Page 28 of Slow Burn
I just didn't want to.
It was as simple and damn complicated as that.
With a quick drag of air to my lungs, I pulled open the door and stared. It was not my enticing beach ballerina standing on my low-slung porch but rather Griffin. My friend—the only one I had—that lived over three hours away.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Unfazed by my rather untactful greeting, he dragged a hand through his inky hair and chuckled. "Hello to you too."
I winced. "Sorry. I'm just surprised to see you. Didn't you just come off a twenty-four-hour shift?"
"Aye." He looked nervous as he shuffled from one foot to the other. "I thought I'd come see the new place."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "That right?"
"Aye." When I glared some more, he held up his hands in surrender. "I came to make sure you're all right. I didn't like the sound of ya over the phone." Reaching behind him, he pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. "And I wanted to deliver this in person."
I studied the piece of stationary in my hands. Black with golden script and decorative swirls in each corner. A wedding invitation. My thumb swiped over the letters. Behind my ribs, an annoying fluttering made itself known.
My throat felt thick when I finally spoke. "Congrats, man." I moved to the side and motioned for Griffin to come in.
He stepped inside, gave me one look, and barked out a laugh I did not appreciate. His gaze shot to my arm; eyebrow arched high, he asked, "New friend?"
I gave Sheldon a downward glance and shook my head. "He belongs to my neighbor."
"Your neighbor?" he echoed as we headed down the hall toward the living room. "And you're what… dog sitting?" The way he'd asked it made my skin prickle with uneasiness.
"Not exactly, no."
Just as we turned into the living room, Griffin shook his head. "I'm more interested in the view you kept going on about when you moved here."
Nodding, I changed directions toward the sliding door instead. A minute later, we were standing outside; facing the ocean, and taking fresh salty air to our lungs.
Hands tucked inside his pockets; my friend sucked in a deep breath. "This is bloody gorgeous. Rae would love it here," he mused.
The wistful sound in his voice when he spoke his girlfriend's name—his fiancée now, I guess—had my heart doing that funny thing again. That thing where I was reminded of the dead empty space inside of me.
The one I wasn't aware of until—
"She wanted to come today," Griffin said. "But her brother is moving this weekend." I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye but said nothing, which is probably why he added, "They're very close and since he's moving over four hours away, they're having a sibling day."
I nodded as if I understood. I really didn't. It shamed me that Zoe and I didn't have the kind of relationship that required asibling day—whatever the hell that was—when one of us moved away. A small voice at the back of my head, the one I usually told to screw off, whispered that it wasn't too late to fix things.
Sheldon wiggled under my arm, reminding me that I was still holding the damn dog. I leaned down. But before his paws had time to touch the grass, her achingly sweet voice filled my ears.
"I really don't know why he keeps coming over to you."
Beside me, Griffin's amused whisper came through clenched teeth, "That's your neighbor?"
With a heavy sigh, I straightened and headed to where Maddie was standing on her side of the fence. The moment I laid eyes on her I could tell something was off. Her beautiful eyes were red rimmed, like she'd been crying for too long. Her blond locks weren't neatly tucked into the knot on top of her head, and that lush bottom lip of hers looked like she'd been chewing on it. Hard.
A pain so sharp shot through my chest, I had to stop myself from pressing my hand to the spot. I had this inexplicable need to jump over to her side and just hold her.
Until my nosy friend sidled up beside me. The pain I'd felt mere seconds ago was instantly replaced with something else entirely. A big blotch of angry that only seemed to spread further through my veins when Maddie'seyes shot to my left and her gorgeous mouth curved upward.
I'd never wanted to smack Griffin more in my life.
For reasons I didn't even care to dissect, I wanted that damn smile to be aimed at me. And when she shoved her hand over the fence and introduced herself, I had this intense urge to pressmypalm against hers if it meant I could keep my friend from touching her.
