“Yeah. I got their stuff cleared out. I’ll start loadin’ it up if you wanna finish up in here.”
“Will do.”
Baz hefted a few bags onto his shoulders and headed for the elevator. When he was stepping inside, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Without looking at it, he sighed. It was eight o’clock, so he knew who it was. This was about the time that the text messages started every single day. Molly would begin by wishing him a good morning with half a dozen emoticons that made absolutely no sense to him.
However, there was no longer any reason for Molly to be communicating with him. Baz wanted nothing to do with her. It was enough to know that the baby wasn’t his, something that actually caused a pain in his chest. Although the situation hadn’t been ideal by any means, Baz couldn’t deny he’d been excited about becoming a father. At thirty-two, he was more than ready to start a family.
On his terms, of course. The fact that Molly had fucked with his life for the past nine months eliminated the ache and replaced it with fury. She had lied to him.
Huffing his frustration, Baz exited the elevator, strolled through the empty lobby area, and out into the humid, warm morning. The sun was high in the sky already, guaranteeing a scorcher of a day. After piling their bags into the bed of Trey’s truck, he pulled out his phone to read the text message.
Molly:Good morning, Sebastian. I woke up thinking about you. How much I miss you. How I look forward to seeing you.
Even before he’d learned the truth, Baz had started to wonder if the woman was insane. She sent him text messages like that all the damn time, despite the fact he had never led her on.
As he was staring at the screen, another text message came in.
Molly:I see you’ve read my message. No response?
That had become her new thing about a month ago. Her phone would tell her when he had read her text, and she would immediately respond if he didn’t. It was the very reason he would ignore many of them throughout the day, not wanting her to blow up his phone.
Figuring if he didn’t respond, the texts would just keep coming, so he shot a quick message back:I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be texting me anymore.
He watched the little dots bounce as she was typing.
Molly:What? Why? That’s not fair. Are you denying your love for me now? You love me, Sebastian. I know you do.
Ah, shit. It looked as though responding was the last thing he should’ve done.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Who was that?”
Trey glanced over his shoulder to see Magnus rolling onto his back, his arm sliding over his eyes to block out the light Trey had turned on.
“My brother. Reese is in the hospital.”
Magnus peeked out from under his arm, frowned. “Is he all right?”
Trey honestly didn’t know. After he’d talked to Baz, Trey had called his brother directly, insulted that Brantley hadn’t made the effort. He hadn’t appreciated getting the news secondhand, and he told Brantley as much. Of course, Brantley being Brantley, he’d been curt, not willing to answer questions, as though his only objective was to relay the information, not go into detail.
“He’s awake, that’s all I know.”
“Well, that sounds like good news.”
Yeah, if he wasn’t in the intensive care unit, maybe.
“I’m gonna grab a shower, then head up there,” he informed Magnus as he pushed to his feet.
It took effort to walk away from the naked man in his bed. Despite his worry for Reese, Trey wasn’t ready for the night with Magnus to be over. He had enjoyed the hell out of having him here, even if he wouldn’t let Magnus know that.
What he didn’t understand was why Magnus was still there. That wasn’t their routine. On the nights Magnus would come over, he was always gone before Trey woke up the next morning, and he’d gotten used to waking up alone. Odd thing was, he was glad Magnus hadn’t pulled his disappearing act, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to accept it yet.
After padding to the bathroom, he flipped on the shower. While the water heated, he brushed his teeth and shaved his face. He didn’t waste time, getting into the shower as soon as he was finished.
Once he was concealed behind the opaque glass, he heard the water in the sink come on, followed by some moving around. He waited to see if Magnus would say anything, and when he didn’t, he sighed, focused on sudsing himself up, rinsing off.
A few minutes later, he heard the click of the glass door opening. Trey turned beneath the warm spray of water to see Magnus stepping inside. It wasn’t a big space, but clearly that wasn’t a problem, because Magnus stepped up to him, pressing their chests together.
