Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Before I could put much anger into it, though, my phone rang, and she gestured at me to take it.
I did, with my free hand fisted.
I grimaced when I saw Danyetta’s name on the screen.
That could only mean one thing.
“Hey,” she said as soon as I answered. “I know it’s late, but I need you to pick Bowie up from practice. I tried to get there, there was an accident on 95. I can’t get there on time.” Danyetta groaned.
I looked at my watch.
He still had fifteen minutes of practice left, and didn’t need me there for at least another twenty because they usually went over.
“Okay.” I paused. “Do you want me to bring him here? So he can stay the night? Or will you be sooner?”
He did not like to be forced to stay here. But if she was going to be more than an hour, then he’d be forced to stay here.
“I’ll be there in less than half an hour,” she said. “I just don’t want him staying with that creepo of a coach.”
I grimaced.
Bowie’s baseball coach was a bit of a creeper. Though not outwardly intrusive, I just got a vibe from him that screamed, “keep your kid away.”
Bowie loved him, though. Not to mention the team was a good one, and there were some players on there that made Bowie a better player. So, I didn’t want to take him out.
But…still. The coach gave me a bad feeling, and I agreed with Danyetta. I didn’t want Bowie alone with him.
At least when I got there early, the assistant coach was still there.
“I’m going,” I said. “And I’ll drop him off at home with some dinner.”
“I brought dinner from the restaurant.” She paused. “But we know he doesn’t like it anyway. So if you want to take him for food, that’s fine.”
“I’ll ask him,” I said. “Be safe.”
She said she would, then hung up.
When I looked back at Morrigan, it was to see half her fries gone and one in her hand, fully covered in chocolate Frosty.
I’d never gotten into the habit of dunking my fries. I thought it was gross. But I always thought it was endearing when I saw her eat it that way.
Just another one of her quirks that caused me to love her even more.
“I have to go get Bowie from practice.” I sighed. “She’s running late.”
She nodded, then winced.
I felt my stomach drop.
“It’s okay,” she sounded better at least. “I’ll just eat these fries.”
I gathered my keys up again.
“Lock the doors. Set the alarm. If you need anything, text me,” I ordered.
She blinked at me in confusion, then anger started to leach into those eyes. Anger that I’d never seen directed at me before.
“Are you going to unblock me?” she asked.
I felt my stomach sink all over again. “You’ve never been blocked, honey.”
She snorted. “Then why can’t I call you? Why has every single text and call I’ve made bounced back, or been said ‘undeliverable’ since you left?”
I opened my mouth and then closed it.
I didn’t have a clue.
But I knew one thing for sure, I sure the fuck would never have blocked her. I’ve been secretly hoping since she left that she’d tell me she wanted to come back home. To me.
“Let me have your phone,” I ordered.
She gave it to me.
I dialed in my number, then pressed Call.
It didn’t go through.
My phone didn’t ring, and hers made a clicking sound then went back to the phone screen.
I scowled hard.
I walked to the kitchen drawer, pulled out a burner phone that I used when needed, and dialed my number again. It rang on both ends.
I frowned harder.
“I didn’t block you,” I promised her as I handed her the burner phone. “I swear to you, I did not block you. I’d never block you.”
She looked down at the phone I handed her, and I knew right then and there I had more to fix than I’d originally thought. Things that I needed to fix that I hadn’t realized were broken.
“I’m going to get Bowie, then we’re going to figure this out,” I promised her.
She halfheartedly smiled as if she didn’t believe that I wouldn’t block her, and I realized that I might’ve killed something inside of her. I might’ve inadvertently, by never getting her calls, broken something irreparable that I could never fix.
“I’ll be back,” I promised, feeling anger tightening in my gut.
What would cause that to happen?
I knew one person that could find out, though.
I leaned down and pressed a kiss against the top of her head, not quite intimate, but definitely not chaste, either.
With one hard look down at her face, I said, “I’ll be back.”
And that was a promise and a warning.
We would talk about what was going on. We’d also be figuring out what had happened.
Because no way would I ever take away even a second of talking to her. Text message. Phone call. Or in real life.