Page 24 of Riot

“Who’s the guy, baby bird? Don’t think I’ve forgotten. Spill the tea. I want details. Leave nothing out.”

My phone buzzed in my back pocket. Pulling it out, I saw my boss’s name and already knew I wasn’t going to enjoy this.

With a sigh, I answered. “If this is about the broken lint trap, I deny everything.”

“Beth called off,” Carla said without pretending to care about my emotional state. “Family emergency.”

I glanced at the clock over the office window, surprised at how much time had passed since Niles arrived. One fifty-three. My shift ended at three. Beth was supposed to come in at two-thirty for overlap.

“I need you to stay until I can find someone to cover her shift.”

“How long is until?” I asked, barely keeping the whine out of my voice.

My head fell back, and I stared at the stained ceiling tile over the change machine. Riot was supposed to see me after work. I’d already spent my entire shift being weirdly excited about it. I was not emotionally built for disappointment before dinner.

“I’m working on Tammy.”

“Which means you don’t have a replacement yet.” Tammy never answered her phone when she wasn’t on the schedule. She believed in a life outside of work. So did I, and now I finally had one to covet. I wasn’t sure how Beth kept her job. She called off more than she worked.

Carla ignored me. “Please, Calvin. Just until somebody gets there.”

Near the front, a washer hit the spin cycle hard enough to rattle. Mrs. Hensley flinched. Mrs. Ortega didn’t even look up from folding a towel so many times it resembled a brown chicklet.

“Fine.” I blew out a breath, knowing I had no other choice. “But if Tammy doesn’t show, I’m setting the place on fire and leaving.”

“You’re an angel.”

“I’m really not.”

She had already hung up.

I shoved my phone back into my pocket and stood there for a moment, annoyed and trying not to let it ruin my mood. It sort of did anyway. Riot would understand. Probably. He seemed unfairly sane. Still, I didn’t like having my plans jerked around. My whole life had enough of that already.

Niles watched my face, sipping his coffee. “What happened?”

“Beth called off. I have to stay until somebody covers.” I scrubbed a hand over my mouth and stared at the row of machines without seeing any of them. “I was supposed to leave in an hour.”

I told him about Riot and the cookout. How we’d met, leaving nothing out as requested. Like I actually would.

Niles made a sympathetic noise. “And now your biker date is delayed.”

“It’s not a date.”

“Hmm.”

“It’s hanging out.”

He lifted his cup. “With the man you want to climb like a tree.”

“Trees are outdoors. Too much pollen.”

Niles grinned then glanced toward the front windows. Sunlight bounced off the glass and made the room look brighter than it felt. Inside, one of the washers clunked into a new cycle. Mrs. Ortega was transferring slacks from a cart with the slowness of a snail.

“Text your leather daddy,” Niles said.

I didn’t bother arguing that Riot wasn’t my leather anything. “I will.”

“Do it now before you start making it weird in your own head.”