Page 55 of Thorn Evermore
“Uh, no, I can handle it, Thorn.” I tug on his arm, but he’s as immovable as a statue.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he says, his voice softening as he glances at me. “Nothing bad will happen.”
“Um…”
Neal is glued to his spot, his eyes locked on Thorn. The more I think about it, the nicer it sounds to have someone defend me for once.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll be up front.”
Neal pleads with his eyes, but I just laugh and close the door behind me. Douglas looks nervous as he rubs his hands together.
“What is happening right now?” he asks.
“Well, as far as I can tell, the guy I’m dating is having a chat with Neal about being mean to me.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.” A smile tugs at my lips. “It’s sweet.”
“Your man doesn’t look sweet. He looks like a pissed off rottweiler.”
I happily hum. “Yeah. He does.” I glance back at the door. “Well, let’s go up front. I’ll help with some displays.”
Maybe Thorn will scare some sense into Neal and he’ll finally get off my back. One can hope.
Chapter 16
THORN
I flip the plastic chair around and sit on it, facing a terrified looking Neal. I could tell him how I sensed Kyson’s panic from three blocks away while I was still debating whether showing up at his job was the right thing to do, but that’s not for his ears. It’s for Kyson’s.
“So listen, my guy,” I start, folding my arms across the top of the chair. “Seems you get off on harassing Kyson and making his life more difficult than it has to be.”
“N-no. I’m the manager. It’s my job to make sure?—”
I raise my hand to stop him. “Save the bullshit. I can see through it from a thousand miles away. I’ll get right to the point. I won’t tolerate anyone mistreating that sweet man. Do you hear me? Not a raised voice or a condescending remark or a dig at him. When he gets off work, he better not even have a hair out of place, or you’ll be seeing me again.”
Neal’s face turns bright red. “That sounds like a threat.”
“It is absolutely not a threat. You see, with a threat there’s always a chance it won’t happen, but I can fucking promise you, Neal, that if you so much as look at him wrong, it’s happening.” I stand, pushing the chair so that it falls back and Neal flinches. I place my hands on the edge of his desk,leaning forward to close the gap between us. “I’m a rather protective boyfriend. Feel free to test me. I’ll enjoy every second of proving it to you.”
His pulse quickens as a sheen of sweat forms on his brow. He smells off somehow. Unnatural. Oh fuck.
“When’s the last time you had a physical?”
Neal pulls his head back slightly. “What?”
“The doctor. Have you had a checkup?”
“No. Why are you asking me that?”
I blow out a breath. “I think you should. I have a nose for… ailments. You should get checked out.”
“Uh, yeah, okay.”
“Now, Neal, I’m gonna leave. You’re gonna be nice to Kyson from now on. Do we have an understanding?”
He nods rapidly, gripping the arms of his chair.