Page 47 of Play Me
“I can imagine what he said,” she says, her voice rising along with her gaze. “And it was predicated on what I told him, which might’ve been taken out of context. Or allowed to be unexplained. Either way, you might make me feel a lot of ways, and it’s just … complicated.” She hoists her purse onto her shoulder and shifts her weight. “I don’t know why we’re having this conversation. Did Renn make you do this? Then fine, I?—”
“No, he didn’t make me apologize to you.” My jaw tenses. “I think he’d be happier if I never spoke to you again.”
“Then why are you?”
That’s a good fucking question.
I twist my head side to side to release some pressure gathering in the back of my neck. Her question is straightforward, and the answer was simple when I pleaded with her to talk to me today. I need her on board so I can satisfy my financial agreements. But now with the sun setting at her back and the gold flecks missing from her eyes, I’m not sure that’s the whole reason.
“I want to call a truce,” I say.
She scoffs, shaking her head like it’s a ridiculous suggestion.
“Let’s just start all over,” I say, my voice as soft as I can make it. “Clean slate.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because I know Renn is important to you, and I’m making assumptions, but isn’t it eating you alive that you?—”
“Oh no.”The gold flecks are back.She points a finger at me. “Don’t you act like you know anything about me.”
“You literally told me that you never let Renn down, so that’s not speculation.”
She groans, unable to argue with me because I’m right.
“Just give this another chance,” I say. “Please.”
She moves by me, and I think she’s going to walk away. I reach for her, but drop my hand just as quickly as I raised it.
If I touch her, she’ll undoubtedly break my nose.
Her hair whips through the air as she spins on her heel, facing me again, and the flush in her cheeks causes her freckles to shine. I’ve never been this close to her, or examined her this closely, which is why I notice the tiny stars that dot her ears. It’s the only jewelry she wears aside from a tiny, thin cross around her neck.Even scowling, she’s beautiful. What an unfair joke from the universe.
“I would love nothing more than to be able to deal with you,” she says. “It would solve a few of the problems ruining my life right now. You see, I’m stuck in this place of financial versus mental solvency because I can’t do both simultaneously. Apparently, I burned someone at the stake in my last life because it really feels like I’m being punished for something.”
She’s talking so fast, so animatedly, that it’s hard to keep up. It’s also hard not to grin. But I don’t dare. I can’t risk that.
“I just need something to be easy,” she says, her voice growing louder. “I just need one thing to go right, and the more men I allow into my life, the more things get fucked up. And Ijust. Need. A. Fucking. Break.”
She huffs, her whole body moving with the sound.
I take a step back for good measure.
“So tell me, Gray,” she says, moving toward me. “What can I do for you to make your life easier?”
She doesn’t mean that. If her pursed lips weren’t my first clue, the balled fists would give her away. It’s a total trap.
“Let’s—”
“Do not tell me to calm down,” she warns.
“I wouldn’t think of it.”Again, because the words were on the tip of my tongue.I toss up a prayer of gratitude for avoiding that trigger.
Two couples take a wide berth around us to enter Stupey’s. They give Astrid a look like she’s a circus act, and that pisses me off. I glare at them, silently telling them to mind their own damn business. I know they’ve gotten the picture when they shuffle quickly into the restaurant without a second look.
Then I turn to Astrid. She appears to be two seconds from tilting her head to the sky and screaming.
“Why don’t we take a walk?” I suggest carefully, like I’m coaxing a rabid dog. “We’re blocking the door.”
