He chaperones us to the elevator, shaking his head as we wait for the doors to open. “You good to get these two upstairs without them murdering each other on the way there?” he asks Kingston.
“Yes, sir. I’ll make sure they keep their hands to themselves.”
The three of us step inside, and I think Kingston instantly regrets it because Rook and I stink like trash. He jabs the button for our floor, and the doors slide closed.
“I have one hit left.” Rook gets back into his fighting stance.
I hold my arms wide. “Have at it.”
He goes for the spleen this time, and I stumble back, grabbing hold of the handrail so I don’t go down. He can really throw a punch. I cough a few times. “You gonna stand in my way with Stevie?”
“Not if you’re what she wants.” The doors slide open at his floor, and he takes a step out into the hall, holding his hand over the sensor. “But if you break her heart, I’m going to break you.”
“I’d let you.”
“Glad we’re finally on the same page.”CHAPTER 26
DAD-BRO
Stevie
It’s the day the team is scheduled to come home, and I’m up ridiculously early. I’ve been sleeping like crap since the whole thing with Bishop went down. It got worse after he sent me a We need to talk message a few days ago. In my experience, a message like that has never been attached to a positive conversation.
I wander around my apartment for a good half hour before I get antsy and decide I need to do something active to help manage my anxiety. I know the team is supposed to be home early this afternoon, but there are a lot of hours between now and then, and I don’t think I can handle hanging around my apartment, waiting for him.
I want to message Bishop, but it’s been three days of silence from me since he sent his text, so messaging seems pretty anticlimactic at this point. Also, if I send one now, then I’m going to either check every four seconds to see if he’s replied or continue sending messages until he responds, which will make me look desperate. Even if this is accurate, I don’t think it’s a good strategy.
I realize I’ve fucked up. Does it suck that there’s a viral video of me and Bishop making out? Yup. But that wasn’t his fault, and I’ve spent a week avoiding him instead of dealing with the fallout, because I’m scared. Avoidance seems to be my go-to tactic for handling uncomfortable situations. I need to grow up. Hindsight is such a bitch.
Fortunately, Pattie and Jules have already invited me over for brunch today. It’s meant as a distraction from Bishop’s impending return. It’s still way early for me to go over there, so I take the bus to the clinic, intending to burn off some anxiety. I change into my bathing suit and head to the pool. It doesn’t matter what kind of physical activity I engage in these days; it all reminds me of Bishop.
I flip over and start a steady back crawl. When I reach the end of the pool, I somersault underwater and change to a front crawl. After a few laps I come up for air and shriek when I find a pair of hairy-toed feet at the edge of the pool.
“Jesus Christ, Joey! What the hell are you doing, other than being a creepy-ass bastard?”
He ignores the insult and gives me a look I can’t quite decipher. “How are you, Stevie?”
“I was fine until you scared the crap out of me with your hobbit toes.” Joey’s feet have always freaked me out. I swim over to the ladder and pull myself out of the water. I left my towel in the changing room, so I have nothing to wrap around my body apart from my arms, which don’t cover much. Thankfully, I’m wearing a full-coverage bathing suit that mashes my boobs down and is purely functional, unlike the bathing suits I wore when Bishop and I had our water-therapy sessions.
I wish I could stop thinking about him.
“Really? You’re not upset?”
“About?” I shake my head to get the water out of my ear.
“Oh shit. You haven’t seen it yet, have you?” He feigns surprise.
I sigh. I have no interest in falling into another trap set by my douche ex. “Why can’t you leave me alone, Joey?”
“Look, Stevie, I know I can’t win you back. I get it, but I don’t want you to set yourself up to get hurt again. I thought you should be prepared.”
“Prepared for what?” I try to step around him, but he blocks my way and holds his phone up in front of my face. I grab it from him, ready to toss it in the pool. At least until I see what’s on the screen.