Page 23 of #Bossholes

I’ve got to get out of here. Being all up in their personal spaces is messing with my head.

So, I hang his shirts as quickly as I can and rush to the third apartment, which must belong to Wyatt. The layout is the opposite of Maverick’s and instead of neutrals, this one is decorated in light grays and soft blues, and there’s not a thing that looks out of place.

I’m making my way through his living room when my phone goes off with another text notification.

With a groan, I hang my head.

Even though I’d love to keep ignoring it, I drape Wyatt’s suit over the back of his couch and dig out my phone. Colin wants to know what’s for dinner. He also sent me a few links to different cochlear implants to check out. Dammit. I’ve also got several messages from June asking me about the surgery and offering her help during recovery.

This is a lot. Why does life have to be so damn difficult? If I had parents who gave a damn about their own children, I wouldn’t be in this mess.

I need to figure this out and fast. I need money and lots of it.

And you know, I’m alone. Finally. It wouldn’t hurt to see what this whole auction thing is all about.

Instead of responding to my messages, I go back to my internet search, my fingers hovering over the link for Cherry Bid. I wait seconds, minutes.

Fuck it.

It’s a website. No harm ever came from opening a website. If I don’t like what they have to say, I can simply close this tab. Noharm, no foul. I don’t need to actually sign up for anything if I’m not comfortable.

I take a deep breath, then another, and click the link.

The site itself is simple, listing out the benefits and ease of working with them and—my breath catches in my throat. They have an auction starting on Tuesday and ending Friday afternoon. One week from today.Holy shit balls. The last day to register is Monday which gives me two days to decide if this is something I can go through with.

“Is that my dry cleaning?”

I make a noise, something between a yell and a screech. My heart races. I nearly jump out of my skin and try to close my phone but everything seems to be happening in slow motion. Why can’t I find the button? Why won’t this website close? And why in the hell is he not at the office?

It doesn’t matter. I’m dead. Deader than dead. Why? Because I lose my grip on my phone and it slips through my fingers, falling face-up at Wyatt’s feet.

FOURTEEN

Wyatt

“Are you okay?Are you going to faint again?” My eyes widen as I watch her face turn as red as her hair and then go completely pale. I can’t help it if she skips lunch, but I’ve been leaving snacks on her desk—anonymously, of course—so I know she can’t be completely without food.

Again.

She sways on her feet, and I lurch forward, holding my hands out toward her but careful not to make contact because one of two things could happen. Either she topples over and cracks her head open on my glass coffee table. Or I’m some creeper who can’t keep his hands to himself.

“Do you need some water? Something to eat? Kelsey, are you okay?”

She makes a choking noise as she bats away one of my hands and stares down at her phone like it’s a lifeline. Fuck. Maybe it is. For all I know someone just died and I interrupted her moment of processing.

I really should check it out to make sure she’s okay to drive, but as I move to glance down, she makes that noise again. Shesounds like she’s dying inside and while I don’t know shit about medicine, I know that can’t be good.

Making sure to keep a watchful eye on her, I bend down and grab her phone. She pales even more and this time when she opens her mouth, her words come out in a jumbled mess.

What the hell is wrong with her? Is she having a stroke? Should I call 911?

I glance down at her phone and manage to see two cherries dangling next to each other and Cherry Bid before she snatches it from my hand and tosses it into her purse. She makes no further attempt to explain or give me any reassurance to her wellbeing.

“Are you having a nervous breakdown?” I take a step toward her, my gaze never leaving hers. “If you are, I’m not sure I’m the best equipped to take care of you.”

She sucks her bottom lip between her teeth and bites down so hard I’m worried she’s going to draw blood. “Did you see anything?”

Maybe it’s the lawyer in me. Maybe I’ve always been a curious fellow, but I have to know what in the fuck Cherry Bid is. It’s obviously significant to her…or it’s something she really didn’t want me to see.

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