Page 6 of More than Need

“I can fire whoever the fuck I want.” Another page flicked. Dawson bet he’d stopped reading it six pages ago.

Dawson took one more look at his half-constructed masterpiece and sighed before leaving it there and heading to the table set up next to Eli that held a bunch more of the folders he had in his hand. One of them would have what he needed. “Just out of curiosity,” he said, spreading the folders out so he could read the titles stuck to the front, “who signs off on my pay?Youor Jay?”

Eli did look up at that, squinting suspiciously. “Why?” He scowled at someone who walked by them carrying a swan statue. He’d had an extreme dislike for swans since a year ago when one had chased him all over a venue for a fiftieth birthday. It had been love at first sight for the swan.

“Just curious,” Dawson said, shrugging. “Did the delivery guy give you a receipt of items?”

“It’s in the white folder.” He huffed and relaxed back into his egg, rocking it lightly. “Did you know the father of the bride called me yesterday to tell me his daughter wanted to change the flowersagain? You know any cops? My brother’s dating a few, but like… I need someone neutral who doesn’t know me. Also, someone that will have my back when I murder someone. A few someones. More than a few. The whole party. You ever seen that episode ofGame of Thrones?”

Afew? “I can’t say I’ve had much to do with the law. Or gruesome TV shows.” He’d given that show a hard pass long before he’d watched a single episode. He flicked through the folder, searching each page and plastic sleeve. “And you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone that’s a stranger to you who will also have your back. In that capacity, anyway.” Murder definitely fell under a longtime BFF’s job to navigate.

“I could hit the jackpot with someone. Weirder things have happened on dating sites. I’ll keep looking.”

“Okay.” Dawson blinked and looked up as the words registered properly. “You’re gonna look on dating sites for a cop to help you with your elaborate murder scheme?” He should have been surprised those words were coming out of his mouth at work, but honestly, on the scale of their conversations, it didn’t even make the top ten. Never a dull moment working as a jack-of-all-trades—mostly building structures on location and temporary landscaping—for this event company. Eli guaranteed daily entertainment.

“It was just a saying, but actually, that’s not a bad idea.”

Great. If anyone asked, the terrible ideahadn’tbeen his. Dawson found the receipt and pulled it out. He scanned the items and scowled. Christ. “They left off a few things.” More than a few things. Dawson had placed the order himself; this wasn’t it.

“And I’m not allowed to have him fired? I think not.”

“I thought you wanted to murder him?”

“I didn’t exactly specify that, and my brother would be horrified—and lecture me for an eternity—if I came straight out and admitted it.”

“You admitted it before…” While referencing some kind ofGame of Thronesmurder scene at the same time.

“I said ‘someones.’ There were no specifics.”

“Right.” Dawson ran a hand down his chin and then scratched the back of his head, the long lengths in the middle falling over the shaved sides. “I can pick them up on my way home and finish it tomorrow. The last of the plants I need for the landscaping should be arriving tomorrow at nine thirty. I trust the people bringing them, but please don’t sign anything until I’m here.”

“No promises.”

Dawson made a mental note to set his alarm stupid early and be there for the pickup at like three in the morning as if he were waiting in line for a music concert. The only way to be safe.

“What the fuck is the difference between a daffodil and a white lily, anyway?” Eli burst out. “Abso-fuckin’-lutely nothing.”

“Everything?” Dawson answered slowly. “Why are we talking about flowers?”

“The father of the bridge changed the flower order, remember? Keep up.” Eli angrily flipped his folder shut. “Flowers can suck my dick,” he muttered.

“There’s a lot to unpack there, man. You want the name of a therapist? Or a giant coffee? Both? You could take it with you to the appointment and kill two birds with one stone.”

Eli gave him the finger, and Dawson snickered.

Someone called Dawson’s name, and he turned to see his best friend, Sadie. She jogged across the grass to him, the plastic bag in her hand swaying as she zipped around people.

Dawson stuffed the list in his pocket to go over later and closed the folder, dropping it back on top of the pile.

“You need therapy. I highly recommend it,” he told Eli.

“Doyouwant to suck my dick?”

“Not particularly.”

Sadie stopped in front of him, holding up the green shopping bag in her hand. “I have ice cream. A caramel chocolate Cadbury block. I even got those weird berry things you like that will seriously rot your teeth. They’re disgusting, Dawson.”

“Says the woman who dips her fries in her sundae. Don’t come for my fruit chews.” One of them had a disgusting habit, and it wasn’t him.

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