THE BRAVO BOYS - SNAKE EATER [book three]

Chapter SEVENTEEN

Logan Nash

… a few days later …

"Maybe she just forgot about us?" Sitting on the corner of my desk, Dallas swings her little sneaker-clad feet as she continually glances back towards the office door with forlorn puppy dog eyes.. "Are you sure you didn't do something to upset her?"

"She didn't forget.." I mutter, forcibly distracted by my lack of desire to torture myself with thoughts of the insatiable Army Barbie as I enter the numerical sequence from Hendrix's notebook into my latest cipher program for analysis, still no closer to cracking the code..
Hendrix Quinn is as big a mystery as his unreadable daughter.. "And I didn't do a damn thing.. She probably just got caught up at work.."

Even as the excuse leaves my mouth it feels like a lie and I hate keeping secrets from Dallas.. Maybe I'd fucked up by letting things with Shelby get so far since no good could possibly come if it.. I hadn't stopped to consider the impacts beyond myself in that Shelby is an important influence on Dallas' chances of getting anywhere with her pageant aspirations.

What a cluster fuck I've created..

"Really? Cus' I know how you can be.." My niece offers several examples of my less than charming behaviour.. "Remember that one girl, Becca, you called her 'brainless' and made her cry.. Or how about the time you told my babysitter to have some 'self respect' after she tried to grab your--"

"Yeah, I get it, Tex– I'm not really a people person.." I hold up a hand to cut her off.. I've got no need to hear her recount my less than charming lack of patience.. "But in my defence, people are assholes.."

Dallas laughs, a feathered girlish giggle.. "No, Lo-Lo.. You are an asshole, that's my whole point!"

"Gee, thanks, kid.." I crumple a nearby piece of paper and toss it at her head, chucking as the gentle projectile bounces off her honey blonde crown..

She lifts her hands to deflect the attack.. "Besides, Shelby isn't an asshole.. She's super sweet!"

"Whatever.." I shrug noncommittally, unsure if I actually agree with Dallas..

Is Shelby sweet?
I mean, I know that she can be, but overall I'd place her temperament somewhere between snotty and short..

I suppose she had been sweet that day at the Blackstar building when my stress had gotten the better of me..
She'd given me comfort and offered me secrets that made me feel much less alone.. At least I thought we had made some kind of connection.. Especially after the mind blowing sex that followed...

But then she cut out on me.. And I'm forced to remember the other side of the woman, the calculations and manipulation she is capable of and the expert manner in which she twists me around her finger..

She's still a fucking Fed after all.. I can't forget that..

Dallas, completely oblivious to the real reason that Shelby has been avoiding me, pouts in disappointment.. "So if you really didn't do anything, then why hasn't she called?"

Pinching the bridge of my nose I blow out an exhausted breath, having done nothing but work on her father's case for the last six straight days despite her ignoring me.. Now my tolerance for all things Shelby is at an all time low.. "Christ, Tex.. I dunno! I got no idea where Shelby Quinn's is, or why she does the things she does! The woman is a mystery to me and I ain't fixing to figure her out."

"Well, yeah.." Dallas hums.. "But like– couldn't you just take a teeny tiny peek?" Her eyes flick to my screen, almost daring me..

"Nuh-uh.." I shake my head, drawing my shoulders back to a prideful posture.. "I ain't spying on her.."  I'm not about to do something so desperate just for scraps of Shelby's attention..
If she wanted to see me, she'd see me.. I'm not about to stalk the woman just to have my ego crushed beneath her self righteous boot once again..