He Shelved My Designs, Then Crashed Into My Bed novel · Chapter 11 of 24
Chapter 11: Hands
Rett wound the leather apron strap twice around Ward's wrists and knotted it to the bench vise.
"Tell me if it's too tight," he said.
"It isn't," Ward said.
"Tell me anyway."
"It's fine, Rett."
It was Wednesday, past eleven, and the shop was dark except for the lamp.
Ward stood bent forward at the waist, shirtless, his forearms stretched along the bench and his trousers pooled at his ankles.
The vise held the strap in a clean hard line.
Rett walked slowly around him.
He had been angry for twenty-four hours, and the anger had turned into something steadier and meaner.
"You say you walked into the wrong door," Rett said.
"I did," Ward said.
"You say you didn't plan it."
"I didn't. The lights died. I was counting doors by feel, and I'd gotten the number wrong," Ward said.
"Then you stayed."
"Yes," Ward said.
"Why?"
Ward breathed in, and his back moved under the lamp.
"Because you spoke," he said.
Rett stopped behind him.
"I told you to leave," Rett said.
"Yes."
"That's it?" Rett said.
"I knew the voice."
Ward's face was turned toward the wall, and his voice came out rough.
"You said 'then leave,' and I knew it. I have heard you say worse to my machine, forty-one times."
The shop was very quiet.
Rett felt the floor tilt a little.
"You played them," he said.
"Yes," Ward said.
"You listened to every one."
"I listened to every one, many times," Ward said.
"And you didn't call me back."
"No," Ward said.
Rett laughed, a short ugly sound.
He took a step and put the flat of his hand on the center of Ward's back.
The skin was hot and damp, and the muscle shivered under his palm.
"You listened to me beg," Rett said, "and you didn't pick up a phone."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of He Shelved My Designs, Then Crashed Into My Bed are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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