off, and I didn’t know until then just how much harder it was going to be to not crack up at how rude this man was being and how it wasn’t unheard of from the way Zac was acting. That was the only reason why it didn’t hurt my feelings.
Something told me this was normal for him. That and Zac had already told me about this man being capable of not being very nice. Why the hell was he still with him? Maybe I could sneak the question into a conversation with Boogie one day. He would probably know.
The older man slid Zac a disgusted look that would have insulted me if I didn’t sense that he was like this with everyone. “Hello,” Trevor said with all the enthusiasm of someone about to get a colonoscopy without the use of drugs. “We’ve met. You’re the one who saved his life.”
He remembered that?
Zac turned back to face me then, blue eyes bright and that freaking mouth twisted to the side like he was surprised Trevor remembered me too. Maybe he didn’t remember we’d met? I wasn’t sure and didn’t get a chance to think about it much because the funny face he was shooting his manager wiped my memory.
“Zac, this is my friend Deepa,” I said, gesturing behind me.
She squeaked and waved.
Zac did that polite smile of his and greeted her briefly before turning back to me. “What time you get off, Peewee?”
“Four.” I almost asked him what time he would be done but decided against it. I didn’t want him to assume I was asking because I wanted to hang out.
Before either one of us could get another word out though, the side door leading outside opened. My heart skipped a beat because I didn’t want to get caught and bitched at. Fortunately, a face I didn’t recognize appeared. The woman stopped at the sight of the four men standing there and said, “Oh. You’re here. Great, come on. We’ll get started.”
I smiled up at Zac and took a step away from him as Trevor said something to the woman that I couldn’t totally hear. “Well, have fun. It was nice meeting everyone.”
Zac smirked, and I freaking failed to keep from smiling. “I’ll text you later, kiddo,” he told me.
I shrugged, not wanting him to feel forced to if he forgot or had other plans. There was no way in hell he’d think I assumed we’d see each other regularly. I was already surprised we’d seen each other as much as we had. Three times in less than two months? I didn’t even get to see my own family members that often.
Plus, I had no idea what was going on with him and football.
But that must have been the wrong way to respond because I didn’t miss the way his eyes narrowed, just a little, but enough. I got saved from whatever thoughts were in his head when his manager called out, “Zac!”
Those blue eyes settled on me, still thoughtful, as he took a step back. “I’ll text you later.”
Sure he would, but I still gave him a smile that time. “If you have time and want to. Have a good day.”
The pensive face he was making went nowhere as he turned around and headed toward his friends and manager, slapping Trevor on the back. They all followed the woman through the door and into the building adjacent to the one I worked at. I thought Zac might have glanced over his shoulder one last time, but I wasn’t positive since he ended up in the middle of his friends, or whoever the hell they were.
Turning around, telling myself not to expect shit, I found Deepa standing in the same spot she’d been in at the juice bar, her lips parted.
And in front of her, there was a regular member I recognized doing the same thing.
It was him who asked, “You know Zac Travis?”
And it was Deepa who asked, “How do you know Zac Travis?”
Well, I’d walked right into that shit. I headed back over to the front desk before my luck ran out and Gunner reappeared. “We grew up together.” Or at least as together as two people with a seven-year age gap could grow up together.
Luckily—kind of—the same door that Zac had walked through opened, and we both instantly tried to look busy. I picked up the work phone and glanced down at the list Gunner had given me, and out of the corner of my eye, I