Page 179 of Wreck Me

I just let it ring and ring. “Yes?” I asked her.

“You’re sure everything is actually okay with you?”

I shrugged. “Just calling to schedule an annual physical, or something. Doctors, right?”

In my peripheral vision, I caught her shooting me a withering look.

“What, baby?”

“Jeez, Bastian. I know the name and the number. I know it’s not a GP calling. My dad tried to get me to go see her when I first came back here because he was worried by it all.”

I cursed under my breath. “Well, that makes sense, she’s one of the best in the city.”

“Nice try at redirecting.”

Fucking Cas.

I knew it was him.

When I’d listened to her voicemails, she’d claimed that it was merely a check-in call, part of a new follow-up approach they had recently implemented to reach out to all patients who’d stopped going to therapy—or in my case, stopped needing it—and to follow up to ensure all was well.

What a load of bullshit.

Just up his alley.

He’d made her do this.

Because of the convention.

He’d obviously picked up on me being under the influence.

At the time, I had noticed a couple of mistakes I’d made with my behavior and reactions, but I hadn’t thought it would’ve been enough to actually confirm anything to anybody, to raise that sort of suspicion. Then again, my judgment wasn’t exactly at its best when I was using. It numbed me too much to allow for that.

Fuck. He knew. He probably also knew I’d taken his meds then.

This was gonna be a very uncomfortable conversation.

I just couldn’t actually believe he’d brought Granger into it, and in such a manipulative way too. Seeing as though he didn’t like doing that when it came to me and Cal, that meant he was really fucking worried about it all.

Just what I didn’t need.

And now, because of him, I was getting it from Skylar too.

It was gonna ruin everything!

I didn’t want her looking at me like that, like I was an addict, like I was a fuck-up, like I was a goddamn problem!

“It’s Cas,” I told her.

She cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“He and Cal were worried about me opening up again, and my initial reactions toward you. Cas obviously called her and it’s taken this long for her to fit me in. Ancient history with all that, right? Jesus.”

The lie had come way too easily to me.

Just like the old days where all you were was lies.

I gritted my teeth. Shut the fuck up! Just shut up!

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