“I know that. I check every morning when I get up.”
“Funny,” he says, wearing a grim expression, which means I’m not funny at all. How can he not find me hilarious? Maverick often smiles at my bullshit, and he rarely smiles for anyone.
“Why would I be fucking with you, Goliath?”
His eyes narrow. “Why do you call me that?”
“Everyone calls you that.”
He nods as if I’m so full of shit, and he can’t deal with the stink anymore. “You aren’t the kind of woman I deal with. I thought you were fucking with me, but I guess you weren’t.”
“Was it Jaymes or Becklyn that fucked with you, Dean?” I ask, really emphasizing his name.
I get the tiniest smile for my efforts, then he scowls. “I don’t like how you know all my shit.”
“I only know the superficial stuff. I bet you know almost as much surface-level crap about me.”
“Nomp.”
“You know my family, my friends, my dogs, where I live, what I eat, how I sound singing Ariana Grande on the karaoke machine. That’s the kind of stuff I know about you.”
“You talked to my mom.”
“I know, but that was about Reapers’ business, not my horniness for your hot bod. I wanted to know what kind of man was getting out of prison. I did the same for Swamp Thing and Grabby.”
“Then, you killed them.”
Losing my relaxed demeanor, I mutter, “They tried to kill Iggy and the Band.”
“Band?”
“That’s what Max, Ramona, Hugh, and Kelsi call themselves. Like how my friends call ourselves the Fearsome Foursome.”
“That’s dumb.”
Shrugging off his comment, I explain, “We came up with it when we were teenagers and obsessed with superhero crap. Don’t judge us for being cool.”
“Why do Hugh and those girls call themselves Band.”
“The Band and I don’t know. I think it’s because they’re in a band.”
Goliath nods but remains restless. I don’t know if he wants to leave, or if someone put him up to coming here. No matter why he made this visit, he isn’t comfortable.
“Did you want to sit down?”
Goliath glances around the room at the various rolling office chairs. He crosses his arms as if disgusted. But then he looks at me and relents to the pressure. I listen as the chair creaks in horror under the weight of the giant. His isn’t the first big man’s ass it’s survived.
“Why did you pick me?” he asks, going from a frowny-confused expression to a hyper-alert and ready to attack one.
“I told you. You have a handsome face that makes me feel funny inside. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Because I’m not smart?”
“No, because my handsome face doesn’t make you feel funny inside. That’s why you look at me as if I’m crazy.”
“I look at you like that because you’re a woman, and women fuck me over.”
“Men fuck you over too.”
“Yeah, that’s why I always look like this.”
“I feel like someone put you up to this,” I say, holding his gaze. “You showing up seems like a con.”
“Now, you think I’m conning you,” he mutters, cocking an eyebrow.
“You have always been honest about your interest level. This here feels as if you were pressured to act this way. Or maybe you misunderstood someone’s advice. No way would any of my friends want you to fake anything and get my hopes up.”
“I’m here because you and me are having a kid.”
Still suspicious, I try to act relaxed again. “Okay. That makes sense. We should be friendly. Plus, like you said, we wear the same patch. No reason for us to be hostile. I’m not even that way with Pom-Pom, and that guy annoys the shit out of me.”
Goliath leans back in his chair, hears it scream, and decides sitting upright is safer. While he struggles with it, I admire his tanned skin in stark contrast to his white Budweiser T-shirt. He stops frowning at the entrance to the wall maze and sees me watching him.
“You think I’m an asshole,” he grumbles.
“Of course. Don’t you?”
“I got reasons.”
“I didn’t say you didn’t.”
“My mother didn’t want me. You met her. She only had me because her church said I was her punishment for being a slut. That’s why she didn’t give me up for adoption. I was a burden she had to bear. But I didn’t let that shit hold me down. I found the Skullz, made a new family.”
He doesn’t finish because we both know how that ended.
“The Reapers aren’t the Skullz,” I say when he remains silent.