just going to study, I swear I won’t be any trouble to you.”
He huffs out a laugh. “No trouble. Just yell if you need something, you’re gonna be as bored as fuck in there all over again.”
I shrug at him. “It’s not so bad. I’ll get a heap done, Tomi’s probably doing my classwork a favor.”
I sit in my usual chair, no way I want to sit in his, and even though I know I should be studying I spend the whole time working through the Unseen books. When Axe kicks on the door to grab me for my next dance I startle, no idea that almost two hours have already passed.
I go out and do my thing, the crowd much smaller tonight than it has been in all the months of me working here. I still make a decent amount and when I walk off stage I find Tomi waiting there instead of Axe.
I stumble over my own feet at the sight of him.
He’s showered since I last saw him, his hair slicked back and a soft black tee stretching over his wide chest, tight around his tattooed biceps.
He has no right to be so hot.
No right.
He smirks at the dumbass look on my face, handing over the hoodie for me to slide into and it’s only when I pull it on that I realize he’s switched it out with one of his ones, the Unseen patch clearly visible across the back.
“Diamond wants you to fill in for Farrah again so we’re sticking around for another hour.”
I nod and then follow him down the hall. I don’t know what it is about him but I find myself standing closer to him, tucking my body in behind him and he always shifts until he’s covering me like a shield… protecting me even when there isn’t any danger in the room.
He lets me into his office when he gets a phone call, standing in the doorway as he talks to his mom about Speck.
I try not to look as though I’m listening in but I’m desperate to know if anything has changed.
“I can do another shift there… Well, is Hawk staying there with you? I don’t want you by yourself… okay. Okay, I’ll come tomorrow night… is she at Poe’s… is Thorn home… I know but it’s my job to make sure you’re both safe… nah, Rue will go and stay there tonight… okay, I will… call me if anything changes.”
Mel and Diamond giggle obnoxiously as they walk past, glaring at me once they know Tomi can’t see them. I don’t know why the hell they try to hide it from him, it’s not like he gives a fuck about me.
Other than adding me to the notches on his bedpost which, again, he’s already managed to do.
I roll my eyes at them but Tomi sees that and glances back over his shoulder at them both. I hear their footsteps speed up like they’re hotfooting it away from his anger.
I grab my laptop and get it set up again, ready to just work quietly and not get in his way.
He waits until the door is shut before he starts in on me, the accusing tones harsh in his voice again. “You should have told me you didn’t have a place to stay.”
Typical.
I sigh and keep my eyes on the screen, tapping through the spreadsheet to make sure my numbers are all correct. It’s hard to do with him staring at me like he is.
His eyes are too intense for me.
“It didn’t matter then and it doesn’t matter now. I’m my own person and I’ll sort my own shit out,” I say.
“You’d rather sleep on the street than tell me you’ve been kicked out of your place? Angel, that’s just fucking stupid.”
I refuse to look at him, to see the loathing and hate that I know he’ll have all over his face. “Look, it’s not your problem. I don’t blame you for showing me the door when… you were done. It’s whatever, why are you even bringing it up? You don’t owe me anything. I’ve got a job to do, you’ve got a business to run.”
At the mention of my job his eyebrows draw down a little and I brace myself for whatever he has to say about it.
I will not let him make me feel guilty about my job.
I already hate myself, I don’t need the fucking guilt too.
“Angel, my business is keeping you safe.”
I swallow and look down at my nails.