I popped the lid off the coffee and guzzled while I scooped up a helping of kibble.
Dog fed, I shoved my head under the faucet and turned on the cold water, willing the shock to wake up my brain.
I came up for air and found a hand towel hovering in front of my face.
I took it without a thank you and dried off.
“Why are you bringing me coffee at an inhuman hour?”
“To talk about Naomi, of course. I assumed you were quicker than this.”
“I am when my sleep isn’t interrupted.”
So maybe it hadn’t been the sleep I was pissed off about. Maybe it was the dream involving Naomi’s cherry-painted lips that had just been getting warmed up when this asshole decided to be social.
“My apologies. I figured this talk couldn’t wait,” he said, pulling out a stool at the counter.
I crumpled up the towel and threw it in the sink. “Is this the part where you tell me to back off your girl?”
Stef laughed.
“Something funny?”
“You’re one of those straights with baggage that complicates everything,” he said, leaning on the counter.
“You have until I finish this coffee before I throw you out.”
“Fine. I appreciate you looking out for Naomi. You hear a stranger is asking questions around town looking for her and you got her and Waylay out, made sure they were safe. She’s not used to someone taking care of her like that.”
“Didn’t do it because I want to get in her pants.”
“No, even though you do. Because you’re not stupid. You did it because you wanted to protect her. So even though you’ve got this whole Oscar the Sexy Grouch thing going, you’re already miles beyond Warner in my opinion.”
I kept my face neutral, not willing to show any interest in this new topic.
“Warner used her. And I tried to warn her. Hell, I even warned him. But Naomi did what she’s always done.”
“Cleaned up everyone else’s messes,” I said.
Stef raised an eyebrow. “Well, well, well. Look who’s been paying attention.”
Waylon let out a hearty burp from the floor. He sat staring at his now empty dish as if expecting it to magically refill.
“What’s your point?”
“She’s spent her entire life trying to make up for her sister, who sucks, by the way. And it keeps biting her in the ass. Be the perfect student. Get the perfect job. Marry the perfect guy. Now she’s signed up to take care of an eleven-year-old in a strange place and is hoping that if she can just be good enough, she can stop her parents’ hearts from breaking again.”
I shoved a hand through my hair. “What does any of this have to do with me?”
Stef held up his hands and grinned. “Look. I get if you’re in that whole ‘I’m not interested’ phase. The last thing Nomi needs right now is a hot and heavy relationship that’s going to get messy because of your baggage. But if you keep looking out for her like you did yesterday, we won’t have a problem.”
“And if I don’t?”
“If you use that accommodating nature of hers against her, then we’re going to have a huge problem. I can be very creative when it comes to finding ways to make you regret being an asshole.”
It was ballsy. I had to give it to him. Showing up to a stranger’s house with coffee and then threatening him. It felt like something I might do, minus the coffee thing.
“What kind of creative problem is this Warner asshole having right now?”
Stef took a long sip of coffee. “Right now I’m letting the humiliation of being left at the altar by the woman he told his friends was ‘beneath his class’ do its work. But if he comes near her again, I’ll ruin him.”
“What did he do?” I asked.
He blew out a breath and took a sip of his own coffee. “I didn’t know specifics until last night and I’ve been sworn to secrecy.”
“Bad?”
Stef’s jaw clenched. “Bad,” he agreed.
I didn’t like that this guy had Naomi’s confidence. That he had access to her secrets, and I was on the outside left guessing. But I could think of a few dozen things that fell under the category of Bad. Any one of them would be worth breaking an asshole’s jaw over.
“He better hope he’s never dumb enough to step foot in town limits,” I said, putting my empty cup down.
“Hate to break it to you,” Stef said, looking up from the full-body scratch he was giving Waylon. “He’s definitely that dumb. Besides, where else would he go when he realizes that Naomi’s the one who solved every problem he ever had? He’s already emailing her every day. It’s only a matter of time before he figures out where she is.”