Page 87 of Keep Your Guard Up
I blew a breath out before tucking my phone into my shorts.
Just do it, mate.
What if she throws it at my head? What if she refuses to read it?
Just leave it on her doorstep.
“Bargaining with myself. Yep, definitely losing it.” Sucking in and blowing out another breath, I moved.
Quietly and carefully, trying not to make a sound as Gus would alert everyone to my presence if I did, I approached her front door. I bent to put it on their doormat that had a faded ‘Welcome’ written across it when the front door swung open.
“Hi.”
Chapter 48
Chance
“U-uh, hi,” I stammered.
Because what else do you say when your childhood hero is standing right in front of you? What else do you say when your childhood hero is standing right in front of youandyou’ve just broken his only daughter’s heart?
“Fancy seeing you here.” A sly smirk spread across his face.
“Here?”
“Yeah, mate. Here. On my daughter’s front doorstep.” A wink from those eyes that almost, but not quite, matched Sunny’s. “You comin’ in?”
He opened the door wider, the smell of fresh coffee hitting my senses, waving me inside.
I took a cautionary step back. “No … uh … not today. I just came to uh …”
“Drop something off?” he asked, gaze flicking to the notebook in my hand.
The notebook that felt like it was blistering my skin with burns the longer I was fucking holding it.
“Yeah. Could you just … give it to her?” I asked softly, extending the book out towards him.
“Of course, mate,” he replied, skimming all the pages. “Classified?”
“Not anymore.”
Chapter 49
Mari
“Knock, knock.” My dad’s gentle, familiar voice was muffled from behind the door with a soft rattle from his knuckles.
“Come in, Dad,” I grumbled, my head heavy on my unwashed pillowcase. Tear and coffee stains coated it, but I found nothing in me ready to even care.
Since JJ had let me have a big sob fest on him yesterday, I hadn’t recovered from that numb, empty feeling I’d woken up with. A part of my life felt dark; it felt quiet and empty. My routine was out of order; go to the gym, see Chance, do Chance’s morning class, do admin work whilst Chance does solo drilling conveniently outside the office window …
Now, I had to remove him from all of that. Which didn’t leave me with much at the moment.
“Hey, sweetie.” Dad poked his head in, a sad smile on his face. He pushed the door farther open before shutting it behind him. Walking softly on my carpeted floor, he sat down on the edge of my bed. He placed a book on the other side of my legs before moving in to clear the hair from my face. “How’re you doin’?”
“Peachy.” My voice cracked, probably from not using it in at least twelve hours.
“Nan is making dinner soon. Should be ready by the time you’ve had a shower and changed your clothes,” he suggested.
