Page 11 of Tops
Nessa:Why me?
Tanner:Because I think I know who it is.
What the fuck does that mean?
My mind raced with a rush of questions. I didn’t seem to have Hannah’s mental pole-vaulting ability when jumping to insane conclusions. I struggled to figure out how Tanner knowing the guy fit in with me.
Nessa:Why don’t you tell me who it is, and I can tell you if I’ve ever met him before?
Tanner:You wouldn’t know him. Only saw him in passing.
Ok, that wasn’t terribly helpful.
We lived in New York City. I passed people walking on the sidewalk every time I went out of the house. Other than going to class, I didn’t go out much. My mind completed its fiftieth mental trek around the abyss of my memories as I failed to figure out who I could only know in passing. Then suddenly, a question appeared so loud in my head that my fingers acted on their own, typing the message before swiftly hitting send.
Nessa:How do you know who I’m friends with?
Tanner:Are you trying to place yourself in the social group of the person that mugged your best friend?
No, sir. I would not have my words twisted like that. I smirked as I typed out my response.
Nessa:Didn’t you admit you’re in the social group of the person that mugged your employee?
I placed a hand over my steadily beating heart as I waited for his reply. I imagined the look on his face when that popped across his screen. A little bubble of text across his lonely road wallpaper. Maybe he wouldn’t feel so lonely if he learned how to communicate with others.
Tanner:8 PM. My office. The one you tumbled in. I’ll make sure Mike is off doing something else.
Guess somebody didn’t find that funny. His loss, really. Are you really living if you can’t take the stick out of your ass far enough to develop a sense of humor? Or are you skating through life with a permanent sucked on a lime face? Not a lemon. That’s too big of a grimace.
I snuggled back up in the blankets, doing my best to burrow back into the perfect balance of cozy yet still able to see the TV. The episode had continued to play since Tanner started texting me. Apparently, I hadn’t paid any attention since that point. I picked up the remote and sighed, rewinding the show to see what I missed. I hit play, then glanced back at the screen. I wondered if he was waiting for a response or felt the direct order was enough.
Nessa:Mike?
Tanner:The one that was in my office as well. How is your shoulder?
He’s asking follow-up questions now. Briefly, I wondered if Tanner didn’t entirely hate me after our first meeting. I wouldn’t go as far as like, not even mentally. He was most likely just worried that I had a bruise I could show to the cops if he sneezed wrong.
Nessa:No bruise. No evidence. Nothing for you to worry about on that end.
Tanner:8 PM. My office. Make sure Hannah comes too.
Back to bossy, it seemed. Guess he really was just trying to make sure I didn’t have anything to use against him. Which, I thought, was fair. I looked back up to the TV, realizing I had yet again missed why this doctor felt the need to fuck one of the nurses in a closet.
I turned the TV off. A growl erupted from me again as I got out of my cocoon. I left my phone in the mess of blankets as I headed across the apartment beyond the sofa and over to Hannah’s door. My knuckles thrummed against the panel in the manner Hannah now expected from me. The sound wasn’t loud, but Hannah had almost developed a spider sense for it now. It would be a lot cooler if she had web abilities.
Imagine the tricks she could do as an exotic dancer.
I felt the slight vibration of the floor as she headed toward me. Even from the closed windows, the noise drowned out the sound of her footfalls. It was so loud here all the time. Most days, I had learned to ignore it, but today it felt like a cacophony of bees inside my head.
“Yes?” Hannah said, opening the door with a smirk and a robe. There was someone in her bed. His lower half was barely covered by her teal comforter.
“You didn’t just get out of bed in the middle of sex for my knock, right?” I raised an eyebrow at her.
She rolled her eyes, stepping from the room as I took a few steps back. I was sure the guy in her bed waved at me before the door closed. Hannah flopped down on the sofa, her robe barely covering her.
“We were in the post-cuddle process. Trust me, it was a welcomed escape.” Her eyes pointed back to her door before she leaned in closer and dropped her tone to a whisper, “If you had knocked during, I wouldn’t have gotten out of bed even if there was a fire.”
I smiled, happy to have the air cleared between Hannah and me. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about her wanting me to sleep with Tanner. But since that wasn’t likely going to be an issue, it was something I could put on the back burner of my mental stewpot.
