As much as I wanted to be in her presence, I had to worry about her wellbeing. Wood first, Cadence’s pressence second.
7
CADENCE
Guy stepped outside, and I sat on the couch, slowly getting my breaths and heartrate back to normal. And the longer he was gone, the more my mind started to spin.
The more I thought about how things were going, especially between us, the more I wasn’t so sure about Guy and his insistence on not knowing who was calling him. For starters, things were going way too well. And Guy seemed too good to be true. Which also typically meant there was something that he was hiding. After all, if something was too good to be true, it probably was.
Sure, his reasons for not answering the phone made sense, but the number part was holding less and less weight. The more time he spent outside, the more I could punch holes into his excuse.
My doubts were creeping in, destroying every ounce of progress he made with me.
But of course, I realized there was a strong possibility I was just being paranoid. I believed him when he first explained everything to me. And he had been so attentive, and caring. So, what the hell was my problem?
I frowned at the spot on the coffee table his phone had sat. He was quick to pick the annoying device up and take it with him when he walked outside. Not that I was planning on going through it or anything. Though he probably had a perfectly logical reason for taking his phone with him. Maybe to use it as a flashlight since the sun was setting and it would be dark soon, especially with how thick the snow was falling and how dark the clouds were. That made sense.
So why was I still trying to find a reason not to believe a word he said? Why was I so sure he was lying about something?
Oh, right. Because the way his phone kept blowing up made me think it was a woman calling him. And I have this thing where Guy seems too good to be true, so I’m obsessively looking for reasons to walk away.
Yeah… paranoia. Because why would a man like Guy ever want me, right?
I squeezed my eyes closed and tried to come up with a way to shut my brain up, struggling to find reasons to counter my own logic and insecurities.
Perhaps a woman was calling him… and she was nothing more than a friend.
Wouldn’t that be something? But then why would Guy insist he didn’t know the number? As much as I would have loved to believe everything had a perfectly reasonable, innocent excuse, I just couldn’t let it go.
Needless to say, I was seriously regretting my decision to stay. I probably could have made it home by now… likely fucking my sex pillow for the fifth or sixth time because damn it if Guy doesn’t bring out the vixen in me. Especially since I was having a hard time keeping my hands to myself, to begin with.
I sighed and stared out the window overlooking the front yard. I couldn’t see Guy, though I was sure he was still out there doing exactly what he said he was going to do. And I hated that I was sneaking around to find answers about him instead of going to him directly, but he didn’t exactly give me the impression he was completely trustworthy either.
The only way I could get some solid answers about Guy, and the type of person he was, came in the form of information from Ezra. And, again, as much as I hated to check up on him like this, I really hated the idea of possibly sleeping with someone who was unavailable.
I pulled out my phone and called Luke.
He picked up on the third ring. “How’s the storm?”
“White. Cold. Pretty,” I said, looking out the window. “How’s Toni?”
“She’s doing really well,” he said. Toni’s voice whispered in the background. “She says hi, by the way.”
I smiled into the line. “Tell her hi and I miss her.”
I was happy for my brother and his roommates. Especially for Luke. He needed someone else besides me looking after him. Someone of the feminine influence. A little lump of guilt formed in my stomach for taking time away from him again.
But this was important… at least it was to me, and I just didn’t want to believe what was staring me in the face.
“Sure. What’s up?” he asked. “You sound upset.”
“I’m not upset,” I said. “Not really… just confused.”
Luke chuckled. “What’s so confusing?”
I sighed. “Well, I’m stuck at the cabin.”
“What?” he asked. “Okay, first question is why is that confusing? Second question is what are you doing at the cabin?”