listen (rio g.g) 1

23

"AND THEN I JUST SNAPPED."
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Alivia found herself at a nearby coffee shop a couple of days later, waiting for her sister to show up.

Her eyes were glued to her phone when the chair next to her creaked in protest as someone moved it and sat down.

She glanced up, expecting to see her sister but was faced with a different pair of brown eyes. "Not who you're expecting?"

"No, but I'm not complaining." She grinned as he chuckled softly.

"So, your friends hit me up with some bullshit yesterday." He began and she rolled her eyes, wondering what things they'd tried to sell him.

"I'm not surprised." She muttered.

"You find your rotten egg yet?"

"Mm, they have." His eyes narrowed slightly at her choice of words. The smile didn't hit her eyes as she spoke, "It appears I'm not to be trusted with that information."

"Yeah?" He crossed his arms and laid them on the table, leaning in. "And why's that?"

"Because of you." She said softly, not breaking eye contact. He raised a brow. "Annie saw you leave the other day."

A low hum rumbled in his throat and her jaw tightened in an attempt to hide the hurt, no matter how true the statement had been.

Because she would have, easily and with no regret, tell him the woman's name.

And not because of whatever was going on between them but because she knew how shit like this operated.

She had been around people like him all her life, little to her friends' knowledge, and she knew how they worked. How they had to work to keep everything running and in order.

"You ain't gotta worry about that." That low and hoarse voice again, snapping her back to reality. He reached his hand out and placed a strand of loose hair behind her ear, featherlight fingers lingering on her neck for an extra heartbeat. His next words seemed as surprising to him as they were to her. "I got you."

She felt herself liquify at the promise. Because that's what it had been. A promise.

She tried to push the heat rising in her to the side, store it somewhere deep in her mind to deal with later, and thought back to the conversation she'd overheard just that morning.

Her friends' voices echoed in her head as she thought back to it. The memory was so loud she felt like she was back in Beth's kitchen, listening to the three women debate whether or not to tell her about one of his associates being turned by the police.

He was already looking at her when she turned back to him, as if he could hear her thoughts and waited for her decision. His fingers tapped lightly against her hand and she licked her lips before stating, "Eddie's been talking to the FBI."

His eyes stayed with her for a moment before he nodded, inhaling and exhaling deeply from his nose.

Before either of them could get another word out, her sister walked into the shop and closed the short distance between them. She was grinning widely, "Hi! So sorry I'm late."

Alivia shook her head lightly and tried to muster up a genuine smile, her mind still fogged from their conversation. "You're fine."

Her sister glanced between Alivia and the man to her side, now standing and ready to leave. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nah, not at all. I'll see you later, yeah?" He smiled warmly at her sister and Alivia nodded in response. "Nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you, too.." Her voice trailed off as he had already disappeared. She turned back to Alivia. "Who was that?"

Alivia shrugged, "a friend."

"Uh-huh, sure." She narrowed her eyes and shook off her jacket, hanging on the chair. "He's hot."

Alivia rolled her eyes but couldn't help laughing. "Shut up, Ava."

"I'm just saying." Ava chuckled, her hands up on either side of her, palms facing out.