Page 31 of When It Reins
I think back and nod. “Yeah.”
“Who said you would do it?”
I think back on how the interaction went, and I blush thinking about it. “Mitch.”
“Who is always by that stage every night you sing, offering to help you and never leaving your side?”
“Mitch, but that’s part of his job.”
She tilts her head. “Is it?”
“I—” My words fall as I think on it. I guess she is right. He’s security for the bar, but he also kind of acts as security for me when I’m singing.
“Who’s always walking you to your car at night, even when he’s overstayed his shift?”
“Okay.” I shake my head, feeling overwhelmed by her observations.
“Who is the one that watches you every Sunday you come over to the ranch and sing? Every time you chat with anyone else?”
“So you’re saying he’s a stalker.” I deflect, feeling emotional by the amount of evidence she’s stacking against me. Or for me.
“No. I’m saying the guy loves you, one way or another.” She sighs and picks up her tablet. “Though I’m pretty sure I know which way it is.”
I sit, feeling completely thrown by her observations. My heart is pounding in my chest at the thoughts that now run rampant through my head.
“Don’t you think…” I start, watching Felicity look back at me, my eyes darting between her, her tablet, the chair, the studio behind the glass. “Don’t you think that me jumping from David to Mitch is tacky?”
Felicity looks like she wants to laugh, but she shakes her head. “Did you love David?”
What she’s not saying is loud enough for the answer to be loud and clear, and I sit back as she gets set up. My heart is pounding in my chest, and I feel this raw burst of energy coursing through me, telling me to run and find Mitch right now and tell him everything.
Then there’s the side of me that knows he could say no. He could tell me he wasn’t in the right head space for me, that he wasn’t interested in dating, that he just wants to be friends.
Would I be able to handle that? Or would I need to leave town forever if he broke it to me so harshly?
Though the thought of never seeing him again, even though it would hurt when he inevitably found the woman that he sought was worthy enough, is too heartbreaking to comprehend.
No. My internal thoughts yell at me, knowing deep down I am right about him, that Felicity is right about him. He cares for me. He’s just scared to show it.
Maybe I just need to push him a little bit harder.
“You ready to start?” Felicity asks, and I take her question to mean two things.
I smile at her and nod. “Let’s do it.”
16
mitch
I don’t wantto be here, but after being summoned, I was unable to avoid it.
When I enter our war room, I’m unsurprised to see Mick and Loki waiting for me. I am about to get scolded, and I am pretty sure I know what they are going to scold me about.
“What’s up?” I ask casually, leaning against the wall.
Loki looks at me with anger in his eyes. “What the fuck is your girl up to?”
Since he called me the other day, accusing her of things I had no knowledge of—hadbeing the primitive word here—I hadn’t bothered to call him back.
