Page 55 of 7 Nights of Sin

Chapter 18

Kevin

New York was cold and gray compared to Hawaii.

I’d gotten a text from Caro telling me she’d gotten home safely and that my agent had the bill for her services, and that was about it. Three days had gone by since then, and I hadn’t heard from her since.

We’d left things on good enough terms, I thought. Enough that she hadn’t been spitting mad and she hadn’t outright told me no. She wanted time to think, and I had to give her that.

So I was content to wait.

Well. Not content, but aware I didn’t have any other choice in the matter. The ball was firmly in her court, and all I could do was wait and see what she decided in the end.

I distracted myself with training. With hanging out with my friends.

Christine called me a few times, but I ignored her. Anything she had to say to me couldn’t be important, and with Caro’s thorough job of getting me back good in the public eye, anything she said now would be seen as shallow and grasping. Just a way to get attention, which was all it was in the first place.

I couldn’t even be mad at her anymore, really. Her stunt had brought Caro back into my life, after all, and I could only be happy about that.

Even if things didn’t work out the way I wanted them to, it was nice to know she was doing well. Nice to see that whatever had happened between us hadn’t messed up her life.

And Caro had done her job well, too. When I left New York for Hawaii, my reputation had been on the mend, but when I got back, things were back the way they were. I was on top, I had new offers for endorsements, and my coach was happy. Even Kathleen reluctantly admitted that things had worked out alright, even though she was giving Caro all the credit for it. Which was good. She deserved the credit. She’d worked really hard.

It was nice to be able to live my life without worrying about some reporter or amateur blogger or whatever breathing down my neck.

Still, when it hit the one week point since I'd gotten back from Hawaii, I was beginning to lose hope a little. Seven days was a long time to wait when your heart was on the line, after all.

"Are you okay?" Manny asked me when we were leaving the gym that afternoon. "You seem distracted as hell."

"Yeah," I said. "There's just a lot on my mind. Stuff I'm trying to figure out."

He nodded. "You're making some changes after everything? I don't think you've gone out once since you've been back."

"I've been out," I told him. "With you and the rest of the guys."

"Yeah, but that's not like. Out, out, you know? Not on your own, looking for ladies or whatever."

"Oh." I shrugged. "I guess I haven't really been in the mood."

"That's why I'm asking if you're good. You're usually always in the mood."

And he wasn't wrong. It was rare for me to let so much time pass without blowing off some steam in my usual way, but I had my head fixated on one thing, and I couldn't focus on anything or anyone else until I knew how it was going to turn out.

I started walking home, and Manny headed in the opposite direction, toward the area he lived in. As I walked, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, and I thought about ignoring it, but there was a little voice in the back of my head that said it might be worth paying attention to.

So I pulled it out.

It was Caro.

With butterflies in my stomach, I answered. "Hey. Long time, no see."

She laughed softly. "Sorry. I bet you were going crazy."

"Nah. I'm cool and collected all the time, didn't you know?"

"Sure you are," she replied. "Do you have a minute?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm just walking home."

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