Page 45 of The Confidant

“There you are,” he breathes out a sigh of relief.

“Come home,” I blurt out the plea without thinking.

“You think I won’t?” He smirks.

“I want your arms around me when I wake up.” I sigh, exhaustion slowly sapping my strength. The phone tilts even though I’m trying to hold it steady.

“As soon as I’m home, siren,” he promises, his expression easing into tenderness mixed with happiness. “Plug your phone in before you fall asleep.”

I make a thoughtful sound and reach blindly for the cord. I’m too busy looking at him and wishing he were with me.

I watch the room spin around on his end before the phone gets set next to his pillow. He lies down facing it with a smile that’s sleepy and innocent. He looks nothing like the beast from seconds ago.

“I’m not hanging up,” he tells me firmly. “I’ll wake up with you.”

I don’t know what the time difference is between here and LA, but I don’t care. If this is what I can get, I’ll take it.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to say I love you. I have to fight myself not to say it as I finally strip out of my pants, position the phone, and lie down. Instead, I give him a weak, “Good night, yappy.”

“Night, siren. See you in the morning.”

I fall asleep smiling, eager for a new day with this man.

Chapter Eight

Adelaide

I’m tapping my toes in a little dance of happiness as I sit in the diner. I glance at my phone again. I’m so nervous and excited, I can’t sit still. My head is on a swivel, watching for Asher’s familiar messy hair.

My day has been perfect. I woke up to Poe still asleep. Even though I was looking at his hair and ear, the knowledge that he kept his word about not hanging up made me feel giddy.

The day at work was filled with pictures of Racer living its best life all over LA. The constant presence of him reassures everything in me that had a protest.

Seeing the other side of his intense nature was startling when I thought about it at first. Until I remembered Damon saying to count my panties. He saw something I didn’t know was coming.

That’s why he needed the little dot and called himself crazy for it. He needs to know I’m real and that I’m not drawing back. Little does he know that he opened up the floodgates for my curiosity to come out and play. I’m constantly poking him just to keep his attention on me. Even now, while I’m waiting for Ash to show up and let me gush all over his group of chosen people.

I want the perfect ending to this day. My family and Poe’s phone call later tonight.

So, why do I feel like something is wrong?

Six o’clock comes, and I stifle the urge to text Asher and tell him to hurry up.

Six-twenty rolls around, and some of my excitement has morphed into dread. At six-thirty, I break and call him.

It rings several times and goes to voicemail. I try to sound upbeat when I leave a message, but it’s a struggle.

When I don’t hear from him at seven, I text him.

Me: You forget about dinner?

Sure, it might be passive-aggressive, but this is ridiculous. That sinking feeling in my heart says I’ve been abandoned. I don’t want to think it of Asher, but the way the rest of the family has recently shown me their real faces makes it hard for me not to.

He doesn’t even text me back.

I need to calm down. He never texts back right away. I’ll just be patient for a bit longer.

Even with the internal pep talk, my excitement slowly fizzles out. What occupies the space is a familiar heartache that only Asher’s rejection can evoke. An old wound still throbbing that just got a good, hard jab.

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