"If I were choking him," Jack said, "I'd have been done thirty seconds ago."
Yikes."Okaaaaaay. But seriously, thiswasn'twhat I had in mind."
Jack gave me a long, inscrutable look. "So, about that pencil—"
"Forget the pencil," I said. "I'm just saying, maybe we could dial it down a notch?" I gave him a desperate look. "Please?"
Nicky squeaked, "Yeah. Like what the hell, dude?"
Jack's gaze snapped in his direction. "So, tell me..." His voice hardened. "Are you gonna show us?"
Nicky stared in obvious confusion. "Show you what?"
Jack glanced down. "Your cock."
I stifled a gasp. "What?"
Jack didn't even look in my direction. Instead, he leaned a fraction closer to Nicky and said, "I hear you like that sort of thing. So, go ahead. Drop your pants. We'll wait."
I blurted out, "No!"
Jack turned to me in mock confusion. "No? You sure?"
"No," I repeated. "I mean, I don't want to see anything."Cripes, I hadn't wanted to see it the first time.
"Right," Jack said, turning once again to Nicky. "You catch that?"
Nicky nodded so hard, I was half-surprised he didn't chokehimself.
But Jack still wasn't done. In a voice filled with menace, he told Nicky, "And let's get one thing straight, you're done hassling her. Got it?"
Again, Nicky nodded.
Still, Jack continued. "No calling her. No texting her. No saying 'hi' if you pass her on the street. She doesn't exist. And neither do I. You understand?"
After another frantic nod from Nicky, Jack finally let go. When he did, Nicky stumbled sideways with a long, unsteady breath and then bolted straight for his bedroom. Once inside, he slammed the door so hard, I swear, the whole condo shook.
As I stared after him, I asked, "What's he doing?"
"My guess?" Jack said. "Climbing out the back window."
I turned to face him. "What?"
"Wouldn’t be the first time."
By now, I was nearly speechless.
For all the drama, nothing was solved, not really. Okay, sure, Nicky was suitably terrified and would probably avoid me from now on. But now, I had trouble of a different kind.
After that little scene at the door, I couldn’t stay here another night. But I had to sleepsomewhere. And there was no way on Earth I could leave my things unattended, not here, anyway.
Again, I asked myself,What now?
I was still trying to figure it out when Jack said, "Pack your stuff. We're leaving."
Chapter 10
Jack
