Page 83 of Interference

Lily jumped up on the bed and pawed at me. When I turned to her, she licked my chin.

I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around her. I was so torn about what to do with her now. I needed her. She was the only thing that stood between me and my demons, not to mention the sheer terror of homelessness. There’d been some especially dark periods where she was literally the only thing that kept me going; if not for the need to keep her warm and fed, I’d have just given up. To say this dog had saved my life a hundred times over was no exaggeration.

But she didn’t deserve the life I was giving her. Just the thought of waking up to her shivering against me again had me choking up.

Would it be too much to ask Anthony to take us to the Doberman rescue so I could surrender her? I’d be a mess without her, but she’d be safe and cared for.

I held her a little tighter and wiped my eyes. That was what I’d do. Tomorrow morning, I’d make the call, and if he couldn’t or wouldn’t drive us, I’d use what little money I had to get us an Uber. Something. Somehow, I was taking her someplace where she’d be safe, warm, and fed.

I’d deal with whatever happened to me out there.

But Lily wasn’t spending another night on the streets.

Chapter 23

Anthony

This isn’t right.

Lying awake at some ridiculous hour with my cats snoring away beside me, I stared into the darkness as those words kept tumbling through my head.

This isn’t right.

Tomorrow, Wyatt would be leaving. I’d kept my word when I’d said he could stay until Lily was finished with her medication, but up until tonight, I hadn’t really thought about what happened after that. In the moment, it had been a convenient way to deal with reality later. We’d just kick the can down the road, Wyatt and Lily would stay for ten days, and after that time was up, we’d figure out what happened next. Everything after that period sort of fell off a cliff in my mind. It was like a To be continued… at the end of a TV show with nothing after that but a dark screen. No previews. No teasers.

Now that time was up, and he was supposed to leave tomorrow, and…

This isn’t right.

I rubbed my eyes and exhaled into the silence. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t just take him downtown, drop him off, and wish him the best of luck. It didn’t matter how much stuff he had now to help him and Lily survive—my conscience couldn’t accept that this was the solution.

I could get him a hotel room somewhere. Maybe find a decent apartment and cover his rent for a few months? But that would only go so far. His VA disability was just enough for him and Lily to scrape by. A hotel room or an apartment would be a roof over his head, but for how long? And how much thinner would that stretch what money he had?

With every solution I tried to conjure up, my mind circled back to the same question:

Why not just let him stay here?

I couldn’t think of a reason not to. He clearly wasn’t a threat to me, my cats, or my property. It was my house. Okay, it was also Simon’s, but he’d moved out, and it wasn’t his business if I decided to bring in a houseguest, regardless of how long they stayed. If he didn’t like it, what was he going to do? Dump me?

So yeah, it made perfect sense. Just let Wyatt stay here.

The thought that had me pumping the brakes on that was, oddly enough, how much I wanted him to stay here.

I didn’t want him to leave, and I was spooked by how many selfish reasons I had for that. Because it went beyond wanting them to be safe and comfortable. I wanted that, of course, but I also liked Wyatt. I liked Lily. I liked seeing them happy. I liked having someone else here besides my cats.

So was I finding reasons to shoot down all my alternative solutions because they really were bad solutions? Or because I selfishly wanted Wyatt to stay here?

Because, I was starting to realize, I would’ve wanted him to stay even if he had a stable income and a place to live?

“Oh my God,” I muttered. “What the hell is wrong with me?”

Well, I could figure that out. If things went well tomorrow, I’d have plenty of time to sort out where my concern for Wyatt ended and my growing affection for him began.

Because over my dead body were he and Lily getting booted out of this house.

Chapter 24

Wyatt

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