Page 43 of You Were Warned: Part One

The Jester points at Rue. “See? This is why he is still alive.”

Thankfully Rue serves our food, and we eat in silence. Things have been weird this week, and I can feel the shift. Last week I had no issues. I enjoyed working and fending off the Jester’s advances while wanting to kill him, content with my arrangement with Rue. Suddenly, things have changed, and I don’t know if I like it, but I can’t say I hate it either.

Brushing the feelings off, once I finish eating, I head off to work with Jensen hot on my heels. I put it down to the fact that maybe he is spooked by what happened in the zone, as the Jester did technically kidnap him again. I never feel bad for anyone, but there’s something about Jensen that makes me want to protect him.

Crow isn’t here yet, and he may not come in, since he knows I’m rostered on today. Jensen takes the seat beside me, and I watch as he sinks down into the chair.

“Why are you being weird?”

His face changes for a split second, and if I wasn’t looking at him, I wouldn’t have caught it. “What do you mean?”

“That,” I say, pointing at his face.

“What?”

“Whatever the fuck that was.”

He swivels his chair away from me, but I grab the arm and spin him back to face me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Stop lying to me. Your face did something,” I snap.

He stares at me. “My face moved?”

“Don’t be a smartass. You’ve been acting weird, and I want to know why.”

“I’ve been living on an island with a man who wants to kill me, is that not enough reason?”

A scoff comes from behind us, and I look over my shoulder to where the Jester is leaning on the doorframe. “I haven’t tried to kill you in two days, and I would barely call tying you up trying to kill you.”

Jensen looks at him. “It’s fucking exhausting.”

“So is waiting for you to slip up, so I can do my job, but here we are. Though I’m not unreasonable. So if you can get Vesper to spend more time with me, that might buy you more time.”

Jensen looks at me hopefully.

“Buddy, it was nice knowing you.”

His shoulders deflate, and I study the side of his face. The dark circles beneath his eyes make him look older than he is.

“Are you thinking about me over there?”

“No,” I snap.

“I’m thinking about you . . . naked.”

Jensen stands. “I’m going to leave.”

I grab onto the bottom of his shirt. “No.”

He looks down at my hand. “Why?”

“Because I said so.” Then I glance up at Jester. “Fine, I will spend time with you.”

The Jester’s face lights up like a fucking Christmas tree, even if it is the stupidest holiday ever—I much prefer Halloween.

“A date?”