Page 95 of Anger

Leaning against one of the counters, I cross my arms over my chest and continue watching her. I don’t know what to say or how to act. I’m thinking of every possible way I can suggest getting out of here without it becoming awkward.

The woman has issues, and I assume most of them come from the men she’s known in life. If Granger was just one example of the type of scumbags she gets involved with, it’s no wonder she finds it so difficult to trust.

But that can’t be my problem.

I didn’t go looking for her as a project to rehabilitate. All I need from her is to be a place I can go when the rest of my life is insane.

“This is awkward, huh? Me being here.”

There’s no point lying.

“It wasn’t my plan for the night.”

She tilts her head and gives me a half smile.

“You like me better at Myth. I get that. I’m not usually the type the snooty folk invite home for dinner.”

I just made her my dinner but refrain from reminding her of that.

Cocking a hip, she tangles her eyes with mine.

“Then let’s agree on that deal of yours, then you can take me home. With the kind of cash you’re offering, it’s not like I’ll go hungry leaving work early tonight.”

But that’s the problem.

I want her at work.

In her cage.

I enjoyed watching her dancing.

It made the pain go away.

Fidgeting with the bottom hem of her top, she looks down at her hands, her voice less confident.

“The deal’s still up for grabs, right? I mean, if it’s not then I guess I could just—“

“It’s still on the table, Blue. I wasn’t lying to you earlier. I’m simply concerned about the circumstances now.”

She looks up, confusion behind violet eyes. The swelling across her cheek makes my teeth clench, the handprint bruise forming across her neck.

“Circumstances? You just went down on me, Champ. It’s no big deal. Nothing’s changed—”

“Except for Granger,” I say on a growl, cutting her off. “I can’t ask you to stay at the club knowing he’ll be around.”

She waves off my concern, a bright smile stretching her lips that I know is fake. It’s the mask she shows the world to hide the pain.

It’s the same mask I wear daily.

“Don’t worry about Granger. He was pissed off about some bullshit sexual harassment shit. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I think it had to do with the two girls he fired before I even got there that night. Probably thought I was mixed up in it.”

So her bruises are my fault…

I had a direct hand in why Granger put them there.

“But it’s fine now. The asshole thinks I’ll go hungry if I keep working there. That I’ll never make enough on my own to make up what he was paying me. He also thinks I’ll have to walk back and forth to work all the time because he’s not giving me rides anymore. But my friend Brinley takes care of that. He’s got nothing on me except the hell he thinks he’s causing in my life, so he’ll keep his distance.”

The name of her friend rings a bell with me, but I can’t remember why. Probably because I’m too busy calling bullshit.

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