No Limos Allowed

And This Is Why We Dont Do Tours

Griff

When I opened the door, Maisie was sitting on the lone folding chair like she'd been assigned the worst seat at a bad dinner party. Her arms were crossed. Her posture was stiff. Her mouth was tight and thin.

She did not look happy.

In all fairness, I wasn't too happy myself. This was a shitty time for introductions, and an even shittier place. But hey, I'd dealt with worse.

I faked a grin and hoped for the best as I stepped into the apartment with Ryder on my heels. "Hey."

Her reply was almost too quiet to hear. "Hey."

Ryder moved forward and flashed Maisie his most charming smile, the kind that could talk cops out of speeding tickets and women out of their clothes. "So, you must be his boss."

Maisie pushed away from the table and stood with barely a smile. "And you must be his friend." Her voice was flat, like she wanted to be a million miles away. "Ryder, right?"

She didn't sound like Maisie – at least, not the version who'd been falling asleep in my arms.

Ryder approached the table and reached across it to hold out his hand. "Guilty as charged."

She took his hand, gave it a perfunctory shake, but then quickly pulled back. Her face was devoid of expression as she said, "Nice to meet you."

Ryder laughed. "Hey, don't worry. Whatever Griff's told you, it's probably true."

She let out a small, halfhearted chuckle. "Yeah, well…he's not really a talker, so..." She swallowed hard, like the rest of it wasn't worth saying.

My brow creased in confusion. And yeah, maybe concern.

Not really a talker?

Maybe.

But we'd talked plenty where it counted. I loved how open she was – about her dad, the shop, and more. Okay, so I hadn't been Mister Chatty from the get-go. But I liked where we were going and figured it was only a matter of time.

And hey, I'd shown her this place, hadn't I?

Maybe that was the problem – the place itself. Hell, even I felt squeamish if I gave it too much thought. I shouldn't have left her alone, cooling her heels in the stench.

I'd promised to return in what? Thirty seconds?

I hadn't.

But hey, I was here now. Looking to make things right, I told her with a smile, "Sorry, that took longer than I thought."

She blinked. "Oh, that? It's fine. Totally." But judging from her face, it was anything but.

I kept my smile in place. "Hey, you can always blame Ryder."

She frowned. "Ryder?"

I hitched my thumb in his direction. "He's a magnet for trouble." Yeah, it was a stupid thing to say, because Ryder was actually behaving himself. No lewd comments. No digs about last night. No cracks about Maisie's roommate or Maisie herself.

But then, just as I was starting to relax, he gave Maisie a sly grin. "So, what'd you do last night?"

Asshole.

I spoke up. "That's none of our business."

Ryder turned and gave me a funny look. " Our business." He paused. "Wait…so the two of you weren't together?"

I knew the exact moment it hit him, because his face went suddenly blank.

Quickly, he turned back to Maisie. "Eh, don't mind me. Just talking trash, you know?" He pointed at nothing in particular. "So….what do you think of the place?"

It was a decent recovery, but I was still on edge.

Maisie took a new look around. As she did, I tried to read her expression. If she started asking questions, I would need to give her answers. And now wasn't the time.

Fucking Ryder. He wasn't half as funny as he thought he was.

And now, judging from the look in his eyes, his own funny bone had taken a serious hit. He'd fucked up, and he knew it.

When Maisie offered no opinion of the dump either way, he gave a big, hearty laugh. "Yeah, if I were you, I wouldn't answer either."

I knew Ryder. The laugh was fake. But hey, he was putting on a hell of a show.

But Maisie only nodded, looking distracted and grim. Something was definitely off.

I could feel it.

I could see it, too.

Had she caught Ryder's blunder?

No.

I didn't think so.

She had barely blinked when he'd made it. And she'd been acting funny from the start.

Looking to break the tension, I took an exaggerated look around. "So…it's not exactly five stars, huh?"

"It's fine," she said quickly.

I grinned like a dumbass. "Yeah, fine like a dumpster fire." I sealed it with a laugh twice as hearty as Ryder's, but only half as believable.

I had no idea who I sounded like, but it sure as hell wasn't myself.

As for Ryder, he wandered over to the fridge and yanked it open, nice and wide. "Look! Mustard." And then, like a crazy-ass clown, he stuck his whole head inside, paused, then pulled back to face us. "I think it growled at me."

When he received only silence, he chuckled on his own. "I've still got my face, right?"

Maisie made a sound, not quite a laugh and not quite a scoff. Whatever it was, it sounded odd, like she was trying not to gag.

I gave her a long, penetrating look. Sure, the place was disgusting, but I'd figured her for a better sport. Even at the shop, no matter how bad things got, she found a reason to smile.

But now? She looked ready to lose her lunch.

Of course, that was probably m y fault, not hers. Already, we'd lingered way too long. I flicked my head toward the door and asked, "Ready to get outta here?"

Maisie said nothing.

But Ryder gave a hollow chuckle. "If you're talking to me, that's a hard yes."

It was a decent joke, but Ryder was the only one who laughed.

I couldn’t. Maisie didn't. And even the fridge had gone silent.

The awkward silence held until Maisie blurted out, "Yeah, I'll let you guys catch up."

I shook my head. "No, I meant you and me."

"That's alright," she said with an overly bright smile. "I've got stuff to do, anyway."

It was a lie. I could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice. And, if this weren't enough, she had mentioned on the way over here that she had no plans for tonight.

I'd been hoping to make plans – and I didn't mean with Ryder.

I shot him an annoyed look. I'd told him not to come up. But Ryder being Ryder had treated all of this like a joke.

And now, it wasn't funny, not with the way Maisie was acting.

But who was I kidding? She'd been acting strange even before Ryder had opened his mouth.

This only left one possibility. She was disgusted by the place. Sure, it was a dump, but when our gazes met, something in her eyes said, "A dump is where you belong."

I couldn't help but think of my own childhood. The trailer park had been maybe ten minutes away from a fairly decent lake – a lake with waterfront homes containing kids with a lot more money than I figured I would ever see.

Some of them – sure, not all – hadn't let me forget it either. At the memory, heat rose in my chest, but I let it burn cold. Unless I was reading everything wrong, the look on Maisie's face wasn't so different.

Fine. Let her look.

I wasn't ashamed. Not then. Not now.

Those fuckers could kiss my ass – which, come to think of it, plenty of them did – both before and after graduation. And during the last decade? Let's just say, my ass received a lot more kissing than I liked.

Me – I liked people who were real – not fair-weathered suck-ups who thought that somebody's worth was tied to nothing but money in the bank.

But that wasn't Maisie. She was different.

Or at least, she had been different.

Until today.

I was still trying to make sense of it when she bolted for the door. She didn't look back. And she didn't pause, not even when I called out her name.

After the door slammed shut, a silence fell, good and hard, broken only by the sounds of her footsteps on the rickety stairs. And then, there was nothing.

I might've gone after her – and hell, maybe I should have – if it weren't for Ryder, who'd surely get off on a dramatic show.

I mean, hey, he was always good for a laugh.

Except when I turned to face him, he looked more sickened than amused. His gaze drifted to the balcony, and he gave me a halfhearted smile. "So, do you wanna toss me now? Or should I just toss myself?"

It felt like an olive branch, but I was in no mood to take it. Instead, I strode to the nearest window and looked out just in time to see Maisie pedaling away so fast, you'd think she was being chased by wolves.

From behind me, Ryder said, "Shit. Hey man, I'm really sorry."

"Don't be." I almost choked on the words. "It wasn't you." I turned to face him and tried for a grin. "You want the truth? I'm pretty sure it was me."