When Perfect Meets Crazy

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.”

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

profile. Judging from his expression, it seemed

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

“Tammy,” he supplied.

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

anyway?” he asked, an

drew my attention back to the problems at

start,” I grumbled, irritation clear in my tone and on my face as I roughly cut off a minivan, ignoring the angry honk that

she couldn’t have meant to,” he interceded on Olly’s

my profile and could pretty much hear the

scowled, massaging the bridge of

she still checks my car to

disbelief

I added, in case it

hands up in the universal sign of surrender.

pulls this?” I hissed, impatiently honking at

-and restraint while I was at

hummed, trying

I didn’t need much of a response to keep me going. I was riled up enough to go on for hours

eyes flashed with barely leashed anger. “And

to digest the news. “You definitely have a reason to

to top it off, I was called in for an impromptu prom committee meeting. Apparently the caterer for the semi-formal cancelled and I have to fix it,” I went on passionately, seamlessly sliding into rant mode, completely forgetting that I was supposed to

scoffed. “So I have to be present for important decisions. Never mind that I’m only there to, literally, thwart any

time I finished, my voice was several octaves higher and I was brimming with anger. Ian,

slapped down on my horn, aggressively overtaking the sedan in front of me. “Depend on me less? It

smile. “You’ll breeze in, do your thing and have it all fixed in minutes. I’ve seen you fix problems like they were

not the point,” I ground out. “I know I can. I don’t want

always gloat to me afterward.” He scrunched

not all the time. Not when

the anger backing it, I shrugged and slapped on a cheeky smile like it was supposed to be a joke. Like I was fanning the flames

Really?” He arched a brow, thankfully ignoring the latter part.

or if it had actually gone over his head. His tone, however,