Page 83 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“Aren’t you gonna call Cole and tell him you’re going home?”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s a few minutes’ drive. I don’t think anything bad’s gonna happen between here and there. Plus, I don’t want to interrupt Ashton’s time with him. I’ll be fine. I’ll text you when I’m home.

Stormy hesitated, but then she hugged me and saw me out. “See you later.”

“See you.”

My friend watched me from the door as I pulled down the driveway. As I pulled onto the highway, my mind drifted to a hundred different areas. Mostly, I wondered what Stormy would do for companionship. Having your baby and mother was better than nothing for loneliness, but she really needed someone else. Was it too soon for her to start dating again? Maybe, maybe not. I’d only been back in town a couple weeks, but I went ahead and started flipping through my mental list of men I knew who might be a good match for my strong-willed and sassy friend.

It was during this mental lull that I noticed the car in my rearview mirror. A black sedan was riding my ass. Frowning, I put on my turn signal and moved over to the slower lane. The vehicle behind me moved over as well, mimicking my movement. That sent a tremor of fear through me. Stormy’s words echoed through my head, and I wondered if I’d made a bad mistake in not calling Cole. Was it Kyle behind me?

My eyes bouncing from my rearview mirror to the road ahead, I dug my phone out of my pocket, my fear escalating with each passing second. There was no other traffic, no reason for them to be right on my ass. I called Cole.

Almost as soon as I did, the car behind me swerved back into the fast lane, slammed on the gas, and flew past me, shooting down the road and leaving me in its wake. A little sigh of relief escaped my mouth. It must have been some asshole kids screwing with me.

“Avery? Are you okay?” Cole’s voice said in my ear.

I flinched in surprise. I’d almost forgotten I’d called him. My relief at the car leaving had overwhelmed me, making my brain go blank.

“Huh? Uh… yeah, sorry. Butt-dial, I think,” I said.

I didn’t want to freak Cole out, especially if it was over something this silly.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice growing tight with worry.

“Yeah. Positive. I was going to call you, anyway, though,” I said, trying to sound easygoing and flippant about the whole thing. “I’m headed back from Stormy’s. I’m about three minutes from home. Wanted you to know.”

He sighed, and I prepared for him to chastise me for not informing him or waiting to get an escort, but he didn’t. Instead, he said, “I wish I could be there to watch over you, but if you’re close to home, it’s probably fine. Let me know as soon as you’re home safe, okay?”

“Will do.”

“See you soon.”

When I got home, I waited until the garage door was fully closed behind me before getting out. Probably being overly cautious, but better safe than sorry. I texted Stormy and Cole to let them know I was home safe. Once inside, my worries faded, and I felt that telltale tingle of excitement. Being away with Cole would give us time to properly discuss what was going on and figure out how we’d navigate our relationship going forward. It would help get us on the same page. We’d been so focused on Ashton that we hadn’t really had any talks about us.I was looking forward to that.

Plus, I couldn’t lie—I already wanted him again. The night before had been mind-blowing. Just the thought of being alone with him in a hotel room got my imagination going, and I let a few scenarios play out as I packed my overnight bag.

My phone rang a few moments later, ripping those thoughts away.

There was a moment of panic as I wondered if it was Kyle again, but it was Gaige. Relief washed over me as I answered.

“Hey, Gaige.”

“Avery, glad I could catch you.”

“Anything wrong?”

“Not at all. I wanted to let you know I got those boxes shipped out for you. House is fully cleaned out. I’ve already had a couple agents nearby ask for showings. I’ve got no doubts this place is gonna sell in no time. Fingers crossed, we’ll have a bidding war.”

“That’s great news,” I said.

I wasn’t hurting financially. The magazine paid me well, more than enough for the amount of work I did. That helped, and a friend had given me some pretty good advice on investing in Bitcoin. Though, in hindsight, it would have been better to invest a few thousand dollars rather than five hundred. Instead of cashing out a hundred-and-fifty grand, I’d have been a millionaire. Either way, it had allowed me to put money away for Ashton’s college fund and to get us totally debt-free, other than the mortgage. The sale of the house would be welcome, though. It was always good to have a safety net.

Cole kept saying he wanted to take care of us, but it was hard to break the habit of taking care of yourself when you’d done it for so long. Besides, it was good not to trust anyone blindly. As I’d seen in the past, anything could happen at any time.

“I do have some weird news for you, though,” Gaige said hesitantly.

“What’s that?”

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