“My cat. He has no manners.” I wince as his shrieks somehow grow louder. “Jasper apparently created a hot dog-loving scream machine. I don’t even have hot dogs. They’re terrible for humans, let alone cats.”
“Sounds like a great friend.”
I snort. “He’s gonna need a little physical therapy, too, after I see him next.”
Achilles laughs. “So, how are things?”
“Fine. Shoulder feels good, and I have a pretty decent range of motion.” It didn’t make a peep while I turned Audrey Vaninside fucking outthe past few days. I had something else to say, but now that my brain has allowed Doc into its wavelengths, I’m cooked. “That’s it.”
“You said something about cancelling this weekend’s online workout?”
Fuck.That’s right. That’s the whole reason I called him in the first place. “Yeah. I gotta head to Vegas on Saturday for a few meetings. And something came up that will leave me unavailable most of tomorrow.”
Audrey doesn’t know we have plans, but I’m hoping when I see her in a little bit, she’ll understand that I need to make plans with her. My mind’s spinning with how true that is. She’s always on my mind. She just understands me. It’s crazy.
“You were a kid faced with a horrific and impossible situation, and you and your mom are heroes because of your courage.”
If I’m honest, I think I’ve already accepted that fact. I wasn’t too late. I saved my mom. I saved us. But when I think of not having met Audrey, having spent days with her, I see an unwelcome hole. But I was also serious—what do I have to offer her?
I can’t promise her the world, and I don’t know if she’ll be interested in dealing with my bullshit—especially with Drew—but if she’s up for it, so am I.No pun intended.
“Got it. I’ll send you a calendar invite for next Thursday. Sound good?” he asks.
“Perfect. See ya then.”
“Goodbye.”
I wander back into the kitchen, nearly tripping over Otis as he races laps around the room. Under the table, across the countertops, and onto the top of the fridge before he—unskillfully—leaps to the floor to close the circuit.At least he stopped screaming.
My body is being pulled across town. It’s as if someone implanted magnets in all my cells, and the counterpart magnet is in the center of Audrey’s torso. I don’t know how to navigate this. I don’t know if this wears off, or if I’m just overwhelmed with bullshit and she’s a soft place to land … or if I need her next to me as badly as I think I do. As I fear I do.
I thought I was stronger than this. I truly believed that I was impenetrable. Like clockwork, a woman wants to stay over, and my dick won’t get hard.Sorry. Guess we shouldn’t see each other anymore.
So why in the motherfucking hell do I want Audrey to stay over? Why did I almost drive to Gray’s cabin at three this morning just to sneak in and lie with her?
Why am I so damn afraid that I’ll hurt her—fail her?
I couldn’t live with myself if I fucked up someone else’s existence.
“Otis, please don’t break anything or swallow anything that’s not in your food bowl while I’m gone,” I say, grabbing my keys.
He’s stretched out on the counter—where he’s not supposed to be—and extends a paw as if waving goodbye. Or it could be afuck you for leaving me again. I don’t really know. But, with the grace of a drunk raccoon, the rest of his body follows his paw and plops onto the floor.
“That’s it,” I say, heading to the front door. “I’m buying you a helmet.”
He screams in some kind of cat protest, I think, but I hustle out the door before he can chase me and run headfirst into the wall.
As soon as I lock up, my phone buzzes.Unknown number.
“Hello,” I say, walking down the walkway toward my truck.
“Well, hello, there,” a voice says. “How are you, Dempsey?”
I freeze in place with one hand on the steering wheel and half of my ass on the seat. A cold chill snakes down my spine, coiling around it in a menacing strangle.
“Who is this?”
“This is Andrew Van, motherfucker.”
