The Jealousy Game novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: Blow at 8:15

On Wednesday night Casper was on his knees at my back door with a drill.

I had asked him to change the lock, and he had shown up at nine with a new deadbolt and a tool bag and said nothing about the dinner.

I stood at the prep table with my arms crossed, shaping tomorrow's rolls, and tried not to watch his forearms.

The sleeves of his sweatshirt were pushed up.

The tendons in his right hand moved every time he turned the screw.

His left hand was wrapped in clean white gauze, and the stitches from Saturday showed at the edge.

He seated the bolt and turned the key, and it slid home without a sound.

"That's it," he said.

"Thank you."

I noticed that I was still looking at his hands.

The bell on the front door rang, though the sign was turned and the lights were low.

I walked out through the swinging door.

Dean was standing on the mat with his phone in one hand and a six-pack of beer in the other.

He didn't look like a coach.

"I'm not here to drink these," he said. "I just didn't want to show up with nothing."

"Put them down."

He set the six-pack on the glass case.

"Casper's in the back?"

"He's fixing my lock."

Dean's eyes closed, briefly, and opened again.

"Good," he said. "That's good. I wanted him to hear this."

Casper had come to the doorway behind me, wiping his hands.

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