Ani: Let me know if you need to talk.
Bram: About fucking time.
* * *
“Okay,” Ani announced, pushing through my front door without knocking Sunday afternoon. “I gave you all day Saturday to stew.”
“Thanks,” I grumbled, leaning back against the couch as I tucked a sleeping Koda more firmly against my side. “Good of you.”
“This isn’t you,” she snapped, throwing her cell phone at me. I dodged it just in time and it hit the couch arm beside me. “I’ve called you four times.”
“Didn’t feel like talking.”
“You’re done.”
“Say what?”
She came to a stop between me and the coffee table and put her hands on her hips, looking a bit like a pissed-off fairy about to take flight.
“You,” she said firmly, “are going to get off your ass, take a fucking shower, and pack a fucking bag.”
I ignored the order as I took another sip of my beer.
“You’ve been so fucking worried about what everyone would think,” she said, kicking my bare foot with her boot. “Well, the cat’s out of the bag now. You don’t have any more excuses. Pack your shit and head south.”
“You’re forgetting a little detail,” I argued. “Morgan’s not interested.”
She kicked my other foot in frustration, making me yelp.
“Shut it,” she replied. “That woman’s totally gone for you. Grow a pair and go get her.”
“You’ve been spending too much time with Bram.”
“You’re right, I have,” she said smugly. “Because he kept coming back even when shit got hard. And now look at us, we’re the picture of domestic goddamn bliss.”
“Oh, yeah,” I snickered. “You guys are practically the Waltons.”
“Trevor,” she said in warning. “If you don’t get up and shower off the stink clinging to you, I’m going to drag the hose in here.”
“I’m going,” I replied, getting to my feet. “Can you put the pup in his kennel so he doesn’t shit in the house while I’m in there?”
“Don’t bother trying to lock me out,” she said, scooping the puppy up. “I’ve got a key.”
“I knew that was a bad idea,” I mumbled under my breath as I shuffled toward my bathroom.
I’d been sitting in the house, not answering any calls or texts, since I’d left my parents’ house Friday night. My family meant well, but I just hadn’t had the energy or the inclination to talk to them afterward. I was sure that the family rumor mill had been running rampant, and I wasn’t really interested in fueling it.
If my mom had called, I would have answered. She hadn’t.
I took a deep breath as I stepped into the shower and turned on the spray. She was pissed, clearly, but I didn’t know how to fix it, and I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to. Not yet. I’d spent my whole life trying to please her, but I couldn’t budge on this subject and it was tearing me up. I felt like I was being pulled in two opposite directions. If I went one way, I could potentially get everything I’d wanted for my entire adult life. If I chose the other direction, I could repair the rift between me and the woman who’d been my champion since I was seven years old. The decision seemed impossible.
I let the water run over my head and down my chest as I thought about Morgan. She’d been radio silent since she’d been back in Sacramento. I hoped that it was because she was too busy helping her sister settle in, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t the case.
If there was one thing I’d learned about relationships in my lifetime, it was that you made time for the people you cared about. It didn’t matter what was happening in your life—if you had a spare second, you made contact. I hadn’t gotten that from Morgan.
Now, Bram and Ani were pushing me to go after her, and I was pretty sure that would be a mistake. At what point did chasing her make me a fucking stalker?
By the time I was out of the shower I still hadn’t come to a decision.
“I packed your bag,” Ani announced as I walked out of the bathroom with a towel around my hips. “Jesus, cover up, would you?”
“You’re in my bedroom,” I replied flatly, grabbing some boxers and a pair of jeans from the top of my dresser. “Leave so I can get dressed.”
She walked out the door but left it cracked a little so I could still hear her.
“If you leave now, you can be there by morning,” she said. “I’ll take care of the pup.”
“I’m a shitty driver when I’m tired.”
“Then it’s a good thing you’ve been just laying around since Friday night,” she shot back. “Plus, the adrenaline will keep you wide awake.”
“Why are you so invested in this?” I asked, opening the door as soon as I was dressed. “Why are you pushing so hard?”