Page 77 of Phantom Faceoff
As the next hour ticks by and there’s been no word from Zander, I pop over to Micky and tell him I’m going to take my ten.
Mid-December means the temperature has started dropping, so when I step out the side door, I slip Zander’s NHU Raven’s hoodie on that he left at my dorm the other night.
For the first few minutes, I just enjoy the smells wafting through from the bakery next door and contemplate ducking out a bit early to bring Julian back a piece of the chocolate pie that he likes.
I pull out my phone and hit Zander’s contact info. It rings six times before he finally picks up.
“What?” His voice is gruff, irritation dripping from the single syllable.
“Want to rethink that greeting?” I ask, expecting his usual playful response.
“Not really. I’m busy. What do you need?”
I clench my jaw and try desperately not to grind my teeth. A bad habit from the group home days.
“Thought I’d check on my boyfriend since he’s nowhere to be seen, but apparently he got his phone snatched by a raging asshole.”
Zander groans loud and disgruntled. “Fucking hell, Malachi. You aren’t actually my Daddy. Lay off. You can come to the house after work and we’ll unwind. I can’t make it by today. Didn’t know I needed to ask your damn permission to have a life.”
There’s a dark feeling circling my gut. Like a sinkhole opening up.
“I’ll see you tonight?” There’s a hint of impatience in his voice, and I’m surprised he’s bothering to stay on at all.
“No.” I don’t like how this feels.
“No?”
“No. You don’t get to talk to me like that and expect me to sleep with you.”
His sigh is deafening. “Okay. Fine. Don’t come over. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.”
This time, he leaves no room for a rebuttal. The line clicks off, and I realize of all the responses I could have to his outburst, there’s tears prickling in my eyes.
I must stand there for too long getting my shit together, because Micky shows up and pokes his head out the side door.
“Hey, man. You good?”
I stuff my hands in the pocket of the hoodie and nod. When our eyes meet I can tell he sees the redness in mine.
“Hale texted me,” he says. “His family showed up out of the blue.”
And that would have been such a hard thing to tell me?
“Do they not get along?”
Micky seesaws his hand. “He’s always real touchy when they come up. I stopped asking him about it, you know? I’ve met his sister, Liliana, once, but that’s about it.”
I didn’t even know he had a sister.
“He can be a jerk sometimes,” Micky says. “Don’t be afraid to call him out on his shit. Too many people give him a pass because he’s good at what he does or because he’s stupidly happy most of the time.”
“So he makes a habit out of being a random dick?”
“When he can’t jump on a random dick? Absolutely.”
The sludge in my stomach grows thicker. Even before the boyfriend thing, Zander and I were exclusively sleeping together. He said he’d respect that, and I have no reason to believe he’d go back on it now.
Except he didn’t sound reasonable on the phone.
