Chapter 34 #2
I pointed Davis in the direction of the bathroom and moved into the kitchen, giving Ziggy a pat on the head as he trotted up beside me, pressing himself into the side of my leg.
“Can I get you something to drink before you go, or will that cause a similar problem on the way back?” I called out loud enough for him to hear from down the hall.
“I think I’ll be okay. What do you have?” His voice was laced with humor as it carried back.
I pulled the fridge open and scanned the contents.
Once again, I’d gotten so wrapped up in Raylan that I hadn’t found the time to hit up the grocery store.
Only this time, I couldn’t bring myself to care.
Now that our relationship was out in the open, we went into town to the diner or any of the other restaurants to eat pretty regularly.
That, or he’d swing by and grab some takeout on his way home.
He hadn’t spent a single night in that tiny apartment above the barn since we became official.
I wasn’t sure if he had any clothes there since I made space for him in my dresser and closet.
He was practically moved in without us making a big show of it.
In all the fantasies I’d had of what it would feel like to be with Raylan—and there were so many—I couldn’t have imagined I would be this happy.
“I’ve got one Coke, a pitcher of tea, a couple bottles of water, and a green juice I let my friend Holly convince me tasted great. Spoiler alert, she lied.”
“Water’s great.”
I shot around with a startled squeak to find him standing closer to me than I was comfortable with. I hadn’t heard him enter the kitchen.
“Oh my god.” I placed a hand to my chest, over my rapidly beating heart. “You scared the shit out of me. Jeez, what are you, some kind of ninja?”
“Sorry.” His smile wasn’t the least bit repentant. “I thought you heard me.” He took a step closer. “You mind?”
Feeling flustered, I struggled to comprehend what he was asking. “Huh?”
I pointed at the opened fridge I was standing in front of. Then, without asking, he reached over my shoulder for one of the bottles of water, using the move as a way to step even closer to me. So close I was starting to feel a bit weirded out.
He lifted the bottle in question and finally moved back, twisting off the top and taking a drink. “Thanks.”
“Uh, y-yeah. Sure.”
I slid sideways in order to free myself and crossed the kitchen for more space.
The way he looked at me was unsettling, but despite the voice in my head telling me something wasn’t right, I tried to push the discomfort away and reminded myself this was Davis.
We were friends. He was just an unrepentant flirt, that was all.
But I intended to make my boundaries very clear.
“You know, I’ve always wondered what your place might look like.” He let his gaze travel along the open space. “This feels very . . . you.”
I swallowed against the sudden dryness in my throat. As though he sensed my growing distress, Ziggy hadn’t budged from my side. He also hadn’t taken his eyes off Davis, like he knew if there was going to be a problem, it would be coming from that direction.
“You’ve thought about where I live?”
He took a step closer, lowering his voice to that seductive timbre I’d heard him use a million times on the women he picked up at the bar. “Of course. I’ve actually imagined a lot of different things when it comes to you. Like what it might be like to kiss you.”
My features fell into an intense frown, and I pushed away the hand he’d lifted to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear.
“Davis, that’s incredibly inappropriate,” I snapped.
At my tone, the fur along Ziggy’s spine stood up and he emitted a low, menacing growl.
“Not only because I’m your boss, but because you know I have a boyfriend. ”
The expression on his face was one I’d never seen him wear before; it was downright frightening.
“You know, I’ve waited and waited and fucking waited for you to notice me, to catch on to how I feel about you.
I kept telling myself that one day, you’d realize I was who you were meant to be with, that I could actually make you happy, and the wait would all be worth it once I had you.
” My heart fell out of my chest and my hands began to tremble as he continued barking at me.
“But instead of you seeing what was right in front of you, what did you do? You hooked up with that fucking man whore who wouldn’t have a goddamn clue how to treat a woman if his life depended on it! ”
I jerked back at the force of his words, my hips slamming into the lip of the counter. “Davis . . .” My voice quivered. “You’ve been hooking up with women left and right—”
“And who the fuck did they look like?” he shot back, his face growing redder as his voice got higher.
Ziggy’s lips curled back from his teeth in a vicious snarl he’d never made before.
“Every single bitch I took home was a placeholder for you. They all looked like you so I could close my eyes and imagine it was you I was sinking into.”
Oh god. In that moment, everything suddenly clicked into place.
I reached back, gripping the edge of the counter to keep myself steady as my knees began to quake, fear gripping hold of my chest and squeezing my heart.
“It was you, wasn’t it?” My voice was a barely-there whisper.
“You’re the one who’s been leaving the notes and flowers. You vandalized my car.”
“Because you started whoring yourself out to that motherfucker! And now I’m done waiting. It’s my fucking turn.”
He lunged for me, and I reacted purely on instinct.
Grabbing the handle of the frying pan that had been on the drying rack right behind me, I swung out with all my might, hitting him upside the head right as Ziggy pounced and clamped down on his leg.
Davis stumbled on a pained shout, and I didn’t waste the chance I’d been given, whirling around on my rubber boots, I took off at full speed, sprinting toward the front door.
I slammed my hand against the panic button on the alarm panel as Davis bellowed my name, sounding like something straight out of a scary movie.
Then I ran out of the house like my life depended on it. Because my gut was screaming at me that it did.