When Perfect Meets Crazy novel Chapter 28

I came out of the Davidson home to find Masked Idiot casually leaning on the hood of my car, looking much like a model at photoshoot. The sunshades and leather jacket worked magic for him

I faltered mid stride, unsure of how to proceed.

Thanks to Parker, I now knew for a fact he wasn’t a criminal. Quite the opposite, a Fed. A criminal, I could handle. A Fed, I wasn’t sure what to do it especially since he couldn’t know I knew. Outing Parker for revealing confidential information was off the table.

I decided to be blasé and quickly sent up a prayer so it wouldn’t come off weird.

“What’s the occasion?” I asked, gesturing to his outfit and pose.

It was a safe neutral conversation starter. So far so good.

“Why, hello to you too,” he drawled sarcastically, straightening to his full height.

I waved it off.

“I’m not entirely sure where etiquette stands on stalkers but it definitely isn’t exchanging greetings like close friends,” I countered, elbowing him out of the way so I could get to the driver side door of the car.

I was really nailing it.

His bike was nowhere in sight. I interpreted it to mean he’d be hitching a ride with me. While I wasn’t in danger of letting it slip that I knew he was a Fed, I still didn’t think spending more time than necessary in his presence was a good idea. In some ways, being a Fed was worse than being a criminal. A criminal, I could easily deny and everyone would believe me. A Fed, not so much. More so now, with my mom still away. If my dad got wind of this...

I shuddered.

“Someone’s grumpy,” he muttered under his breath, crossing over to the passenger side of the car.

“What’s up?” I asked as he settled in the front seat.

Anything to distract myself from the gruesome thought.

“Nothing.”

“Where are you coming from?” I probed.

“Why do you ask?” distrust coated his tone.

“You’re dressed nicer than usual,” I replied, realizing that the question had probably sounded invasive to him even though I hadn’t meant it to be. I gestured to his outfit, sparing him a cursory glance before returning my gaze to the rear-view mirror as I backed on to the road. “Why?”

“I had a date.”

It was all I could do to not physically react to the reminder. In light of the new revelation that he was a Fed, I had completely forgotten the fact that he had a girlfriend. I had instantly penned him down as a lone wolf, like Parker the only other actual agent I knew. The idea of a date -much less a girlfriend- seemed preposterous now. It was stupid of me to forget that he had a one though. I was supposed to be constantly alert and on my toes, and not forgetting important things like a girlfriend. I could kick myself.

I snuck a glance at his profile. Judging from his expression, it seemed the ‘date’ had gone awry.

“Ah.” I nodded emphatically, covering up my mistake. “With the infamous girlfriend, yeah? What was her name again?”

“Tammy,” he supplied.

“Tammy,” I echoed, silently wondering why I didn’t know any Tammys just like I didn’t know any Ellies. Why couldn’t he have been dating a girl I knew? It would’ve saved both of us much from the to-trust-or-not-to-trust rollercoaster. I wasn’t asking for much, just someone to vouch for my character and persuade him to lay off. “Trouble in paradise?”

“Where are we going anyway?” he asked, an awkward beat of silence later.

The question drew my attention back to the problems at hand and off him and his relationship drama.

“Olly took our mom’s car out since she’s away and now it won’t start,” I grumbled, irritation clear in my tone and on my face as I roughly cut off a minivan, ignoring the angry honk that came from it. “I can’t believe she did something so stupid!”

“Spoiling your mom’s car is a bad move but she couldn’t have meant to,” he interceded on Olly’s behalf.

I could feel his gaze on my profile and could pretty much hear the ‘it was just a mistake. Why are you being extra?’ on his lips.

I scowled, massaging the bridge of my nose.

“My mom never signed off her touching the car. I barely get away with using mine. I mean, she still checks my car to make sure I’m not driving recklessly. But now that the cat’s away, my stupid stupid sister decided it was time to play.”

I huffed, annoyed disbelief on my face.

“Stupidly,” I added, in case it wasn’t already clear.

He nodded slowly, holding his hands up in the universal sign of surrender.

“I covered for her with the sleepover and now she pulls this?” I hissed, impatiently honking at the car ahead of me. “She didn’t even tell me before taking the car out.”