Page 79 of Right Number, Wrong Man
A smile tugs on my lips, but I hide it in a groan. “Lord, have mercy! Now I got y’all teaming up on me.”
“You bet!” Cody cuts in and Hailey whoops as they high-five.
I bark a laugh. “Should I make a group chat for you guys to bully me?”
He taps his temple. “Way ahead of you. I’m already brainstormin’ names.”
“While you do the thinking, how about some free popcorn to solidify our new friendship based on annoying Colt?” Hailey suggests, brows waggling.
He puts his sunglasses in his jacket pocket and rubs his hands. “Hell yeah! Sweet and salty, please.”
“Coming right up! You’ll get a soda on the house, too,” she says and skips over to the popcorn machine.
As soon as she’s out of earshot, Cody grabs me by the shoulder and whispers, “Thisis Hey Kitty girl? You’re stalking the lady who gave you that old charm on your rifle?”
Heat bursts across my cheeks. “She—” I choke on air. My brain is emotionally short-circuiting. “She didn’tgiveit to me, per se. When we were kids, I stole?—”
“Wait, you’ve beenin lovewith Hey Kitty girlsince you were kids?” he interrupts and his jaw gapes. I’ve never seen the man look this surprised, not even when we got ambushed by enemy snipers.
I scratch my beard and cough. “L-like sixteen yea?—”
The door opens again and a guy rushes in. I’m thankful for the interruption, but I know Cody won’t let this go. Curiosity is written all over his face like a very intrusive, very smug highway billboard staring at me.
The man’s been divorced thrice but he’s the biggest romantic I know. He just loves love and my messed up, hopeless yearning for Hailey is exactly his thing.
“How ‘bout I tell you the full story over a few beers tonight? You’ll get the director’s cut with all the details,” I suggest.
“Sounds good,” Cody says, but his attention is drawn to the man standing in the lobby.
The guy is of average height and build, a biton the skinny side. He wears glasses and a short-sleeved button-down shirt with suspenders like he stumbled out of the nineteenth century. And why are his pants so short, did he buy ‘em on sale in the kid’s section? It’s ridiculous, especially with that leather-bound book under his arm.
Is he trying to look like an overgrown schoolboy? What’s next, calling for his damn mommy?
“Am I too late for the movie?” the man bursts out between irregular breaths, bracing himself on his knees.
“Justin, is that you?” Hailey cuts in, tension in her tone.
I bristle as he smiles at her, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. Every guy called Justin I’ve ever met is an ass, so I’m not surprised.
How does she know this freak? It’s pretty clear his biscuit ain’t done in the middle, and I didn’t figure her for the kinda girl who goes for the basket cases. Something more about him doesn’t sit right with me, I just can’t put my finger on it.
Though I hide my emotions well, Cody notices the subtle shift in my mood. He gives me a glance and it speaks volumes. During our time working together, we’ve perfected communicating without words and I can tell he’s picking up something weird about the new arrival, too.
Justin shuffles toward Hailey. “What a surprise! I didn’t know you worked here.”
I scowl. No way he came here by chance.
“Ha, coincidence!” she squeaks, letting out a thin laugh as she does awkward jazz hands. I’ve never seen her do that before. “What are you doing here?”
“I was in town and the mood for a movie struck, so I spontaneously—” When Justin reaches the concession stand, the volume of his voice drops.
Fuck this, I gotta get closer.
I pluck my apartment keys from my pocket and toss them to Cody, who catches them with ease.
“I got some work to do. Wait upstairs and we’ll have drinks when I’m done, alright?” I ask.
“Sure. Text me if you need backup.” Cody discreetly takes out his phone, snapping a pic of Justin while the guy is busy staring at Hailey.
