I Think We Missed Our Turn - L.A. Witt Page 0,4

about logistics so I could start booking? Where the hell was he?

I needed some more coffee anyway, so I got up and went looking for coffee and Armin.

I heard him before I saw him. He was in the spare room that he sometimes used as an office when he was working on-site. The door was ajar, and on the other side, he sounded exasperated. “What do you want me to do?” Dress shoes snapped on the hard floor as if he were pacing. “My dad needs two people to do this, and he can’t spare anyone except for me and Marques. What else can—”

“That means you’re on the road with him.” His girlfriend’s voice was tinny, so she must’ve been on FaceTime or speakerphone. “For days. And rooming with him.”

“So what? He’s—”

“I don’t like it, Armin. I don’t even like you working with him as much as you do.”

My lips parted, and I halted a few feet from the door. What the fuck?

Armin sighed, shifting from exasperated to straight up exhausted. “If you don’t trust me, then just say it.”

“It’s not you I don’t trust. It’s—”

“If you trust me, then it’s a moot point. If you think I’m going to cheat on you with him or anyone else, then just say it. Because it doesn’t matter what anyone else does—I’m not going to cheat on you. Period.”

She said something I couldn’t make out. Something fast, sharp and angry.

“Tanya.” Armin groaned. “Okay, not that it should matter since you say you trust me, but he’s not going to throw himself at me. He’s not that kind of guy, and you know it.”

“Do I?”

“Yeah, you do,” Armin snapped. “We both know he’s my friend, and he respects our relationship. And for God’s sake, he’s in a relationship of his own.”

I winced. I hadn’t told anyone here at the gallery that Chad and I had broken up, so he had no way of knowing.

“Do you want to come with us?” he asked.

My teeth snapped together.

Oh, Armin. No. No, no, no. Don’t you put that evil on us.

I could handle being around Tanya, but cooping us up on the interstate for hours on end? Someone was going to throw themselves out of the moving vehicle, and I legitimately didn’t know who.

On the other end, Tanya huffed audibly. “You know I can’t just take off from work at the last minute like that.”

I closed my eyes and sighed with relief.

“So what else do you suggest?” Armin’s tone was gentler now. “I mean it: if you’ve got a solution, I’m all ears, because Dad really needs two people to go up there, and there’s no one else who—”

“I get it,” she snapped.

Neither of them spoke for a moment. Then, Armin said so quietly I barely heard him, “We’ll get separate rooms if it’ll make you feel better.”

More silence. Finally, she sighed heavily. “Okay. Fine. I guess since he’s got a boyfriend, and as long as you’re not sharing rooms…”

I pursed my lips. Well, that solved the room thing without me having to make some kind of bullshit excuse about snoring. I was salty about it, because fuck her for acting like I was going to disrespect either of them by jumping her man’s bones, but whatever.

They were still talking, but I didn’t want to hear any more of it, so I continued toward the breakroom for that coffee.

I wouldn’t tell Armin I’d overheard their conversation. It hadn’t been meant for my ears, and he’d probably be mortified if he knew.

In fact, I thought as I poured myself that much-needed coffee, Armin and Tanya thought I was still in a relationship. That had apparently been enough to ease her worries about him traveling with me. To me, that said she didn’t think too highly of Armin, and she sure as hell didn’t trust him, but that was their business. The bottom line was that she’d backed down and wasn’t trying to stop him from traveling with me. Not because he was faithful. Not because he and I didn’t have a choice. No, because she was willing to believe I’d keep my hands to myself solely because I had a boyfriend.

Maybe I should keep it that way.

I mean, it was total bullshit, and I was insulted both for myself and for my friend, but I wasn’t going to tell him how to handle his business. If the two of them believing I had a boyfriend meant less stress and headache for both of them, then I’d keep my