Page 97 of The Reno
“Oi, you,” Liam whispered, a smile taking over his face, “I’m serious. You just seduced me, and Antony is going to know.”
“Now you know how I felt!” I said, laughing indignantly.
“Hello?” The man’s voice was coming closer.
Liam grabbed my hand. “Come on, let’s show ourselves before Ant gets the exorcist over. Again.”
Liam was leading me down the aisle when something caught my eye. My hand fell out of Liam’s as I gravitated towards a sideboard in the perfect shade of warm brown—not too dark, not too light.
It was perfect.
I sighed lovingly. “This is the one.”
I ran my hand over the wood. It was a bit uneven in some places, but the wood’s gloss told me it had been sanded back and refinished.
“Yeah?” Liam gave me a small smile.
“Yeah.”
“Antony,” Liam shouted, making me jump.
“Kevin?” Antony called back, sounding confused.
“It’s Liam. I’m here with my—” Liam’s eyes widened. “My friend. She’s looking at this sideboard.”
“Okay, I’ll come over. Are you by Chucky?”
“Chucky—” Liam’s hand came to his chest. “Fucking hell.” I followed his gaze to find a life-size version of Chucky brandishinga huge knife hanging from the rafters above us.
“Was that there the whole time?” I hissed.
A tall light-skinned Black man rounded the corner, an easy smile on his face. His eyes widened when he spotted me next to Liam.
Antony held back a smile and offered me his hand. “Antony. You can call me Tony. Nice to meet you, Liam’sfriend.”
“Kat.”
“Kat,” he repeated back to me melodically, still shaking my hand.
“Tony. How much for this one?” Liam said, his face still a little red. “We’ll take it today; I’ve got the van.”
Antony smirked, mock frowning. “Do you usually escort your customers around reclamation yards, Liam?” He turned to me, holding up his hands. “This must be a new service.”
Liam sighed. “How much, old man?”
“Hey”—he smacked him over the head—“respect your elders.” Antony turned to survey the furniture. “That’s four hundred.”
I coughed. Jesus, that was more than I’d expected. Liam turned to me, his eyebrows high.
“Go on then, Red. Name your price.” Liam smirked.
My eyes widened. I could feel my face turning red as Antony and Liam stared at me expectantly. This felt like too much pressure.
“Er—” I stuttered.
Liam’s palm came to my back, touching gently.
Go on, it seemed to say,you can do it.
