“What was her name?”
Taken aback by his question, I tossed my wallet onto the mattress and laid the paper next to me. My tongue ran across my teeth while I ordered my thoughts and fought my swirling emotions. “What are you talking about?”
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to keep it from cracking ever so slightly.
“If you won’t tell me her name, at least tell me you got her phone number.”
For the briefest of moments, a dark corner of my mind wished we were still talking about Dempsey. Then I seized that foolish portion of myself and clubbed it into submission. I tossed the pen onto the bed. Instantly, it expanded, reforming the laminated document from the nightstand. Why would any part of me prefer to dwell on that piece of our conversation? Matt knew that there were only a handful of topics that I considered off limits with him, just a handful. And my love life, or lack thereof, was one of them. There were some things that we simply didn’t need to share. He knew this would get under my skin, and I knew he was already trying to get payback.
“Who said the dealer was a woman?”
“Yeah and . . .”
A soft growl silenced Matt’s thought. As the resulting silence lengthened, I cleared my throat. “Move on, Matt.”
“So after spending all that money, you failed to get her number. No wonder you’re a little cranky.”
He clicked his tongue, and I could hear the glee in his voice. Unable to restrain myself any longer, I released a pent-up sigh as I pulled the paper up and studied Robin’s brief message and number, written in clean, crisp lines. Given the rest of the conversation, it was better to allow Matt to pursue his faulty assumption. “If you’re just going to give me grief—”
As if on cue, Matt broke in, satisfaction dripping from his every word. “You didn’t need to acquire a new suit. You possess a few stock ones in your closet.”
“Therin lies the issue,” I said, laying Robin’s information beside the room’s phone. “What self-respecting, spoiled young adult wears something mass produced, if they have the money?”
“Someone with fiscal maturity.”
I quashed the budding laughter as I rolled to my feet and once more sauntered the length of the suite. As the last chuckle forced its way out, I rounded the corner into the bathroom and stared into my eyes. “Are you asking me to model my life off unicorns?”
“You and your stupid challenges,” Matt said, before blowing air through his lips.
I didn’t think he was taunting me, but I also knew I was getting awfully close to the end of his patience. “What’s wrong with pushing past your limits?”
“If you keep foolishly pushing up against people, eventually, you’re going to end up on the wrong side of your quest to prove your worth.”
“What’s the point of life if you don’t stretch yourself both mentally and physically?”
“Forget it, Marcus. We’ve had this debate countless times. I yield! Though I’m begging you to start taking the path of least resistance.”
As I pinched my phone to my shoulder, I turned on the faucet and put a cupped hand under the stream of cold water. Once it spilled over my fingers, I threw it into my face. I turned the water off and grabbed a towel to soak up the liquid clinging to me. “Don’t forget that my taking these challenges normally nets us with the greatest reward.”
“Not the point.”
“I can’t walk away from this.”
“Well, since I won’t be able to talk you out of this nonsense,” Matt said, all joviality draining from his voice, “can you at least tell me that your reconnaissance has been going well?”
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Description | Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3