Chapter 23 Ch 23

With a ground beef burrito in one hand and my phone in the other, I tried calling Matt again. The call went straight to voicemail.

"Damn you, Matt." I took a bite out of the burrito, moaned at how scrumptious it was, and then tried calling him again.

Tandan must have heard my moan from his bedroom, where I asked him to stay while I ate. He actually did as I asked. My suspicions were piqued once more, but yet again I stuffed them to the back of my kind. So what if he never did anything I asked him to do before? Maybe he had a change of heart.

"What are you doing in there?" he demanded.

"Eating my burrito, calling Matt."

I swallowed down another bite and intentionally moaned louder just to piss him off. His responding growl made me smile. This whole charade almost completely distracted me from realizing the call didn't go straight to voicemail. I gasped—unintentionally—and stared down at my cell phone. It was actually ringing. The call was actually going through.

"That's it!" Tandan huffed. "I'm coming out!"

Ignoring him, I pressed the phone to my ear again. It still went to voicemail but at least the thing rang.

"What is it—"

"It went through," I cut Tandan off. "I'm gonna try him again."

My fingers flew across the screen to redial his number while Tandan took the seat beside me at the table. I shot him a look.

"I'm not going back in the room," he grumbled. "I've seen your vagina. I don't know why you think I'll be disgusted with the way you eat."

He had a point, but his tone made it somehow still seem insulting. I angled my body slightly away from him and put the phone to my ear. This time the call went through.

"Lee?" answered a familiar voice.

I gasped in shock. My lips lifted in a smile as words began falling out of my mouth. "God, Matt! You scared me half to death. I'm sorry I didn't get your calls and texts sooner. I was kind of...anyway, it's a long story. What are you doing right now? Can I come see you?"

There was a long, heavy sigh across the line. "I'm a little busy right now. We need to talk, but not now. Wanna meet for coffee in the morning?"

Before I could respond, I heard a woman's voice in the background. Her voice was muffled but I could make out her words well enough.

"What if I want to have coffee in the morning?"

"Ten tomorrow at the place we sobered up last time, yeah?" Matt said, ignoring the girl.

"Oh, uh, yeah." I remembered the place, but I was having mixed feelings about the girl I'd heard. It was the redhead. It had to be.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Lee. Bye."

The line cut off. My gaze slowly traveled up to Tandan's. His dark eyes and face were devoid of expression.

"He's okay, I guess," I murmured.

"Must be if he's getting laid." Tandan rapped his knuckles on the table. "It's getting late. You want to get ready for bed?"

Shaking my head, I rose from the seat and wedged my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. "I need to be getting home. Thanks for buying me food and watching after me."

He was on his feet before I could blink. His voice was gravelly and low as he said, "You're not leaving. I don't know how many times I have to tell you."

"Maybe I would be more inclined to listen if you were actually, you know, nice to me. You can't just rescue me, shag me, and buy me food to keep me happy. Although that is a lot..." I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed deeply. "A relationship has to be more than that. I need more than that. You have to learn how to talk to me without being condescending and criticizing all the time."

When I opened my eyes, his obsidian orbs were brewing a storm. I pursed my lips. He would never follow my suggestion. It wasn't in his nature to be nice. Especially with his weird moods lately.

"Never mind," I said. "I'll take the damn couch so you'll leave me alone."

—(—)—

I jolted awake at the feel of someone touching my face. My lungs sucked down a loud gulp of air, a gasp. Tandan's warm, rough hands rubbed my cheeks as he shooshed me.

"What are you doing?" I asked groggily.

Pinkish rays of sunlight were poking in through the crimson curtains, so I assumed it was morning. The fog in my brain told me it was early morning. I cringed at the weird taste in my mouth and tried to remember if I brushed my teeth last night.

"I wanted to let you know I'm leaving for work," Tandan told me.

For the second time this morning, I gasped. "Work! What day is it?"

"It's Monday, Lee." He thumbed my bottom lip thoughtfully. "You're not going to work until we figure out what that thing in the woods was."

"But you need me at the office," I insisted. "Angelica will be slammed with papers if I'm not there."

The faintest hint of an amused smile touched the corners of his mouth. "She will be busy, but she will be fine. You need to stay safe or you're no good to anyone."

True. I didn't like it, nonetheless. "So you're leaving me here?"

He nodded.

Though I didn't want to risk losing the inch of freedom I now had, I felt the urge to question the situation. "What about the whole you're-never-leaving-my-sight-again thing?"

"What about it?"

"Well...if you're going to work and I'm staying here...sounds like I'm leaving your sight again."

A strangely wicked grin lit up his face. "Who said you were leaving my sight?" he questioned, then pointed to the corner of the ceiling. My eyes followed the trail to where a camera was mounted.

"You are definitely crazy," I spoke out of both concern and wonder.

"I know. Call me when you leave to meet Matt. I'll meet you at the coffee shop."

A pouty look slid onto my face. "But why? He's not going to maul me—there or anywhere. Besides, I can handle myself."

"Unlikely," he said. "You would have died if I hadn't shown up when that thing had its claws in you. I'm not willing to go a second round, not when your life is at stake."

He was so dramatic, jeez. I knew arguing with him was dreadfully pointless. If I didn't call him, he would hunt me down and drag me out like at the bar. Anymore humiliation would wreck my nerves.

"Fine. I'll call you when I leave," I agreed. "I have to go back to my place to change, though. No matter what you say, I'm not wearing your shirt and boxers in public."

"That's a deal." His body shook with a gruff chuckle, and he started towards the bedroom door. "Call me, Lee. I mean it."

"Whatever you say, mate."