Page 9 of Break for Me

“Manipulative little witch,” I whispered and flipped the cigarette out into the street. I gave them another few seconds of a head start before I followed them into the downpour.

Memphis laughed. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

seven

TRISTA

The blue-eyed man in his fancy suit left me uncomfortable. Enough so that as soon as Sandy dropped me off at the motel, I’d gone straight inside and packed everything right back up into my backpack just in case. I wasn’t naïve enough to think they’d ever stop coming for me, but no one had ever sent a square-jawed, suit-wearing masterpiece after me either. He didn’t feel malicious at first. Hell, he felt like a damn lightning bolt made of pure lust at first. I think I could’ve even overlooked him chilling in the back of the bar to stare at me all night. Half the men in the building stared at me for a good chunk of the evening. Everything in me screamed that he absolutely had stayed just outside the door to wait specifically for me though. And that if Sandy hadn’t happened to come out at the same time, I would’ve had an issue.

The bar didn’t open until later in the afternoon on Sundays, so I spent most of the next morning in bed. Even once I was out of bed, I sat in the chair next to the window for a ridiculous amount of time just to barely peel the dusty, patterned curtain back and watch the parking lot for a second or two every few minutes. I couldn’t begin to guess what I thought I might see. I didn’t know if he actually had a car for which I needed to watch. Even if he did, I didn’t know what kind of car it would be. If he was here for me for whatever reason, I couldn’t imagine he’d just stroll right up to the door and knock. None of them before had ever approached me in a crowded space in public. They’d never asked me out on a date, either. Maybe that was what had thrown me off about the whole thing. I hadn’t been on a date, or so much as even asked to go on one, in years. One-night stands were the norm for my world. Genuine interest beyond a one-time-fuck-and-run was not at all something that I was familiar or comfortable with these days.

I sighed at the thought of having missed out on the possibility of someone taking me to dinner in a nice restaurant, the possibility of someone wanting to date me just to get to know me, just because I’m a paranoid escape artist. I hadn’t even asked his name so I didn’t possess so much as a starting point for finding him again. It probably wasn’t fair to really consider dating though. I had no way of knowing how long I’d be in Seattle. There was no way to know ahead of time if I’d have to ghost him the very next day. It was much too depressing to have to think about. Instead, I showered quickly and planned to make a trip to the little dollar store. I had a mini fridge in my motel room and enough cash to stock it with small essentials and comforts. I weighed out the risks of looking like a psychopath by carrying my entire backpack with me for a tiny grocery run against going anywhere without it and being worried about having to suddenly disappear with none of my possessions. I definitely made a mental note to buy a good-sized purse or a small backpack at the store. For this trip, I opted to just stuff the cash and the current ID cards into the pocket of my jeans. It wasn’t that far away and I was confident that I could outrun anybody by a big enough margin to make it back here safely to my other belongings for no longer than the distance really was.

I found a small-ish beach bag at the dollar store that could double as my grocery bag for this trip too, and then felt ridiculous that my life had come down to celebrating victories this small. The sidewalk between the store and the motel had filled with people in the short amount of time that I’d done my shopping, but crowds gave me a sense of comfort. Being able to blend into a sea of faces made my world considerably easier.

“Dakota?”

I froze right there in the middle of the sidewalk to look for the source of the voice. The man behind me bumped into me within a fraction of a second, mumbled some unkind words under his breath, and went about his way. He walked right past the blue-eyed, suited superhero, who also stood glued in place on the sidewalk. He stared at me like he was just as shocked to see me. The shock didn’t last all that long while I watched him consider returning his own hateful words to the man who’d walked into me, but he shook his head and his focus landed back on me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked quickly, not even realizing I’d already taken a step backward in case I needed extra distance between us. He tucked his phone inside his suit jacket and held up a small plastic bag in the other hand.

“Lunch?” He said and looked around, like he was confused at why I would expect an explanation for his activities.

Which, fair.

“You live around here?” I asked. I hadn’t been here long, but even I knew this was not the nice end of the city and he looked like he probably wiped his ass with the denominations of bills that I barely scraped together for basic necessities. He chuckled and came the last few steps closer until he was right in front of me.

“I live a couple blocks that way,” he said and nodded his head to the left. “And I work a few blocks more in that direction,” he nodded over my head this time.

“Where do you work?” I asked.

He smiled again. “Are you always this pleasant with total strangers?”

“Only when they look wildly out of place.”

“How ridiculously judgmental of you.”

I paused for just a second to try to decipher if he was genuinely hurt by my words, or if he was a massive douchebag.

“Do you want me to start asking questions based on the way you look right now?” He asked. I was disappointed in myself when I flinched at his insinuations. “Because I’ve got lots,” he added, just to be thoroughly hateful about it.

Definitely a massive douchebag.

“Or I’m happy to just drop that and ask you out again,” he said.

The fuck was happening here? This was easily the most confusing conversation of my entire life.

“Why?” I asked.

“What?” He asked and laughed. “Why do guys usually ask you out?”

“They don’t.”

I tried to abandon this weird ass discussion and just walked around him.

But he was shoulder-to-shoulder with me a second later anyway, walking right alongside me.

“So, tell me where to be and I’ll see you tonight.”

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