Chapter 6 – CASH #3
I reach out and smooth down the tuft sticking up from the back of her head.
It springs right back into place as soon as I’m done.
Her hand flies to her hair, self-conscious.
Our fingers get tangled, hers reaching up, mine coming down.
I don’t let go, twine them all the way together. She doesn’t try to get free.
“You can’t let someone do something without their consent,” she says. “They’re doing it. That’s consent.”
I exhale. “Whew. Thank goodness. I was feeling guilty.”
“For what?”
“Taking advantage of you.”
“It was the opposite.” She’s so serious. This is bothering her, and that bothers the hell out of me.
“No, it wasn’t. You want me. I want you. It’s natural.”
I’m waiting for her to argue that she doesn’t want me. I have my counterargument all ready, and it’s about as sophisticated as “you wanted me when you came all over my jeans,” so I’m extremely lucky that she seems to lose her train of thought.
She lowers her eyes, shifting from leg to leg. I hold her hand tight and step an inch closer.
She’s breathing quick, and she’s not wearing a bra. I can see her nipples through the T-shirt. They’re stiff.
So am I. So damn stiff. She’d notice if she looked, but she’s kind of staring at the tiles.
If she pulls her hand out of mine, I’m going to have to let go, and that’s gonna suck. She’s not pushing me away, though. By some miracle, she stays put, in between me and the counter.
I step closer. My good wool socks are almost touching her bare toes. How the heck can she bear to stand on the floor? It’s got to be freezing.
I drop her hand and lift her gently in the air, setting her back down so her feet are on top of mine. She blinks up, confused.
“The tile’s got to be cold as hell. What do you have the heat set to? Fifty?”
She curls her toes, testing, but she’s steady. Her feet are way smaller than mine, and the counter braces her back.
“I’m gonna hurt you.” She grips my forearms to balance.
“Nope.”
“What are we doing?” Her voice is a whisper. Her place is so quiet. There’s a wall clock ticking somewhere behind us, but that’s all except for our breath.
“I’m about to kiss you.”
“I haven’t brushed my teeth.”
“Me, neither.”
“We’ve been drinking coffee.”
“These are your excuses?” I lower my arms slowly and wrap them around her waist. Her delicate hands slide up my pecs.
My heart thumps like crazy.
“Yeah,” she exhales, tilting her head.
I bend forward, and there’s a banging on the front door. Bam, bam, bam .
“Glenna! Are you up?”
Bam, bam, bam.
“Glenna! I need your keys to the shop. I forgot mine back at my place!”
Bam, bam, bam.
Fucking Toby Guilfoyle.
She hops down off my feet, ducks around me, and heads for the door.
I don’t like this one bit. She’s gonna stop running when Toby Guilfoyle calls. That’s for damn sure.
Bam, bam, bam.
I follow her. She grabs a set of keys from a bowl on a table and throws open the front door.
Bam—
“Good God, Toby, we have neighbors.”
We ? Oh, hell, no.
I slide right next to Glenna, sling my arm around her shoulder, and give Toby my smarmiest smile. “What’s up, bro?”
His gaze darts from her to me and back again. Then it dips to my crotch. I’m not as hard as I was a minute ago, but I’m still packing heat. I give him a wink, and I say, “Sorry, man. Bad timing on your part.”
Oh, he doesn’t like that. He scowls, and Glenna’s forehead scrunches. She doesn’t quite follow the conversation. She’s way too thrown by a dude who’s nothing to her now. An annoyance.
I pluck the keys from her hands and hold them out. Toby looks at them like they’re gonna bite him. I shake ‘em. He ignores me.
“You’re actually with Cash Wall now?” Toby raises an eyebrow.
I squeeze Glenna tighter. “Yeah. She is. And you’re kind of interrupting, bud. So maybe—?” I jingle the keys.
He takes them, but he doesn’t leave. “Glen, you can’t be serious. You hate this guy. Is this about Samantha?”
I’m about to open my mouth to tell him exactly how he can fuck himself, but Glenna beats me to it.
“How is it your business, Toby?” She tucks herself a little closer to my side. Attagirl.
“We’re friends. And clearly, you’re struggling.” He lowers his voice to maximum patronizing. “Glen, you can always come to me, no matter what. I’ll always care about you. You know that.”
If I punch him in the pretentious goatee and break his jaw, what are the odds that Glenna gets so mad she never talks to me again?
I could just slap him. No one could blame me, not even Glenna. He’s got a face that begs to be slapped.
Glenna’s so stiff, it feels like I’ve got my arm around a coat hanger. Again, I go to tell him off, but Glenna’s already talkin’.
“How am I struggling, Toby? I’m not the one who’s late for work and forgot his keys. I’m living my own life.” Glenna folds her arms. Oh, she’s mad.
“Cash Wall treats you like shit.” Toby shakes his head. “Is this, like, a self-destructive thing?”
She takes a beat before she says, “Again, not your business.”
She couldn’t have addressed the “self-destructive” comment? Ouch.
“It is when I see a friend making bad choices because of me.” Toby’s slathering on the good guy bullshit. His expression is more sincere than Granger begging for table scraps, acting like he didn’t just get fed.
“It’s not about you,” Glenna says.
“Really? Samantha and I get back together, and all of a sudden you’re—” He waves his hand at me. He’s got long pale fingers with nice nails. My dad calls those “indoor hands.” It’s not a compliment.
“I’m what?” She’s talking tough, but I don’t like the thinness that’s entered her voice. All right. This is more than enough. I take her by the shoulders and rotate her to face the apartment. She must be off her game ‘cause she doesn’t fight me.
I lean over and say into her ear, “Go make another pot of coffee, would you? Ours probably got cold.”
She blinks at me. The bleakness in her eyes tears at my heart. This dude knows exactly how to mess with her head.
I give her a smile. “I got this, baby. Let me get this.”
There’s a second when I don’t know whether she will or not. I’m asking her to let me take control. I know it’s a big ask. She has no real reason to trust me, to believe that I’m on her side. Frankly, she has every cause to doubt me.
It feels like throwing a Hail Mary, and the ball’s spinning through the air. You have no idea whether it’ll connect, but you know the odds are stacked against you. All you can do is hold your breath and pray.
She narrows her eyes. I wink. She gives me a little nod. I slap her ass to send her on her way, and she makes a little Glenna grumble. So freakin’ cute.
I turn back to Toby Guilfoyle.
Fucking Toby Guilfoyle.
The thing about the Tobies of this world is that they talk a lot, so much that they convince themselves of their own bullshit. But a man who’s never taken a hit is still a man who’s never taken a hit. And until you get knocked down and get back up, you don’t know whether you can.
Makes you scared. Makes you all talk.
I step toward him, puff my chest.
He holds his own, staring off after Glenna. I whistle. “Eyes over here, buddy.”
He opens his mouth to spew some kind of nonsense. I take another step. Now he can smell my breath. I hope he can smell Glenna on my jeans.
He has a choice. Stay in kissing distance of a man who outweighs him by fifty pounds—who he knows will throw a punch—or back the fuck up.
I hope he’s feeling froggy. I crack my neck and grin.
He steps back.
I sigh. I guess today’s not the day.
I force him back a few more steps until we’re both in the hall, and then I shut the door behind me. I recognize that Glenna was with this douchebag for a long time, and her feelings are probably a touch confused.
Mine are clear as day, though. Glenna Dobbs is mine now. All mine. And she can have all the guy friends she wants, as long as they’re actually friendly.
Toby’s a manipulative douche. Toby doesn’t get to be her friend.
I smile at Toby. His gaze flickers from my face to my fists. He’s worried. He’s seen me fight. He knows I’m not all talk, even though I am gonna be in this particular moment. Glenna wouldn’t like it if I beat up some dude in front of her apartment.
“Let’s talk, my friend.” I clap a hand on his shoulder. “You seem mistaken. I thought Glenna made it pretty damn clear when she said she’s not your business, but I understand how not paying attention to her might have become a habit for you.”
His plucked eyebrows spear together. He doesn’t agree with that characterization.
“Now, Toby, I’m not a smart man, but I have eyes in my head, and you have been particularly careless with your shit.
Lucky for you, Glenna ain’t your business anymore.
She’s mine. And if you upset her again—I don’t give a shit why, disturb her morning off ‘cause you forgot your keys again, whatever—you’re gonna deal with me. ”
He draws himself up until he’s almost my height. “Are you threatening me?”
“Yeah. I didn’t think I was bein’ subtle.” I flick an invisible piece of lint off his striped T-shirt. I think it’s supposed to be ironic or vintage or something, but he looks like a Peanuts cartoon.
Toby holds himself very still. His skin blanches under the ‘stache and soul patch.
It ain’t sporting, threatening a guy like him. Makes me feel like a bully. He’s not making Glenna feel bad anymore, though. Those days are over.
“Glenna’s a big girl. She can make her own mistakes. And you aren’t her friend.” I give him my best dickish smile. “A friend would’ve dumped her before he hooked up with his ex, right?”
His eyes bulge. He really thought I didn’t know?
Like, fifty people told me as soon as they heard Glenna and I were together.
This is Stonecut County. The only reason they don’t publish that kind of gossip in the paper is that everyone’s already heard it.
I’m genuinely surprised Glenna doesn’t know.
Her face is an open book, though. If she knew, she’d look at Toby with the same disdain she reserves for me.
Toby’s gaze darts to the closed door behind me.
“It would upset her,” he says, cagey. He’s trying to be slick.
I shrug. “That is what I tend to do.”
“You know she’s only with you to make me jealous. She hates you.” Toby’s lip curls.
This guy.
How much trouble would I have saved myself if I’d beaten the shit out of him the first time I had the inclination? Seventh grade. It could’ve all been over. Glenna would’ve never thought the sun rises and sets out of his pasty white ass.
“You don’t need to worry about us, Toby.” I pat his shoulder. “I know how to take care of what’s mine.”
I head back inside, and he’s almost to the stairs when I hear him mutter, “Toxic masculinity.”