Page 117 of Kane's Awakening
Chapter Thirty-Three
Kane
“Hey, shit for brains, you okay?”
“Huh?” I looked up from the file I’d been half-reading to see Craig. His dark hair hung past his ears now, giving him a kind of emo-boy look. Upon closer examination, I noticed the upside down cross earring in his right ear. “Are you going goth on me?”
He scoffed. “It’s just my look. Deal with it.” As my confusion spread more across my face, he walked closer and plopped down in the chair on the other side of the desk. “I’ve always had this. I just forgot to take it out today before coming in. The captain doesn’t like it. But for real, dude. What’s up?”
I tried thinking back to the times we hung out outside of work, and I vaguely remembered it due to the great amount of alcohol buzzing in my veins. Maybe he’d had it those times, and I’d just been oblivious. Whatever. It didn’t matter.
“Don’t really wanna talk about it,” I answered.
I felt empty inside. Ryker hadn’t taken any of my calls or responded to any of the hundreds of texts I’d sent. I’d gone by his house a few times, and he hadn’t been home. It had taken every ounce of self-control I had not to go to his office, but if things didn’t change between us, I’d have no fucking choice.
Ineededto talk to him. To explain that I never cheated andwouldn’tever cheat on him.
He was my everything.
“I know we mostly just hang at work, other than the few times we’ve gone to bars, but I consider you a friend,” Craig said in a no-bullshit tone. “And yeah, talking feelings and shit isn’t really either of our things, but just know I’m here for you, all right?”
I nodded, debating on taking him up on his offer. But I wasn’t in the mood, so I didn’t say anything else to him.
Once I finished the small amount of paperwork on my desk, I got in my cruiser and drove through town. Joe had released me from the clutches of his shadow, so I was fully on my own. Thank fuck.
He was currently training a different cop now; a woman in her late twenties who could probably bench-press as much as me, if not more.
My job that day was to cruise the old part of Van Buren. Kind of boring, but quiet. I didn’t mind boring sometimes. Not after the damn night of Hell.
I jolted when my phone dinged. I knew it wasn’t a text from Ryker, though, because it wasn’t the man gasping text tone I used for him.
Devon:Have u heard from him yet?
Surprisingly, Devon felt awful for what had happened between me and Rye. He’d asked me if I wanted him to go talk to Ryker to explain, but I’d said no, knowing it would only make it worse.
Devon and I weren’t friends, but at least I didn’t hate him anymore. Strange how a man I’d spent so long hating because of the shit he’d done to me when we were teenagers could come back into my life and try to make amends. It was crazy, but it was true.
Me:Not yet.
With that thought, I decided to try calling Ryker again—for the third time that day. I almost shit myself when he actually answered.
“What do you want, Kane?”
My lips moved, but no words came out. There was so much I wanted to tell him, but I drew a blank.
“I’m hanging up.”
“No!” I finally managed to say. “Please don’t.”
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t.”
“I didn’t cheat on you.”
It felt as if my heart was going to jump up my throat and come shooting out of my head. The pounding was so intense, I felt it thumping against my ribcage.
He hesitated on the other end of the line. I pressed my face closer to the phone, as if holding it tighter would somehow let me hold him, too.
“I wish I could believe you,” he said in a raspy voice. “You confided in me about your relationship fears, and I opened up to you about mine. How could you do that to me, Kane? Youknowit happened to me before, and goddammit, that guy didn’t mean to me evenhalfas much as you do.”
