"The pub, Caprice," I insist with a dimpled smile. "I need a drink. You look like you could use one too."
"We'll talk about going to my place, right?" Her eyes drop to the front of my gym shorts and thank fuck that my cock's interest is solely in Brynn. It's still impressive under the fabric, but at least it's not bordering on obscene anymore.
"Go change and meet me at the pub in fifteen minutes." I drop her wrists.
"I'm on my way." She pivots on her heel and takes off in a slow jog across the gym, her red hair bouncing off her shoulders.
"Look, Brynn." I take a deep breath as I turn. "I'm sorry…"
My voice trails. She's gone. I scan the entire gym but there's not one trace of Brynn Bishop anywhere.
Fuck.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Brynn
The lashof a sandpaper tongue on my cheek awakens me. I turn to the side and reach out to pull him close. He jumps back, playfully pawing at my hand. I open one eye to see Pike's little brown eyes staring at me.
"You're feeling better, aren't you?" My voice cracks with emotion. "You're the strongest boy I know."
I'm rewarded with a bark and a whimper.
"You need your breakfast and your medicine," I say it as much to myself as to him. It's seven a.m., but I've only been asleep for an hour. Work and thinking about Smith Booth stole a good night's sleep from me.
I went straight to the Pentlows' empty apartment after I watched the exchange between Smith and his current lover in the gym yesterday. I walked away once I heard her remind him that they're involved.
He almost kissed me.
I almost let him.
I don't know what came over me, but I wanted the kiss. I wanted it as much as I did when I was a teenager. Smith barely knew I existed then. Yesterday was different. He sought me out at the gym. Heidi, the receptionist and a classmate from high school, told me as much as I was racing to get out of there.
He came there looking for me. He said he wanted to right the wrong but a kiss isn't going to change anything between us.
You can't kiss away a broken dream. It isn't that simple.
My phone buzzes just as I round the corner to the kitchen. I glance down at the screen and a notification that I have a new email. It's my work account. Since I only have one client at the moment, and she's somewhere in the Mediterranean with her Drill Sergeant, I put Pike down on the floor and open my email app.
I skim the message quickly, my gaze bouncing back to the sender several times. I rub my eyes before I read it again.
Is this real?
"Are we awake, Pike? I feel like I'm dreaming." I smile down at him. He's jumping on my legs, a subtle reminder that I promised him a meal.
I open one of the cans of dog food Adley gave me and empty a portion into Pike's ceramic bowl. I pinch a small amount of the soft food between my thumb and forefinger and push one of the pills Dr. Hunt prescribed into the middle of the bite of food. I bend down and feed it to Pike who eagerly swallows it before he eats every morsel in the bowl.
"I'll take you for a walk once I look at this email again." I pick up my phone and read each word of the email slowly. Then I do it again.
"You're up early." Sydney walks into the kitchen dressed only in a pink bra and panties. "Do you need to get to work? I can take Pikey for his walk."
I love that she adores my dog as much as I do. I couldn't ask for a better roommate. She's still in college, and now that she's on summer break, she's devoting her time to working as a barista.
"I was just about to take him." I look down at the short yellow robe I'm wearing. "I need to get dressed first, obviously."
She laughs as she reaches into the fridge to pull out a small bowl of fruit salad. "I'll save half of this for you. You should eat breakfast more often, Brynn. It's the most important meal of the day according to my dad."
Her dad is a cardiologist and his health advice always finds a way to seep into Sydney's good intentioned lectures. She's a clean eater who tries to stay away from anything with sugar or alcohol. I'm always joking with her that her virtue cancels out my sins. At least when it comes to food and cocktails, it does.
