“How did Father react when I disappeared?” He’d been away, so who knew how long it’d been before he was informed.
“Your father loved you. I believe that. But he also loved Kipp. When he had to choose between believing his mate was amurderer or believing his son had an accident, he chose the version that let him keep his family intact and his sanity.”
His words hurt. I’d always suspected that my father hadn't looked for me or questioned Kipp’s story. My beast was outraged and he clawed my insides.
“Your father made the wrong choice. That doesn't change what you need to do now.”
10
WESTON
Freshly showered and all cried out, I threw on a pair of boxer briefs and climbed onto my bed. I hated that it still smelled like Asher. The second I walked out of the shower, it was as if I was surrounded by him without him actually being there. It was difficult to wrap my head around because it didn’t make any sense, but also it 100% did.
I hadn’t cared when I checked in and was told they’d only service the rooms once a week. I wasn’t high-maintenance. I didn’t need new sheets every night or brand-new towels every shower. At the time, I’d been glad because it meant I wasn’t going to need to worry about privacy the way I did at a typical hotel where housekeeping came when it was convenient to them.
But now, as I hugged the pillow close, inhaling deeply despite knowing that it would hurt, I wished that I had asked to upgrade the service. This was hard. I didn’t understand how people could do one-night stands. How did they not get attached? It was like my heart was being broken over and over again each time I thought about him.
“Argh.” I went to throw the pillow, but my hands wouldn’t let go.
I didn’t know what cologne he wore, but it was dangerous because it had me once again reliving last night in my head, unwilling to leave its presence.
My phone rang. Of course, my first thought was,Oh, maybe he found a way to call me. Maybe it’s him,because I wanted it to be him. Not because there was any hope that it actually was. It wasn’t even the work phone that was ringing. It was my personal phone, the one I quickly discovered had no reception outside of town.
Pillow clenched in one hand, I grabbed my phone. It was Stevenson, and honestly, he was the exact person I needed to be speaking to. I hit accept, not considering for a second my current state.
“Are you naked? Please tell me you’re not naked.”
“I have underwear on and a pillow.”
“When did a pillow qualify as clothing?”
“Fine. Hold on.” I put the phone down long enough to grab and put on a t-shirt. “Is this better?”
“Yeah, much. Although, don’t take this the wrong way, but you kinda look like shit.”
“What exactly is the right way to take that?” Not that he was wrong. I’d bawled my eyes out until the shower ran cold. There was no way coming out of that on the other side would be winning modeling contracts.
“Fair.” I still had the pillow clenched in my one hand,
“But seriously, is this town that awful? Are they mean to you because you’re an outsider or something?”
“No, your bestie’s just stupid and caused their own misery.”
“I call bullshit. You are literally the smartest person I have ever met. You have the degrees and the awards to show it.”
I could always count on Stevenson to be my hype man when I needed one.
“Yeah, maybe for science, but I did something really stupid last night… like if you look up the definition for stupid in the dictionary, I wouldn’t be surprised if my face appeared.”
“Deep breaths. I’m sure it’s not that bad. Tell me everything.”
“Fine.” He was the only person I’d feel safe enough telling. Gods, I wished he were here. Doing this over the phone felt extra pathetic. “So, you know, in small towns, there’s one place everybody gathers?—”
“When I said tell me everything, I meant skip to the good stuff. Don’t lay the groundwork. Just get right to it. We can always go back.”
He loved gossip and juicy details. He also knew full well that when I got this worked up over something, I often didn’t get the entire story out.
“I took a guy home and banged him, and he wasn’t there this morning.”
