My nose twitched as I fought the urge to gag.
“Well, not that I want to, but I better step out so Chloe here can get on with your cleaning. But you better look me up for that drink you owe me.” When she pressed her lips to his cheek, I had to look away.
He dated her? A girl who was my age, yet I was the fucking kid. It infuriated me to think that she was good enough, but I wasn’t worth the effort.
Before she stepped out, she threw a few more flirtatious comments in his direction, and I ignored them both as I gathered my tools. When it was just the two of us remaining, I stood over him and pinned the bib around his neck. The intoxicating scent of his cologne made my chest feel heavy, but I did my best to remain professional.
“Tough day?” It just got a whole lot tougher. “It appears like you got in a fight with a hose and lost.”
“Five-year-old boy that was afraid of a cleaning.” I kept my voice low and clipped. Doing my best not to make eye contact, I grabbed the scaler and brought it up to his mouth.
“I ended things with her.” I arched my brow before hurrying to wipe the expression from my face. “It lasted two mo—”
“It’s really none of my business and also not important.” Before he had the chance to say more, I motioned for him to open his mouth and waited for to him to oblige.
“You don’t like me much, do you?”
I swallowed hard and felt the heat rush to my cheeks.
“I don’t even know you.” I knew more than I was putting on. I’d asked a lot of questions and paid attention to the answers that were given, but he didn’t need to know that. “I’m just really busy today.”
Also extremely frustrated that I got the fucking kid category but McSlutty got dating material. Go figure. I guess my tits needed to go up two sizes in order to become an adult in his eyes.
Every time he attempted to talk, I would either suction him or hurry to continue on with scaling his teeth. I didn’t want to hear about his tryst with Holly. It made me sick to think of the things the two of them had done together. When I was done, I offered him a cup of water and told him to rinse and spit. Of course he even had to make that appear sexy, which only managed to make me even angrier.
I’d had enough.
“You can make your next appointment with the front desk.” I tossed his bib in the garbage on my way to the door.
“Chloe.” When he said my name, I paused with my hand on the handle. “Maybe sometime you and I—”
“Don’t.” I refused to look at him. Twisting the handle, I opened the door, and just before I exited, I turned my head to the side, focusing on the carpet at my feet. “I don’t think I’m quite old enough to run with your crowd. Being a kid and all, I should stick to what I know.”
As I exited the room, I swore I heard him call out my name once more, but I didn’t pause to find out.
I was ready for this day to be over. I needed to drown in a bottle of wine and a hot bath.
Chapter Six
Landon
“Well, look who finally decided to show up for work.” Lifting my cooler out of the back of my truck, I didn’t even acknowledge Rhett or Terrance. Both smug sons of bitches always giving me shit. “Sitting at home watching reality TV with a bag of Doritos in hand while us big boys are here doing all the hard labor.”
“Yeah.” I chuckled as I lowered my cooler the ground and repositioned my ball cap on my head. “Because putting out fires and saving people isn’t manual labor that matters.”
Instantly, Terrance shut up, but Rhett grinned from ear to ear. He might give me hell whenever he could, but the guy knew I worked my ass off. Twenty-four hours on, forty-eight off, and during that forty-eight, I worked for Reed Construction. I loved my job as a firefighter, but the income wasn’t enough to survive. Not if I wanted to buy property and build my own home one day. So I worked, a lot, and I saved all I could.
“So did you hear how Chloe’s date went last night?” I felt my heart rate spike as I looked at the two of them carrying on a conversation like I wasn’t there. “Ripp was bragging about it for hours, talking about taking her up to the lake afterwards.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” In two strides, I was standing before them, both shifting their gazes to meet my own. “After that sack of shit groped her at Mike’s wedding, she still went out with him? I told him to stay away from her.” My pulse was racing. “She won’t even talk to me, but him?” I felt my irritation rage within me. “Hell, all I did was make sure she got home safe after drinking far too much, and he mauls her on a dance floor in front of family and friends. I guess being a gentleman doesn’t count for shit anymore.”
My rant gave the two of them exactly what they were hoping for. I noticed it far too late when they each smiled from ear to ear, glancing between one another before looking back at me.
“She didn’t go on a date with him, did she?”
Rhett slowly shook his head, crossing his
