Page 67 of No Rules

He continues to stare at me without blinking.

I take a sip of my drink under his dark look. His jaw is tightened; he’s holding back from telling me something. I sigh and cross my arms, taking the same position as him. “Okay, what’s your problem? What words did I say to offend Tucker Bomley?”

He still doesn’t answer. Come on! I’m dealing with a seven-year-old or what?!

“If only you would shut up like that all the time,” I add.

Here he is coming from nowhere to ruin my little break in this coffee place when I thought he was trying to avoid me. And now he’s upset because he thinks I talk to other guys. I suddenly think of Yeleen’s words.

“Yeleen is looking for you,” I tell him. “She’s worried sick. You should send her a message to let her know that everything is okay.”

“Right now, I don’t give a damn,” he retorts.

“Do you know that she cares about you, or does your caveman attitude prevent you from thinking straight too?”

He seems to regain his good mood despite my reproach, which amuses him more than anything else. He then nods as if he is making a mental note to contact her.

“What?” I ask him next, while he is still staring at me. “It’s disturbing to be stared at, you know?”

“Look at you, always standing up to me. You’re a demanding little thing, you know that?”

His eyes roam over my upper body as if he himself doesn’t understand my behavior, nor the fact that he accepts that I stand up to him and send him packing.

His words should perhaps offend me, yet I feel almost…flattered? As if, in his mouth, it was a compliment. So I let it go this time. But I can’t help retorting, “You don’t scare me. I’ve put a man heavier than you on the ground before.”

A loud laugh comes from his throat as he throws his head back. Seeing my serious face, he calms down slightly but his eyes continue to shine. “Really?”

“I even killed him,”I add sourly in my head. But I keep these words to myself. I take a deep breath to counteract these stupid thoughts.

Tucker nonchalantly takes a sip of his drink. After a minute, I crack up. I can’t stand pretending the episode with his mother never happened.

“Listen, about Friday night…” I start.

“Iris,” he replies sternly to shut me up.

I raise a finger in his direction, forcing him to listen to me, “I’m sorry for barging in. Well, not really, but I’m sorry I found out something you didn’t want me to know.”

“Shut up,” he orders me as his voice deepens.

“It’s none of my business,” I finish without listening to him. “That woman, your mother, I, uh…it’s none of my business. And know that I won’t say anything or ask any questions about Debbie.”

Even though I’m intrigued by the mystery surrounding her. How did she die? Who was she? Tucker, Dan, Matt…they all seem to have a connection to her.

Tucker doesn’t answer me, but he doesn’t need to. I know how he must feel. He doesn’t want to talk about this, and I understand him. I’m the first one to protect my secret garden. I know he won’t say anything more, but I have to get it off my chest.

“As I told you, I know about problems, in spite of what you may think,” I retort a little bit dryly, thinking about his sentence of the other day about my“little futile problems.”

Tucker’s gaze becomes more intense. I have the impression that he is trying to analyze me. Shit, I don’t like that! I’m the one who can read people’s minds, not the other way around. Stop it!

“What happened?” he then asks me.

“Forget about it,” I say to him curtly, I don’t want to dwell on the subject.

But he doesn’t. He leans towards me again. “Hey,” he calls me.

I turn my head towards him, looking at him without flinching.

“I’m not stupid,” he continues in a calm voice. “I remember very well your reaction the other day, when you read the Larey file. I understood that you had your own demons to fight. On Friday, I was…I was angry.”

---