Page 109 of The Sun and Her Star

His smile falters when I ignore his question. “Uh, I live here.”

I feel a flash of ice cold dread in my gut and have to remember my media training to keep my mouth from falling open.

“Excuse me? You live with … Apollo?” I ask slowly.

He laughs and shakes his head. “No, no … across the hall.” My knees nearly buckle with relief, and I feel a release of tension that I hadn’t realized was there. The elevator stops, and the doors open right away.

“She’s never mentioned it,” I say as we step off the elevator.

He sticks his hands in his pockets and rocks on his heels with that self-satisfied smirk still on his face.

“She’s a good girl, that one. Yeah, we did live together. But she ended things a couple months ago. It was her place first, so, I moved out.” Then he leans in, his smile lascivious. “I’m trying to get back in there. In the meantime, I’m right across the hall to scratch any itches that she may have.” He winks and throws his head back and laughs. It’s a high-pitched sound that sounds like a donkey dying thatnearlydrowns out the sudden rush of blood I hear in my ears.

When I grab him by the lapels of his jacket and shove him into the wall, it dies abruptly.

“What the fuck did you say?” I put my face close to his.

He holds his hands up, his eyes widen with alarm and dart from left to right before they finally meet mine. All the color has leeched out his already too pale face. His mouth opens and closes like a fish gasping for air.

“Well? Are you going to repeat it or pretend I misheard you?” I ask him, my anger growing with each second.

“I-I was just joking. I mean, you know how guys talk,” he sputters.

“I have no clue howguystalk. Butmendon’t talk about women like they’re just a walking, talking piece of ass,” I sneer.

“Listen, no offense. I forgot Apollo’s like a sister to you, right? I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.” He gives me a weak smile and tries to shrug. He laughs nervously, his eyes darting around like he’s looking for help. I give his lapels a tug, and his eyes come back to me.

This guy.

“Man, are you fucking blind? On what planet do you think Apollo is like a sister to me? I know about your littlearrangement.But don’t think that somehow you’re ever going to be her man again.”

“You said you were best friends. I mean, I just … look, I respect Apollo.” His voice cracks as he stammers.

“Sheismy best friend. But she’s a lot more than that, too.”

His eyes widen, but he nods. His quick surrender disgusts me. Any man who lets Apollo go without a fight doesn’t deserve her.

I let go of his lapels and step back.

“Nice to see you. Glad we got to chat.” I pat him on the shoulder and smile pleasantly.

He smiles back. Though, the wide, terrified eyes, make it look more like a grimace than a smile.

“You, too,” he says shakily.

I walk past him down the hall to Apollo’s place. I hear him behind me, and I turn around and shoot him a glance. He points to the door across from Apollos’s with a nervous grin. “I live there.”

“Right, I forgot.” I shrug and turn to ring Apollo’s bell.

“Hey.” He clears his throat behind me. I turn around thinking I’ve underestimated him and that he’s about to tell me to fuck off and leave his girl alone.

“Yeah?” I raise my eyebrows when he just smiles at me.

“I, uh … about lunch? Are you free to meet?”

I reach into my pocket and pull out a business card. “Call my assistant on Monday. We can try to set something up.”

My assistant is an efficient and low-maintenance man named Darren. He lives in LA, and he would know when this call came through that my calendar wouldn’t have any openings for the foreseeable future.

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