Page 20 of Obsessed Fox

CHAPTER NINE

Maisie

Yesterday was a shit show of epic proportions. I cried and blubbered all over Hendrix. I couldn't remember the last time I cried. Maybe the last day I saw my brother? I remember crying because I would never see the one person who stuck with me through everything. But since then? Twelve years and no tears.

Until yesterday.

And I didn't just cry; I cried so hard that I passed out. In Hendrix's lap no less. I wish I could say it was simply because I was that exhausted, but I knew better. I fell asleep because Hendrix made me feel safe— a realization that scared the crap out of me.

I didn't want to feel safe around him.

Physically? Sure, that wasn't a problem.

But emotionally? There was no way in hell that was a good idea. The man consumed me in a way that wasn't healthy or normal. Not that I was the walking poster child for normal to begin with. I was pretty sure people looked at me and their first thought was “abnormal” or “unique.”

Okay, they probably called me worse names, but whatever. I never cared what people thought of me anyway.

I did judge myself though, and I was doing it hard after yesterday because crying wasn't the worst part of my day.

Nope, that award went to the thirty minutes I spent reading about my brother and everything he’s been doing since we separated. And then allowing a small part of me to believe those words.

The New Beginning and its fucking followers. Killing Atlas was supposed to be the end of its reign. The only thing that got me through our time apart was knowing we did something good. Now I find out that wasn't the case. I didn't know if I wanted to cry all over again, or scream and break things. I was leaning toward breaking shit. Anger was a feeling I was comfortable with.

Sadness? Not so much.

And to top it all off, I had a decision to make. One I refused to think much on last night when I crawled into bed super early, completely forgetting about baking the chocolate chip cookies I insisted Hendrix grab the ingredients for.

So now nearly sixteen hours later, after the longest sleep of my life, I was finally going to make the cookies I so desperately needed to bring my world back to proper order.

Or so I thought.

I dropped my head on the island and banged it off the granite when my phone pulled me away from adding the flour mixture to my wet ingredients.

If it weren't Janie, I would absolutely ignore the stupid electronic device, but considering she was the one person responsible for my livelihood, I figured it was best to see what she could possibly want during the busiest part of the day.

"Please tell me everything's okay?"

"Everything's . . ." Janie paused trying to find the right word. "Still standing."

Oh God. That didn't sound good.

"What the hell happened?"

I was already abandoning my current project in search of my shoes. I didn't need to hear the rest of what Janie had to say to know my presence at the bakery was a necessity.

"Hendrix came in while I was busy helping customers and mentioned he wanted to help. I thought he meant by taking orders at the counter."

I stopped what I was doing and let my chin fall to my chest with a groan. Nothing good could come from Hendrix in my bakery.

"Please, for the love of my bakery, tell me he didn't burn down my kitchen."

I hadn't heard any sirens despite the windows being open, but that didn't mean anything. I had a tendency to tune the world out when I was baking.

"Uh . . . nope, I didn't let him get that far, but maybe you should consider coming down here. I suggested he leave since I can handle things, but he's refusing."

Of course he was. The man was insufferable.

"I'll be there in ten minutes. Try to keep him away from . . . well . . . everything until I get there."

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