Bonnie draws her lip behind her teeth and smiles one more time before closing the SUV door. I can’t drag my eyes away from her as she crosses the space into the front doors of the building and disappears past the corner.
Shit.
I barely know what to do with myself right now. I can still feel those letters on my palm, and it takes me remembering my plans for the afternoon to finally drag myself out of this daze.
Time to get to work.
Where is my friend?
Kade replies within a few seconds.
KADE
I wondered if you were still going through with this today.
Thought Bonnie might have lured you into her apartment instead after all that fucking flirting.
I send him a middle finger emoji.
Just tell me where this creep is.
I’ll send you a pin.
Try not to actually cut him into pieces when you get there.
Don’t take away my fun.
I’ll be ready with that info whenever you’re ready.
Perfect. Thanks.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
BONNIE
IOU.
Shit.
I blow out a breath as I enter the elevator of my building, cursing myself for trying to be a better person. Years ago, I would have led Gemma on, not worried about any pain I might bring myself or her. Not now. Now, I actually think about those things because something this meaningful… it might be enough to threaten everything I’ve worked for.
Or it might make me feel a little more complete.
One of the main reasons I want to see Darcy today is to get my head on straight and hope to hell they assure me that if I fuck up something with Gemma that I’ll be okay, that I won’t fall apart if things go wrong, if we break up, or I start feeling like the ease of a drink is the only thing that will heal me.
The elevator stops three times to let off other tenants before I finally reach my floor. The sight of the solid black door catches me off guard until I remember Gemma saying they were having to replace it.
Still, I didn’t expect a black door. Maybe that’s the color they’re going with during the remodel. I know they’re trying to make it as nice as the Building B side, which is only a coupleof years old. The lobby has already been repainted, and some of the halls re-carpeted. And now that I’m thinking about it, I do remember some doors being black.
I kind of like it.
However, as soon as I go inside, I cringe.
Shit. I hope the maintenance people aren’t snitches. My place is a fucking mess.
I should have cleaned it before leaving for the studio, I know that. At least there isn’t food everywhere. Sure, there’s some trash, but it’s mostly clothes from where I was going through my entire closet to find very specific outfits that I wanted to wear.
I toss my keys into the bowl by the door, drop the produce on the kitchen counter, and head into the bedroom to throw my duffle bag on the bed.
