Page 38 of His Curvy Temptation

He doesn’t stay to hear the end of my sentence. Instead he darts for the door and slams it behind him so loudly that the picture on the wall beside it rattles violently.

I look at Deepti.

“I am so confused,” she says.

“Me too.”

* * *

Deepti makesus cups of tea as I sit at the dining table and tell her about the last twenty-four hours of my life.

“I don’t thinkHarry Met Sallyis going to fix this,” she says as I finish, shaking her head. “This is crazy. I’m so sorry, Andy!”

“It’s fine,” I sigh. “I…don’t know what to think anymore.”

“I know Elijah was gone when you woke up this morning,” Deepti says. “He told me he was sleeping in another room though. And that he slept hard and didn’t hear you. His phone died, and…well, I know you were hurt, but it seems like it’s just a series of bad coincidences, Andy.”

I bite my lip.

“I thought he was ghosting me,” I say.

“He came over here as soon as he charged his phone,” Deepti says. “He was calling and texting you the whole time, too, and then when he found out you were at work he nearly left to go speak to you at the spa but I talked him out of it. Knowing what happened at the spa today with Dan, though, I wish I would have let him go.”

“I wish you would have too,” I say. “But, you know, it probably wouldn’t please Tricia much to have a literal fist fight break out between a couple of clients on her watch.”

Deepti laughs.

“It could only happen to you,” she says.

“Do you think he’s going to kill him?”

“Do I think who is going to kill who?” Deepti asks.

“Elijah,” I say. “Do you think he’s going to kill Dan?”

“No,” she says comfortingly, patting my arm. “Kill? Probably not. Seriously injure? Quite possibly.”

We jump as we hear a thunderous banging from the other side of the door.

“Looks like we’re about to find out about Dan’s fate right now,” Deepti says brightly, standing up. “Want me to let him in? I can make myself scarce.”

“Thanks,” I say.

Elijah walks in, looking rumpled and slightly red in the face but otherwise unchanged.

“I half expected you to be covered in blood,” I say to him. “From the look on your face when you left.”

“Believe me, I’m not the one you should expect to be covered in blood,” he says darkly. “Dan, on the other hand…”

He catches the expression on my face and stops himself short.

“Dan is fine,” he clarifies, clearing his throat. “He, uh, will probably need a few stitches. Possibly some dental work. But his mother will still recognize him if that’s what you’re worried about.”

I put my head in my hands.

“I came here to apologize for my absence this morning,” Elijah says, coming around the table and kneeling beside me. “But now it seems like I need to apologize for more than just that.”

“What else is there to apologize for?” I ask.

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