security guard? We'd just give him the truth and tell him I'm an idiot and didn't realize that I couldn't step outside for a minute. No big deal.
Except that Zach wasn't answering his phone. “Are you fuckin' kiddin' me?” I growled, staring at the call screen as it went to voice mail. “Thanks for putting your phone on silent, asshole,” I said, before hanging up and jamming the thing back into my pocket.
“There's no point to going back in there, anyway.”
I had almost forgotten about the woman, dressed in a pair of denim shorts and a white tank top. I looked back to her and asked, “Why not?” The question came out as an accusation, not letting on that I didn't even want to be there in the first place.
She shrugged and shook her head. “Because she's a fake. I mean, I honestly can't believe I even spent money on her in the first place, but, whatever.”
My eyes narrowed as I cocked my head. “How do you know?”
The woman scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. I trained my eyes only on her face, desperate to ignore the way her cleavage deepened. “You didn't hear her talking to that guy in there? She was spewing the most generic garbage, that could apply to anybody. And I mean, of course, he ate it all up, because that's exactly how she makes her money.”
It didn't matter to me that I knew she was right, or that I’d been thinking the exact same thing. From the moment I knew she was talking about Greyson, my chest puffed with the immediate need to defend, and I said, “Yeah, well, if she's helping people to make peace with whatever, then what the hell does it matter to you?”
“Because that,” she pointed at the door, “isn't helping people to make peace,” she mocked, deepening her voice, before continuing, “She's a predator. That's what she is. And she preys upon pathetic guys like that, who are so desperate to know that their loved ones are safe, or still with them, or whatever.”
Lowering my brows, I growled, “You're talking about my brother-in-law here.”
For a second, she looked like she might apologize, but her resolve to argue her point was greater than her need to be sorry. “Yeah, well. Whatever. It was so nice chatting with you. Hope you find your lighter.”
With that, she abruptly turned her back to me, lifted a hand in a flighty little wave, and walked away.
“Yeah,” I snorted, rolling my eyes as I began the walk home. “Have a nice night.”
***
“What the hell happened to you?” Zach asked, entering the apartment with Greyson on his tail.
Closing the door behind them, I said, “Oh, I always love spending eighty bucks on a ticket and then leaving in the middle of the show. Didn't you know that?”
“Ha-ha, you're a funny guy,” Z jabbed before turning the corner into the kitchen.
“For real though,” Grey chimed in. “Where'd you go?”
I led the way into the living room and dropped down into my recliner. “I got locked out of the place.”
Greyson sat down on the couch and pulled his sneakers off, before propping his feet up onto the coffee table. “You could've called,” he pointed out, grabbing a pillow and tucking it behind his head.
“Shit,” I slapped my forehead, “why the hell didn't I think of that?”
Zach snorted as he emerged from the kitchen, with a glass of soda in hand. “Oh, is that why I had a friendly voicemail from you?”
“Uh-huh.” I eyed him as he sat down beside Greyson.
“My bad, man. And I'm sorry you missed the rest of the show. It was pretty fuckin' crazy.”
Grey nodded. “Seriously. You should've seen this one—”
“Junior! You out there?”
“Yeah, Pops!” I called before muttering, “He knows I'm here. He was sitting right there when I came in.”
“You wanna come in here a second? The clicker's not workin'!”
Laying a hand over my eyes, I shouted, “Are you using the Fire remote for the cable box again?”
“What?!”
I pulled in an agitated, deep breath and raised my voice. “Are you use—”
“For the love of God, Vincent! Can you just get your ass in here?!”
With a groan, I stood up from my chair and hurried down the hall to Pops's room, finding him in front of his TV and cable box. In his hands, he held every remote he owned, and his fingers continuously jabbed at random buttons while cursing under his breath.