It sounds like he’s offering me the job, but I try not to get too excited just yet even though it would be an amazing distraction to what is swirling around inside my head in regard to Goose and what is going on with him… with us, because there has definitely been a shift.
“I’d like to offer you the job, if it’s something you’re up to? It’s full-time, benefits, and great health insurance.”
His words take a moment to sink in. They have to push all the ones about Goose to the back of my mind before they can completely take shape, and I can comprehend them. Sliding my tongue along my bottom lip, I can’t stop the smile from forming.
“Yes,” I reply. “A million times yes.”
He chuckles and extends his hand. I slip my palm in his, and we shake. “Welcome to the team. We’re small but mighty.”
And he’s not lying about that. Right now, it’s literally him and his nurse. I’m okay with that, though. I’m used to working in a small office and working independently. Thanking him, I ask when I can start, and he suggests Monday morning.
Leaving the office with a stack of paperwork to complete, I can’t help but feel a bit lighter. I have a job that will at least pay my necessary bills. The rest will come as it does, but at least I don’t have to move and won’t need to ask anyone for money.
I stop by the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. Since Goose is still down, I thought I would make something warm and comforting… I’m going to try my hand at lasagna for the first time.
I spent all morning full of nervous energy, so I put that into searching for a good dinner recipe. The one I found looked easy enough, so I think I can pull it off. The ingredients are simple enough, and it doesn’t take me long to make my purchases and head home.
Carrying the bags up the stairs, I move toward the door to my apartment, but before I even stick my key into the lock, I pause.
Something feels off.
Not just a little off, but really freaking off.
Looking around the hallway, I take in my surroundings. Nothing around me seems off. Everything is where it’s supposed to be. Turning the key, I open the front door and step into the apartment.
I know it the moment I am inside.
He’s gone.
Not just gone for a few hours, but I can feel it. Goose, Trent—he’s gone. I walk into the kitchen and place my shopping bags on the counter before I drop them onto the floor and make a huge mess. I don’t think I have the wherewithal to clean up a mess right now.
Once the bags are deposited on the counter, I walk directly toward the bedroom. The bed is unmade, but there is nobody sleeping in it. My gaze shifts around the room, and that’s when I realize the place where Goose kept his bag is empty. I rushtoward the bathroom, and my breath hitches as it registers that all his toiletries are gone.
Looking over my shoulder at the nightstand, I let out a pained exhale. His phone charger is gone. That’s such a silly thing to notice, but phone chargers are seriously important, and if his is gone, it means he’s gone, because he plugged that thing in the outlet next to my bed on the second day, and it hasn’t moved.
Until now.
He’s gone.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CIDNEY
I’m notsure how long I stand in the middle of my bedroom trying to come to grips with the fact that he’s gone, but it’s long enough that the sun sets before I force myself to move. When I do, it feels like a million needles are pricking my legs.
Walking into the kitchen, I put the groceries away before they completely spoil, then I close the refrigerator without making a single thing to eat and walk into the living room, where I sink down on the sofa and stare at the blank television for a long moment.
A long, silent moment.
Because that’s what’s surrounding me—silence.
I reach into my back pocket and take my phone out, flicking my gaze from the blank television to the screen in front of me. It’s also blank. Not a single notification, nothing. He didn’t even text me. He just walked away without a single word.
And my hopes are not high that he’s just gone for a change of clothes. I could feel him pulling away from me the momentJustin and Maverick dropped him off here after he’d been beaten up.
That’s when it hits me. I am not worth it. I was not worth him getting his ass kicked, a rule that is part of their world and I had absolutely nothing to do with, but I’m not worth it. Simple as that.
I am not worth it.
