“I can’t—” I tried to protest, but he was already out the door.
Price
My feet hit the pavement in even strides. Heavy, humid air hung around me, and I ran a hand over my face, swiping the sweat out of my eyes. A horn blared in the background, less abrupt than the pounding in my heart. Not from exertion, but from the thought of kissing Emerson the other night.
Fuck.I didn’t know why I was so caught up about it. I’d had plenty of women since leaving Moira and home. We had an arrangement. Then I’d gone and visited Em at work ... and it became clear that anything with her would be above and beyond the arrangement Moira had in mind.
The sound of horse hooves rang off to my left as I made my way down Central Park South. My first mistake: I’d abandoned my earbuds for my own thoughts. They plagued me all the way back to my building.
“Hey there, Mr. Price. How was your run?”
“Better now that you got my damn name right, Rudy. Now if you’d just drop themister, we’ll be right as rain.” The last part came out with a hint of twang, and it made me hungry for a plate of farm-fresh eggs and thick-cut bacon.
“Management’s rules.” He held a hand up as if taking a vow. “If I could, I would.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, taking the chilled bottle of water he offered me. “Whose life is this?”
“Excuse me, sir?”
“Sorry. It was a rhetorical question. At home, I’d be drinking from the garden hose.”
This got me a chuckle from Rudy. “I’d love to see you do that here. You’d be getting a lot of strange looks, even from the dogs.”
I chugged the water, then crushed the plastic bottle.
“Haven’t seen you around much when I’ve been on evenings.”
Leaning on the desk, I said, “Been going out a little bit.”
“Well, that’s good. Means you’re adjusting to your new life.”
“Not sure that’ll ever happen.” Lifting my arm, I swished the crinkled-up bottle into the garbage can. “Three points!”
“Ready for the Knicks, Mr. Price!”
“Knock it off,” I said with a smile.
“Okay, ready for your new life here in the city.”
“Still not sure I’ll ever be ready.”
On my way toward the elevator, Rudy called after me, “We’ll see.”
And I was right back to thinking about Moira.
Unable to shake her from my thoughts, I decided to call her. It wasn’t bacon and eggs, but her voice was the next best thing to being home.
“Hey, what’s up, Price?” Somewhat breathless, she answered on the second ring.
“Nothing’s up, just checking in.”
“Oh.”
“Is everything okay? You sound winded.” Setting the iPhone on speaker, I took off my wet T-shirt and plopped down on the couch. I probably wasn’t supposed to sit on the expensive leather all sweaty, but I didn’t really give a fuck.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. I’m working in the farm store today, and I was in the back dealing with inventory.”
“It’s been a while,” I said, not knowing what I wanted her to say back.
