When Perfect Meets Crazy

18 - Did you roofie me?

"Why'd you do it?"

"Do what?" I countered innocently.

He tilted his head, awarding me an unimpressed look. "You're better than that. Now, answer the question."

I heaved a sigh, drew in a deep breath, straightened my spine and forced myself to meet his gaze, holding it steady as I tried to stare him out of countenance.

He sat back, stretched out his legs and laid his clasped hands on the tabletop as he stared back, unwaveringly.

I scowled.

"Fine." I sighed, averting my gaze. He was like a brick wall, unyielding.  "Fine," I repeated, stalling for time as I tried to come up with a distraction. "Here's the thing," I drawled conversationally, stalling even more as I came to the realization that the quaint almost empty ice cream parlor had little to nothing to offer by way of a distraction.

"Go on," he urged after a beat.

I pressed my lips together, forcing them into the semblance of a smile.

"Well, I..." I picked up the long aesthetically pleasing but not particularly useful spoon that came with my ice cream, waved it in a circular all encompassing motion with all the authority of a college professor. "I was wondering. How did you find this place? It's so... it has a nice... aura. "

Not the best diversion tactic but I was desperate and also kind of curious about the answer. No matter how I looked at it, this corner-of-an-alley struggling ice cream parlor did not fit any of his personas. Not the rich kid and definitely not the hardened criminal.

"Don't change the subject."

I rolled my eyes as offhandedly as I could manage even though inwardly, I bristled.

'Can't I win one battle today?' a part of me wanted to scream.

"I'm just curious. No matter how I look at it, it doesn't fit." My voice sounded just a little high pitched to my ears and despite my efforts, my eyes kept darting away.

It was embarrassing. Humiliating, even. I prided myself on being an excellent liar with no tells but here I was, acting like an amateur.

Something about Masked Idiot threw me off my game. From the day he showed up at the library. There were at least ten better ways to handle that than agreeing to let him publicly stalk me.

What is it about him that I keep doing these stupid things?

I set my spoon down briskly, an annoyed scowl making it's way ontomy face.

"Because... It's what I do. It's what I'm supposed to do," I answered in a brusque tone.

He shook his head, a confused smile coating his face. "What?"

"You heard me," I countered.

"Doing that girl's dirty work is what you're supposed to do?" he questioned in a mocking tone. "That makes no sense." His eye narrowed, not with suspicion but disbelief of what he considered a ridiculous notion.

I shrugged unapologetically, rubbing my cold hands together to create heat.

"You hate her. She hates you. There's no reason for you to do her dirty work."

"I... Well..." I sighed, pushing my spoon around in the ice cream bowl as I waited for an easier way to explain the situation to hit me. "It's complicated," I ventured finally, giving up.

"Simplify it then because I'm not following."

I rolled my eyes, dumping a spoonful of the icecream in my mouth.