he didn’t really feel any kind of way about her. He’d been too much in his thoughts lately, that was it. It was making him feel like he wanted things he’d never wanted, and wondering if there might be a way his shit life could get better, when he knew damn well there was not.

Was thirty-eight too early for a midlife crisis?

Yeah, it was. He needed to pull himself together. Remember who he was and what his life was. What he could have, and what he couldn’t.

“Okay,” he said, and stepped aside, clearing her way to the door. “There’s coffee on the bar.”

She stared at him. “That’s it? Just ‘see ya, grab a coffee on your way out’?”

Tired, confused, and becoming angry himself, Cox sucked in a long breath, dug deep for patience, and asked, “What is it you want from me right now, Autumn? And be fuckin’ straight about it. You’re pissed, and I ain’t stupid. You say you’re fine, but I see you’re not.”

Again, she stared. Stood there, crossed her arms, and stared. Cox stared right back. He was done talking until she said the truth and made sense.

Finally her posture relaxed slightly—no more than a softening around her shoulders—and she said, “You’re not playing games. You seriously don’t know.” Wonder wrapped around her words.

“I don’t play games. I didn’t think you did, either.”

“I don’t. Well ...” She sighed and relaxed more, dropping her arms from their angry twist across her chest. “I guess I’ve been known to play when I think somebody’s trying to play me.”

He didn’t bother to untangle that verbal snarl. He held her gaze and waited for the explanation.

Autumn cleared her throat and explained: “I woke up alone, no sign you’d even been here but the empty condom wrappers, and you were gone a while. I figured you were done with me, and ... yeah, it hurt.”

Ah. He should have thought of that himself. Maybe he was stupid after all.

That probably deserved an apology, but he couldn’t get the word out. Instead he told her, “I got called into the Keep.”

“Oh. Okay. You have meetings in the middle of the night?”

“Tommy had a stroke last night.”

He’d said it because it was true, and it was the thing he could readily say about that meeting without possibly breaking the seal. He hadn’t said it to have any particular effect on her, and he hadn’t considered what effect it might have.

Her whole aspect changed dramatically. All the defensive rigidity in her stance flowed away, and her expression became worry. She took a step toward him and almost reached out, but changed her mind before her arm could do more than twitch in his direction.

“Oh no! Is he okay? No, obviously not. Will he be?”

“Don’t know yet. He’s in a coma. We’re doing shifts with him again until he’s out of this trouble.”

“Well, I feel dumb and dramatic. I was just ... anyway. Last night was good, for me, and I’m sorry about Tommy. I hope he’s okay.”

Cox didn’t know what to say that would ease her discomfort, much less reopen a path toward discussing whether they drew last night out until she left, or they called it good and moved on now. If Autumn was into it, he’d could work out doing his hospital duty after she left. If she wasn’t, he’d spend the day at the hospital and keep himself out of trouble.

His word well was all dried up, though, so he didn’t say a single one. Instead, he did what had worked last night: he stepped up to her, took her face in his hands, and kissed the shit out of her.

This time, after a few seconds of full participation that had him turning them both toward the bed, she set her hands on his chest and pushed back.

“I am very confused.”

He chuckled. “Same.”

---