“I think you’re blowing this out of proportion.”
“You think so?” He smiles and gives a small, humorless laugh. “Kenton had one of his best friends by the throat for calling you a sweet piece a few days after they saw you at the hospital. It took three dudes to pull Kenton off him. I’ve never seen him react like that over a female.”
I have no idea what to do with that information. I’m not even sure I want to know what all of that means exactly.
Justin continues. “All I’m sayin’ is whether you want to be or not, you’re his, and he won’t like your ex-boss sniffing around.”
“Did you beat the game?” I ask, trying to change the subject.
“You never beat Call of Duty.” He smiles then looks out the window.
“Have you heard from him today?” I ask softly, thinking about everything he just told me and really wanting to talk to Kenton. I want to know that he’s okay. I really want him to know that I’m thinking about him and miss sleeping with him.
“Not after your text last night, though I’m surprised he messaged you back. But that only proves my point—you’re the exception.”
“You know I sent him a text?” I ask, surprised and slightly annoyed while ignoring everything else he just said.
“His phone goes thorough my computer. I get all his messages. It’s easier than waiting for him to send me the info I need. In this business, a second can mean the difference between landing a case and getting hurt.” He stands up and leans on the side of the desk.
I don’t want him hurt, so I’m glad they’re taking every precaution necessary. Then I wonder what kind of texts Kenton gets daily where he needs that kind of precaution.
“Oh God,” I whisper in horror when I realize that Justin probably saw my drunken texts to Kenton. “Do you read all his personal messages?”
He smiles and nods. “Yeah. The ones from his mom are the best.” He starts to laugh, and I can only imagine the kinds of texts Nancy sends Kenton. I’m sure they’re something like, Did you eat your vegetables? Are you taking your vitamins? Do you have clean socks and underwear?
“I like Nancy.”
“She likes you too,” he says softly, making me wonder what he knows.
I look away and try to swallow the lump in my throat.
“I’m gonna go back out and finish my game while you send your e-mail.”
“Sure.” I try to smile, but I know that it’s one that doesn’t meet my eyes. I wiggle the mouse around until the screen lights back up and press reply on Sid’s e-mail.
Sid,
I don’t want you to think that I haven’t appreciated you or your friendship over the last few years. I also don’t want you to think that I don’t care about you, but I don’t think we have anything else to talk about.
I wish you all the best,
Autumn
I press send and hope that he understands. I know he may think that he cares about me or wants a relationship with me, but I’ve had a front-row seat to Sid’s dating life over the last few years, and if he really wanted something serious with me, I doubt he would’ve paraded all of those women in front of me.
I close down the computer and yell to Justin as I’m passing the living room that I’m going to get ready for work. He says something back that I don’t really understand due to the loud sounds coming from the TV.
*
Kenton
“Fuck, man. Good to see you,” Link says as soon as he spots me when I exit the airport.
I pull him in for a one-armed hug and pat him on the back, and he does the same before we separate. He pops the trunk for his SUV. I toss my duffel bag in and then walk around and climb into the passenger’s seat.
“I wish you were here under different circumstances,” he says, running a hand over his head and using the other to start up the car.
“Me too, brother.” I pull out my phone and see a message from Justin letting me know that he’s at the house and Autumn is home safe from work. I don’t think it’ll be long before she messages me, telling me off about Justin being there.
“The police really wanted to call Autumn, but I told them she’s in Europe and I would get a message to her as soon as possible,” Link says.
“Fuck,” I clip. “I don’t want her to know her place was broken into.”
Yesterday, while I was still wrapped around her in bed, Justin called and woke me up to tell me that Link had been trying to get ahold of me to let me know that Autumn’s condo had been broken into. I didn’t want her to know what was going on, but I needed to see for myself if I could find out what had gone down and if the breakin had anything to do with the shooting at the club.
“Chances are the two things are completely separate. Someone probably noticed that her place has been empty for a while and wanted to see if they could find anything worth pawning,” Link deduces.
Those are my thoughts too, but I’m not going to chance it. I know the local PD is trying to find out what’s going on, but they’re taking way too fucking long. “I’m not leaving this shit to chance. While I’m here, I need to see the tapes from the night of the shooting.”
“They’re at the club,” he says, pulling onto the highway. “Sid’s there tonight. He’ll let you look them over. I figure you can sleep for a while, and then we can head to the club later.”
“Sounds good.”
We drive in silence for a few minutes, and I know that he’s dying to ask about Autumn. I’m just waiting for him to say something, hoping it doesn’t piss me off when he does.
“How’s Autumn?”
I smirk, looking over at him. “A pain in my ass.”
“She got to you, didn’t she?” he asks softly, tapping his thumbs on the top of the steering wheel.
“Yeah, man.” I shake my head. “She’s not what I expected.”
“She’s thinkin’ about movin’ to Tennessee.”
“I know,” I reply, feeling a hint of jealousy that she talked to Link about it.