“Close. The. Shutter. So I don’t have to deal with broken glass in the morning,” he says, shaking his head in annoyance as the door slams closed behind him.
In all of the years that I’ve known him, I’ve seen Tripp arrested at least six times. I’ve seen him in more fights than I can count on one hand, particularly over the past couple of years. I’ve seen what happens to people on the receiving end of his rage, especially when his wife is in any way involved; and it’s never been pretty.
Thisisn’t like any of those times. Now, it’s like he’s made of stone. An impenetrable wall I can’t break through, and I’m not entirely sure that I want to try.
This isn’t Riptide; it certainly isn’t T-Mo. This is some new, third guy that I’ve never met before, and I have absolutely zero interest in getting to know him.
The Tripp I know would kick my ass for what I did to him, but whoeverthis guyis, he might pull out my intestines and drape them along the curtains like a stylish new bunting.
“Finish him!”
Mashing a few buttons on the controller in my hand sends out a frenzied attack, and Johnny Cage tears open the abdomen of his animated opponent, using her chest cavity as a window to smile at me through the TV screen.
Satisfied with my victory against my computer-generated opponent, I turn off the console and toss the controller onto my bed.
Ishouldbe making an inventory list and getting my stuff ready for Jacksonville next weekend. This is my favorite weekend of every year, without fail. Since we started going, there hasn’t been a single time that I haven’t been excited to go.
This year, that looks a little bit different.
The drive that I normally make out there with Tripp, I’ll be taking with another guy from the shop. After the way that he acted all day today, I’m not sure if he’ll even acknowledge my existence while we’re there. I’m not sure if he’ll acknowledge it when we come back, either.
“Koda,” I call out while I pull the leash from the knob on my door, “let’s take a walk.”
It takes only a few seconds for the dog’s bumbling body to come galloping through the doorway, slipping on the tile in a similar fashion to that of a baby deer who hasn’t yet gained his bearings.
So, we know what ‘walk’ means now, I guess.
After getting him geared up and offering a quick farewell to my roommates, we’re trekking down the sidewalk and away from the house.
I never really wanted a big house – not that the one I’m living in is some kind of mansion or anything. It’s just bigger than my last place. After the last time, I didn’t want to have roommates, either. Since adopting Koda, though, both of those things have wound up working in my favor.
I’m sure it helps that I’ve made sure not to screw any of my roommates this time, too.
Koda’s feet slap against the concrete while we walk, and every now again, he’ll snap at a passing insect in an attempt to eat it.
“Some of those are toxic, dingdong.”
My hand drops to his rear end to give him a few pats, and his head turns toward me, his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth as his tail whacks against my leg.
Our speed picks up as we make our way down the sidewalk, until we’re jogging alongside each other. We run until my calves ache and Koda starts to slow before we finally begin a much more leisurely trek back toward the house.
As I make it back into my bedroom and I pull up my supplier’s website, I find myself clicking out of the browser to pull up my text messages, and I quickly type one out to send to Tripp.
The messages show as read almost immediately, though no response ever comes through.
He knows how much I hate being left on read; heneverleaves me on read.
With a groan, I toss the phone onto my bed, letting my body flop onto it afterward.
This is where my sister would tell me to cut my losses, to move on, reach out to another friend and try to ‘nurture that relationship.’
But I can’t.
I don’t want to letthisone go.
Chapter 23
JULIA
