SAFFRON
Thirty minutesafter arriving at Tabatha’s house, she texted me that she'd been called in on another brief and was going to stay on-site.
Jesus Christ, that sucked. I could almost see Gabe doing it on purpose to make sure I was alone. He had texted and called once, but I wasn't inclined to answer. I made my check-in calls as required, but I couldn’t speak to him right now. Not after he'd essentially questioned my sanity and my leadership in the debrief.
The only thing worse than being stuck on campus was being stuck alone. As much as I wanted to eat junk food and watch movies and relax and pour a glass of wine, none of that seemed the same without Tabs here.
You should be sleeping.
I should. But I was too keyed up, too wired. I just wanted to get back out in the field. Normally, I had a routine, but this was my first time coming back from an actual mission. Sure, I had been coms lead before, supporting other missions, but I’d never been in the field. It was completely different.
Maybe Gabe was right and I didn't belong in the field. Because fucking hell, this feeling, the unease, the restlessness was driving me crazy.
The doorbell rang, and I frowned. Tabs wasn't here and this was her safe space. She had an address that she would take men to, but this was her private place. No one came here except for me. So who the fuck was at the door?
I palmed the gun under her coffee table and pushed myself up from the couch.
I stayed out of range of the windows and watched the door, sticking to the side in case someone attempted to shoot through it, though I knew for a fact her door was steel. And there was a panic room.
But still, I quickly checked the security monitor, and my stomach fell when I saw who was on the other side.
I pressed the speaker and forced a deep, long breath. "What do you want, Lock?"
"Can we talk?"
"No. I need to get some rest. We'll talk when I’m back on campus."
“Do you understand what I had to do to get off campus? Tabatha hadto write me a special note and everything."
“I don't care. I'm not opening the door."
"Are you going to make me test out my lockpicking skills? You know I struggled with that in training."
“That's not my problem."
He held something up to the camera. "See? Here's the note."
I squinted to read it better, and there was Tabatha’s perfect handwriting in bold script. "Let him in. Talk."
Damn it. Sometimes having a best friend was a pain in the ass. "Lock, if you are here for retribution or you're angry, I understand, but I cannot talk to you about this right now."
"That's fine. I will sit out here and talk through the door and make sure the neighbors know all of our business. I'm perfectly okay with that if you are."
I dropped my forehead against the door and then used my thumb to disengage the lock, and then the deadbolt, and then the chain. When I swung the door open, I scowled at him sitting on the floor.
"There you are. That was going to get embarrassing. Thank you for saving me from that."
“I don't have anything to say to you."
“Don't you think the two of us probably should start saying a lot more?"
I ran my hands through my hair, half expecting to find the pile of braids there. I was getting it braided again tomorrow, so I wouldn't have to feel as if I was partially naked."Lock, let's not—"
He barged past me, leaving me no option but to close the door and lock up behind him.I turned to him, angry now. “I tried to talk to you earlier. Didn't you already say what you have to say?"
"Why didn't you tell me?" His question was an anguished snarl.
"What was I going to say? How was I supposed to explain that to you exactly?"