Page 60 of The Through Duet
“He was,” I answered.“But his owners said that they took him to the vet as soon as they found him.So, I’m assuming he’s healthy enough.”
“Clean it up, and you’ll be fine,” he said, finally releasing my wrist.
“I know how to do my job, Dalton,” I reminded him, not appreciating being spoken to like I was stupid.“Not to mention that I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you have.”
His chocolate-colored gaze darkened as he said, “My apologies.I didn’t mean to give a shit.”I almost winced, but I didn’t.“But I’ll be sure to keep my concerns to myself moving forward.”
As soon as he was gone, I asked, “Have you ever had someone in your life that just brought out the worst in you?”
“No,” Rya answered quietly.“Not that I can recall.”
I turned back towards Rya, and she had a soaked Harris nestled against her chest.“Would you hate me if I cancelled on the Dollhouse?”
“Not at all,” she assured me.“But what about dinner?”
I grinned at her.“Oh, we’re still on for dinner, and I get to pick.”
Rya chuckled.“Deal.”
After that, Rya handed me back my little wildcat, and when his parents came to pick him up, I had lied my ass off, telling them that he’d been a complete angel.I’d rather ask for forgiveness at The Pearly Gates than risk them taking Harris to a shelter for the minor incident.Besides, no cat owner ever owned a cat without a scratch or two.
As I was cleaning up my station, one of the new employees, Stanley Merlin, walked over, then started gathering the wet towels together.Now, while he was friendly with everyone here, we hadn’t exactly become friends, so I knew that something was going on when he began helping me clean up.
“So, I have a question for you,” he said, confirming my suspicions.
“Okay...shoot.
“Is Dalton Summit straight-straight?”he asked, making me stop to look over at him.
“What?”
“Is Dalton straight?Sexually?Like all the way?”he asked.“I mean, I’d ask Rya, but everyone says that she refuses to discuss Dalton like that with anyone.”
“Look, I don’t know what straight-straight is, and if you’re asking if he’s bisexual, then I’m with Rya on this one,” I told him.“You’re going to have to ask him yourself.”
He arched a brow, clearly not appreciating my response.“Well, I’m just curious because everyone says that he’s never dated anyone here.”
“Maybe because he’s just never been interested in anyone here,” I posed.“At any rate, if you want to know if Dalton swings both ways, you’re going to have to ask Dalton.”
Stanley just shrugged.“He just looks like the type who might enjoy an adventure.”
“Yeah, well...you shouldn’t judge people based on their looks,” I replied, hoping that my words would make a difference, but still knowing that they wouldn’t.
People were always going to judge.
They were too miserable not to.
Chapter 4
Dalton~
The party had already been in full swing when I’d gotten here, and having never been to the Rooftop before, I was pretty impressed with the diversity of the crowd.A lot of places catered to one specific type of clientele, but it appeared as if everyone was welcomed at the Rooftop, so I immediately liked the place.
It had also appeared as if Gary had been waiting for me, because as soon as I showed up, he’d been there to greet me at the bar, and he’d been quick to buy me a beer before leading me to the VIP room that they had reserved for the party.
Now, while I wasn’t famous, I had a pretty good number of followers on my Blood & Ink social media pages, and so it wasn’t unusual for someone to notice me or even ask for a selfie.So, as long as the person wasn’t rude or obnoxious, I didn’t mind the attention too much.Besides, the tradeoff was worth it.I got a lot of business thanks to those social media pages, so I very well couldn’t complain.
As for my personal online accounts, while there were some posts of work and tattoos, those pages were mostly filled with posts featuring my grandparents, Rya, Precious Pets, and even Leandra’s face was on there.I also had less than twenty people as friends on those pages because I placed a lot of value on my privacy.
