Coffee & Criminals

16. Observations

After driving several more minutes, the duration in which I spent glaring out the window with flushed cheeks and Wolfe with a smirk on his face, the streets got familiar. Pretty soon, we turned onto the block of small local shops. The Espresso House was visible at the end of the street, lights glowing from inside. 

I put my phone into my bag and got ready to say my thanks when Wolfe suddenly stopped the car and cut off the engine. 

Right there. 

In the middle of the street, a full block away from where he was supposed to pull up. 

The asshole didn't even park. 

Brooklyn streets were always busy. Thankfully, no cars drove by just yet but sitting there like two idiots, just waiting to get into a car accident, made me nervous. Suppose a car needed to get past? Wolfe blocked the entire street. And I didn't even want to think about what would happen if anyone dared to even get into an altercation with Wolfe. 

You don't honk at Wolfe Sterling. 

He honks you.

And then, to make matters worse, Wolfe locked all the doors at once with one push of a button that was on his side of the car, right above the armrest. His car had the kind of locks that couldn't just be pulled open with fingers, which is exactly what I tried to do with no luck.

"Hey." I frowned, pulling the straps of my bag over my shoulders. I had to yank on my hair to pull it out from underneath. Wolfe didn't move, staring straight ahead something with a look on his face I couldn't describe. Not angry, more like...disappointment. "Come on, don't do murder-y stuff like that. Unlock the doors, Wolfe. Thank you for the ride but I need to go-"

"Who's that kid sitting on the steps of your apartment?" He asked quietly.

"Who?" Confused, I followed the line of his gaze. A figure hunkered down on the stone steps, hood pulled over and reading the newspaper. When the person finally glanced up, I realized who it was. "Hey, that's Ade!" I exclaimed, fumbling with the seatbelt. "I have to go-"

"Boyfriend?"

I stopped and stared at Wolfe. "What?"

He pressed his lips together and let them go, and the blood rushed back to color his mouth quickly. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Wolfe almost seemed pissed. But I knew better, so I didn't think that. He stared out the windshield, seeing things no one else could. With hands clamped tightly around the steering wheel, Wolfe made a little grunting noise. "Is that your boyfriend?" He repeated, just as quiet as before.

"No! What's it to you?" I expressed my annoyance as I pulled open the seatbelt. With a cautious glance, I reached over slowly and tried to push the button he did to unlock all the doors. Before I could, however, Wolfe smacked the hand that was slowly snaking over his lap. Pulling my arm back, I shot him a stinging glare. "Open the door, Wolfe! Please. I need to go. Why would you stop in the middle of the street? Who does that? Only assholes do that. And you, sir, are the king of assholes. You should do porn, you're so good at being a dick." Okay, shut up now Florence. "You're like one of those weird slick-backed hair type of guys that always wears a red silk bathrobe to show off his manly chest hair and smokes one of those pipe things and everyone pretends to like them just because they have money and-"

"Shhh." Wolfe leaned over and shut my lips tight with two of his fingers. I swatted him away. "You always talk and I have no idea what you say half the time, so let's cut the bullshit, Florence. It's my turn to talk and you better sit here and listen because I'm not letting you leave until you do."

He looked at me to see if I would comply, which I did after muttering 'jerk' under my breath. 

Wolfe stared at my legs for a second. He didn't look at them as one would look at legs, I suppose. There was nothing there that had the barest hint of making me uncomfortable on purpose, which he was so fond of. Rather, it was more like an object to focus on as he spoke.