Lost.
When she studies my eyes for a few minutes, I notice the wary acceptance. She doesn’t say a word before grabbing her purse and walking out, leaving me alone in my apartment with my wine and my dark abyss of numbness.
No pint of ice cream for me. No tears will drown me in my sleep. No stabbing, unbearable, gut-wrenching pain will keep me awake.
My phone rings, and I pick it up, answering my father’s call. “Yes?” I state calmly.
“Bora said I needed to call you. She’s worried. Said there’s something wrong.”
I don’t answer right away because I’m busy taking another sip of wine.
“I’m fine. Go have fun in whatever city you’re in. I don’t need you or anyone else checking in on me. Never have. Never will.”
He sucks in a sharp breath, and I roll my eyes.
“Bo, what the hell does that mean?”
“It means, you couldn’t give up your dream to raise your two daughters. Just like Mom couldn’t give up her soul search. Didn’t even make me miss a step. What makes you think I need you checking in on me now when I didn’t need it as a kid?”
He grows quiet, which is quite the feat for him.
“Bo, what did he do?” is his next question.
“He proved you wrong,” I tell him, taking another sip. “I’m not broken, Dad. Looks like I’m the strong one after all.”
I hang up on him and ignore my phone when he calls right back. I don’t have time to deal with his worry. Because that’s all it is. His worry. I’m just fucking fine.
Chapter 41
JAX
Someone bangs on my door, and I curse while staggering to my feet, still half drunk from the night before. Yeah, I found the tequila after having my heart ripped out of my chest. Don’t give a
damn if anyone has a problem with that.
Noon? I slept until noon?
It’s a bad idea to spend every waking moment with someone who doesn’t drive you crazy in a bad way. Why? Because you get a hell of a closer and more dependent on them than you realize. Then you cling to all the scraps of time you can manage to get with each other, driving that connection deeper.
When they fuck you over, it hurts like a motherfucker.
I swing my door open, expecting Dustin or Cody, but I’m surprised to find a very pissed off Viv.
“You asshole,” is her greeting.
“Morning, Viv. Guess you got my message. Your husband is a cheating—”
“I know what he is. I also got a phone call from the woman he was screwing, even though I have no idea how she got my number, since her sister isn’t talking to her.”
My ears perk up, and then I curse myself for even feeling anything at all from just hearing Viv allude to Bo. My chest is already hurting. Last thing I need is anything fueling it.
“Why the hell would Bora call you?”
No way is Bora trying to make things better between me and Bo.
“She called to ream my ass for the miscommunication you and I had that resulted in you yelling at Bo in her office about Dixon. Did you really go to her office? She said everyone there is talking about it, because apparently you weren’t quiet.”
I wave her off.