He sets you down gently, and the cold concrete floor beneath your feet is both a welcoming feeling because of its familiarity and also an unpleasant shove back into your reality which the man towering above you is not—and cannot—be a part of.
You start to speak. “Listen—”
“I know why you were there,” he says, cutting off your attempt at an explanation. You’d be pissed that he just cut you off if his voice wasn’t so calm—gentle, even.
You raise an eyebrow. “You…you do?” you blink a few times, unsure of his sudden change of tone on the matter.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that you obviously need the money,” he says. “I saw how desperate you looked when I told you about the endoscopy. When I saw you tonight, I knew it had to be the reason why.”
You frown. “Then why did you react the way you did earlier if you knew I was doing this out of desperation?”
He sighs, running a hand through his full hair. “I don’t know. I guess I was just shocked to see you there,” he says. “You just don’t seem like the type to resort to something like that so I was sort of taken aback. Plus, you’re Danny’s sister, and you may not understand it, but I feel like I have a responsibility toward you because of that. But I do apologize if what I’d said made you feel bad.”
You feel your expression fall at that admission. You’re not sure what you expected him to say, but hearing that this is all about Danny is only pissing you off. You cross your arms over your chest in anger and put on an obviously forged smile.
“Well, the good news is that you don’t have to feel responsible for me. Danny certainly doesn’t, so there’s no need for you to,” you say bitterly, even though the smile is still glued to your lips. “Plus, Danny doesn’t exactly think of me as his sister, so yeah. But hey, not to worry,” you make a dramatic gesture with your hands, “I’m pretty sure his real sister, Jennifer, wouldn’t mind having you around and feeling responsible for her.”
Your tone is so sour you can’t even believe it’s coming out of your mouth. Why are you getting so upset?
Frost doesn’t try to get a rebuttal or anything. You hand him back his jacket and he simply bids you goodnight. You watch him walk over to his car before you break your gaze from him forever. But just as you’re about to walk through your door, you remember something.
“Hey,” you call out, quickly turning back to him once more. He looks at you from the side of his car, towering over the gorgeous compact vehicle. “Before that McGraw dude interrupted us, you said you wouldn’t tell my grandmother about tonight on one condition,” you say. “What is it?”
He continues to look at you for a moment, his eyes assessing, as if they’re trying to analyze something. Suddenly, a small, almost arrogant grin creeps its way onto his full lips, pulling on one side of his mouth mischievously.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” is all he says.
***
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid