“I’m supposed to be picking up a key,” Guy said.
The way her eyes lit up when she realized who he was. She tried to exchange a few pleasantries, but Guy was becoming exhausted, and he lacked the tact needed for him to not revert to his old ways. Though he was interested in Cadence, he was giving up hope of finding a mate.
Every attempt he had made had gone horribly wrong and he couldn’t allow himself to fall for another wrong choice.
He demanded the key and she left to go find it. But when she returned, she came back empty-handed. She had left the damn thing in her home. Rather than sticking around the store and waiting for her to come back with it, he decided to get a hotel room for the night.
She seemed to take his response for an answer, but there was a shadow in her eyes that wasn’t there before. But instead of trying to figure out what and why, he pulled himself away. He assumed the only other time he would need to interact with her would be in the morning when she gave him the key and then he could be free of the temptation of her.
“It’s probably better this way,” he muttered to himself. “No point in delaying the inevitable. She’s too good for me anyway.”
1
CADENCE
Guy’s appearance was… startling.
Not only in the “he just showed up” sort of way, but also in the “Oh my God you’re fucking gorgeous” way. He was far from what I had expected. And as I stared at him, I noticed very little familial resemblance to Ezra, but that didn’t matter much. In the grand scheme of things, cousins rarely shared similar looks. In my experience, anyway.
But there was something that stood out with him… other than his jaw-dropping looks. And that was his mood.
From everything I was told about him, the man who had stood in front of me was the complete opposite. Ezra had called him “happy-go-lucky.” But Guy struck me as beaten up and worn down. Far from happy-go-lucky. Seeing him like that made me worried about him a little.
I frowned as I suddenly became aware I had been staring out of the storefront window of the gas station for longer than I probably should have. It wasn’t like I could help it though. I was, at my very core, a fixer, and I had messed everything up and made the man’s night worse. So, of course I was staring out the window, trying to figure out a way to fix everything.
And it was because of my fixing nature, I had an uncontrollable urge to right the wrong I had done to the man.
With a sigh, I pulled myself away from the window overlooking the parking lot and all of the gas pumps and started my pre-closing routine. As I tried to put myself into my work, my mind wouldn’t give me peace.
Guy’s mood and my mistake weighed on my shoulders, pinching the muscles, and making them ache. I tried to stretch out my neck to give them a little relief, but it only worked a little. It didn’t help that the more I thought about how I had let Guy down, the more the pinch ached.
I wanted to right my wrong, but I also wanted to make sure of what I was heading into beforehand. The only way to do that was to call my brother. So, I pulled out my phone and called Luke. I needed to do a little more digging, and if he couldn’t provide me with the answers, Ezra could. The line rang for several seconds before he answered.
“What is it?” Luke asked with a hitch of worry in his voice. “What’s wrong?”
I sighed into the line. My voice came out flat when I said, “I’m fine. Chill.”
“Then why are you calling me so late?” he asked.
“Eleven at night is hardly late. Especially for you,” I said. “Besides, Guy left a few minutes ago and there’s something… off… about him.
“What do you mean by off?” Luke asked. He sounded tired. Or maybe it was impatient. He had that tone more often now since he had sealed the deal with Toni than he had before. I tried not to let it sink under my skin, but it was hard.
Still, I shrugged even though Luke couldn’t see it. A pinch entered my forehead as I tried to put my finger on what exactly it was about Guy that rubbed me the wrong way. “Well, he wasn’t jovial or happy in the least. Everything Ezra told me about him isn’t adding up to the real thing.”
“He’s probably tired, sis,” Luke breathed into the phone.
“It wasn’t exhaustion,” I said. “It was different. This was closer to depression. I think something is wrong with him.”
“Hold on,” he said. “I’ll ask Ezra.”
I groaned, rolling my eyes and casting my gaze to the ceiling. I loved my brother, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes he jumped the gun when it came to his help.
Some shuffling filtered through the line and seconds later, a squeak came from door hinges. Not much later, I picked up on the muffled exchange between my brother and his roommate. A few minutes later, Luke was back on the line.
“He says the same thing I did,” Luke said.
I shook my head as frustration started to fill my system. “Well, before you put me on hold like that, you might have needed all the information first.”