Page 89 of Prickly Pair
“Yep,” Mateo said.
Then, of course, he looked directly at me.
Well, okay then. It was on me to tell them about Phil, since I was the one who had the encounter. I still didn’t like it though.
I cleared my throat and smoothed my hands over the skirt of my dress. “Earlier, a man came into the bakery,” I said. “His name was Phil.”
Austin immediately stiffened to my right. I glanced over at him, my heart skipping a beat when his expression became unreadable. The thing was, I knew how to read that expression. And it was not a good sign.
“He was a debt collector,” I continued. “He was asking questions about the Whynot family and he knew my name. He came to me first because he said he knew I was close to all of you. It was weird and creepy, but luckily Mateo came in and got him to leave. I'd asked him to go, but he was lingering, so it was good timing.”
“Wait, what? What the fuck?” Dallas growled.
“What the hell,” Avery hissed. “I wish you would have called us. That’s so creepy.”
“That's just so bizarre,” June said. “Why would a debt collector be here? And for what?”
Madi shook her head with a frown. “That’sweird.”
Austin still wasn't saying anything, but he was stiffer than a board.
Avery immediately zeroed in on him. She crossed her arms. “Austin,” she said firmly. “Do you know something about this?”
Dallas's head whipped up, and all eyes in the room went to Austin.
I reached for Austin and slipped my hand over his knee, the denim rough under my fingertips. I was surprised when he immediately took it, his fingers interlacing tightly with mine.
“I do,” he finally said.
“Are you in debt?” Dallas asked bluntly.
“No? Yes? I'm not exactly sure how to explain it. But dad had a lot of debt, and some of that dipped into the assets that he had. Normally, when someone dies, even if they have debt, it's not passed on to other people. But, he cosigned the hotel with me. So I think that guy is trying to do something about it.”
“Fuck,” Levi mumbled.
My mouth dropped. “How long have you been dealing with this?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. “A couple years now. It started out as just phone calls and emails. But he's been getting more aggressive. I don’t know why. But the fact he’s shown up in town and questioned you infuriates me.”
“This is bullshit,” Avery said. “Absolute bullshit. Also, it's bullshit that you didn't tell us.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” Dallas asked.
“I didn't want to worry you guys,” Austin said. “You've already got a lot going on. I just didn't want to trouble anyone.”
“Okay, well, in the future please trouble us,” June said. “Trouble all of us. This is ridiculous.”
Madi slid her arm around June before she launched into a rant. Dallas raked his hands through his hair and sat back, still studying his brother. Levi rubbed Avery's back, his eyes on her.
Mateo started pacing back and forth.
“That guy was gross,” he said. “The vibes were all off. How do we even know if he's legit? And why the fuck would he be talking to Evie? I have so many questions, but all I know is my gut said that guy is bad news.”
“Could you lose the hotel?” Madi asked gently.
It was a real question delivered with such softness, and it scared the hell out of me. It scared me for him.
Austin’s eyes watered as he sank back into the cushion. He was squeezing my hands so hard, it almost hurt. But I didn't wanna let go. I didn't want him to let me go.
