"Anything interesting?" he asked.
I wasn't born yesterday. He didn't want me to overhear what was going on in that room, and it had me very curious as to why that might be. "Not as interesting as this," I countered.
"Yeah?" He arched a brow, and before I knew what he was doing, he raised an arm over my shoulder, leaned closer, and slammed his palm into the door.
It opened instantly, and I stumbled, yep, right into Reyes's arms.
Utter mortification washed over me. I pushed away from him, away from the blistering heat of his hold, the fierce strength of it. Darting around Osh, I rushed out of the restroom and back to the station, wondering one thing and one thing only: How did they know each other, and what were they arguing about?
Okay, that was two things. Perhaps I wasn't a mathematician after all.
5
I don't think I could ever complete anyone.
But driving someone insane sounds doable.
-INTERNET MEME
The men came out a couple of minutes after I did. Garrett paid and stalked out, his anger leaving me winded, but Osh and Reyes stayed behind. Osh took Garrett's booth, while Reyes went back to his own. They didn't look at each other. Didn't speak. But I suddenly had the feeling that was all for show.
Yet, what show? Why would I care if they knew each other?
Unless …
I narrowed my lashes and looked at them through the menacing slits created by my lids. Maybe I was really the daughter of a billionaire and they were planning to kidnap me for ransom. Two of the three would-be abductors were only part human. They probably had really bad ethics.
"He lives at the Hometown Motel."
I turned to Francie, then grabbed a wet towel to wipe down the prep station.
She pressed her lips together in amusement, her pale skin luminous beneath her bouncy red hair, and followed me. She was holding a phone and scrolling through pictures as she spoke. "Reyes. He lives at the Hometown. You know, that motel on Howard? It's a couple of blocks over."
I knew it. I walked by it at least twice a day to and from work. It was right down the street from my apartment. It wasn't exactly the Waldorf, but what did I care? He was a strapping young man with a menacing scowl. He'd be fine.
I knew better than to ask. I knew it was what she wanted, but my curiosity got the better of me. "How do you know where he's staying?"
She grinned and leaned into me as though we'd been best friends since grade school. "Wouldn't you like to know." The implications were crystal clear, and yet I wasn't sure I believed her. She seemed a little too desperate for my reaction. When she got none, she added, "His room has navy carpet and a blue-and-gold bedspread. It's all very manly."
That time I flinched. What made it worse was that she saw.
Erin walked up then, her long blond hair pulled up into a messy bun. She didn't want to be that close to me, but apparently the phone in Francie's hand was hers.
"She is so cute, Erin," Francie said, scrolling through more pictures. "Isn't she cute?"
Much to Erin's chagrin, Francie held out the phone for me to see. I knew she'd recently had a baby, but that was about it.
I leaned over to look at the phone and a jolt of shock rocketed through me. I gasped and threw a hand over my mouth before catching myself. They were playing a prank, and I'd fallen for it like a drunk with vertigo.
But they weren't laughing. If anything, Erin was ready to scratch my eyes out. Even Francie was appalled. The scowl on her face could scrub the ring off a toilet.
Erin jerked the phone away from Francie and stalked off. Francie shot razors at me before leaning in and saying softly, "You're a bitch."
I blinked, utterly confused. My heart was still racing. I didn't get it. What they showed me was not a picture of a baby but a picture of a decomposing elderly woman, her toothless mouth open as though she were screaming into the phone, her eyes solid white, almost glowing.
What the bloody hell?
And what made matters worse was the fact that my dramatics attracted the attention of one Mr. Reyes Farrow. He eyed me from underneath his lashes, his brows drawn in concern.
"Hey," Lewis said from the pass-out window. "What was that about?"
Embarrassed for the twelve hundredth time that day, I picked up the coffeepot. "I have no idea," I said under my breath, just before stalking off. It was trending, after all.
After filling the cups of several customers, I made my way toward Cookie's husband. Unfortunately, I had to deal with Mark and Hershel along the way. They were still there.
"Can I get you anything else?" I asked them.
"I wouldn't mind a piece of that ass," Mark said.