I refused to turn and look at him, but the other two women greeted Doug with cool politeness.
“Hey, Doug,” said Caitlyn.
“Sir Douglas,” Ann inclined her head and gave a very respectable curtsy.
There was an awkward silence, and I presumed Doug was waiting for me to turn and say something to him. I didn’t.
“So what’s up, Jen? Are you not speaking to me now?”
I folded my arms across my chest, still refusing to look at him. “Are you still holding my tiara hostage? If so, then you’re correct. I’m not talking to you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught him gesturing dramatically with open palms. “Hey, we have a perfectly fair agreement. I think we can all be adults here.”
“Too late for you,” I ground out.
Doug stepped closer to me, and I detected more movement from the other side of the table.
“C’mon, Jen, do you have to be like that?” Doug’s hand landed on my shoulder and I jerked away from the touch, rounding on him. But William was there first.
“Step away from her,” he said in a quiet voice that was deadly as poison.
“Chill, Forrest Gump. I’m not hurting her. I have a right to talk to my girlfriend.”
I stiffened, trying to keep a lid on the rage I was suddenly feeling. “Ex,” I corrected. “So very ex. And if you call him that again, I’m going to start talking about the real reason you need to overcompensate by acting like an asshole all the time.” I held up my thumb and forefinger about an inch apart while both Caitlyn and Ann laughed.
His mouth thinned. “Whatever. So you’ve traded down I see. Hanging out with the Rain Man.”
Caitlyn flushed beet red. “Fuck off, Doug. You’re an asshole.”
“I call it like I see it. And maybe I’m just concerned that Jen is making a big mistake.”
“I already made a big mistake when I agreed to go out with you,” I muttered. “Now go away.”
“Wow.” He held his hands up in mock surrender. “I see how it is. Treated you like gold for months, and now you just turn around and act all heartless. Believe it or not, I do have feelings that you seem to enjoy stomping on.” He shifted his attention back to William. “Let that be a lesson to you, because she’ll do the same to you. She’ll lead you on like some small dog until she’s done with you.”
William looked him up and down.
“You do act like a little bitch, so why not treat you like a small dog?” William delivered the biting comeback so calmly that he sounded like he was discussing sword techniques.
Doug flushed dark red and opened his mouth, then shut it again like a fish. He turned to say something to me, but William pointed a finger right in his face before he could get a word out.
“Do not talk to her. She doesn’t want to talk to you. And don’t talk to me, either. Don’t breathe my air.”
Ann and Caitlyn both started laughing and Doug’s head jerked in their direction. But instead of backing off, he crossed his arms over his chest and stared defiantly at William.
William did not meet his gaze, but he did take a threatening step toward Doug. I was this close to getting in between them and stopping the pissing contest when Doug stiffened, startled by William’s threatening posture.
Doug stepped back, a distinct look of fear in his eyes, before waving a hand and saying, “Whatever. You’re all a bunch of losers.” Then he turned and walked off.
“Wow,” Caitlyn said. “He’s nutting up.”
Fists clenched at his sides, William watched Doug retreat, his eyes following the douchebag’s every movement. “Wil? Are you okay?” I asked.
His jaw clenched so tight that it bulged. I studied his posture, his physique. He was so goddamn hot it almost hurt to look at him for too long. And he was never hotter than when he was defending me.
“Hey,” I said, laying a light hand on his shoulder. He immediately jerked away from my touch, and I remembered that he liked to be warned before being touched. “Sorry…”
He licked his lips. “I need to go for a walk and calm down. I’m very angry right now. If he comes back here, text me.”
I bit my bottom lip. “He’s not going to come back. But if he does, I will. I promise.”
He frowned and looked at me intently—everywhere but my eyes, of course—as if inspecting me to make sure I was okay. Then he nodded, turned and left.
“Holy shit,” Caitlyn huffed before swiveling on her stool. “A whole lot of testosterone flowing around here. What is up Doug’s butt?”
Ann was staring straight at me, her head tilted. “Doug is jealous. I watched him while you were doing your reading for William, and he never took his eyes off the two of you.”
Caitlyn frowned. “Is it true, then? Are you seeing William now?” She didn’t seem entirely happy, and I remembered her comment from a few weeks ago.
Save some of them for us homely girls.
I’d suspected that she might have a thing for William. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. He did have his own fangirl section, after all.
“I’m only working with him to help with his crowd issues. So he’ll have a better shot at beating that twerp at the next duel.”
Her shoulders relaxed a bit. Uh-oh. She might as well have just said, “Thank God.”
Ann sat down in the seat William had vacated. I carefully scooped up my Rider-Waite deck and slid it inside its satin pouch. We passed the next few hours talking of other things, mostly work and Ann’s new double major, African Studies and European Studies, at Cal State Fullerton.
I read for a few more people—clan members, visiting courtiers from other clans of the RMRA and “mundanes,” modern park visiters who did not participate in reenactment. I made some decent cash by the time all was said and done.
And fortunately, William returned from his walk unscathed, as I saw him visiting booths again and talking with other clansmen as if nothing had happened. Ann caught me watching him right before it was time to close up shop.
“I don’t think it would be a bad thing for you to date William,” Ann murmured.
I didn’t answer, throwing a surreptitious gaze at Caitlyn, who busied herself with tidying activities at her side of the booth. She laughed to herself after a tense stretch of minutes.