Page 59 of Six Wishes

CHAPTER27

Stupidity excluded

Van

I came back to New York a lot sooner than I had planned on. I am anxious to meet with the Sliders’ orthopedic surgeon and figure my shit out already.

Chloe is constantly on my mind. The more we are apart, the more I realize how I don’t want to let her go. I decided on the fly that I needed to know right away if I got any future left in New York.

If I do, I am going to go back to Illinois, explain to Chloe how there’s no way I am letting her live without me in her life, then bring her here with me for however long I can make it.

If my career with the Sliders is over, then I go back to Illinois, explain to Chloe how my future without her doesn’t make any sense, then get started on a project that’s been on my mind for years, I just never had time for it.

Either way, me and Chloe, we are a sure thing, and I refuse to contemplate any other outcome. My stupidity excluded from the present equation.

I jump on my phone when it starts ringing and see it’s from the Sliders’ headquarters.

“Van, this is Leanne, Mr. Borders’ assistant,” the owner of the team’s PA says cheerfully in my ear. “I’m calling to make arrangements for you to get in with Dr. Schmidt, and then with the upper management.”

I get all that squared away really quick, I don’t even care how desperate it makes me look. I feel like I am getting my mojo back, at least part of it. My first appointment is first thing in the morning. The second one is not until the following morning. Both of them are equally important for my career.

A loud knock on my front door interrupts my pacing back and forth in my living room. Since I own a condo in a high rise, and it has a doorman downstairs, I know that whoever it is on the other side is someone who also lives here. And I know just who that is.

“Bran, my man,” I say as I open the door wide for my best friend on the team and also neighbor to walk in.

Imagine my surprise when it’s not Brandon Karlsberg at all. My eyes meet dead air when I look straight ahead, then freeze when I hear a sort of familiar voice from below my line of vision.

“Hi, Van,” Brandi-with-an-i murmurs in an almost seductive manner. It throws me off. By a lot.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I can’t even disguise the discontentment I feel when I look at this woman. What the fuck rock did she just crawl from under?

“I…” she tries to play it coy and like she’s unsure of what to say. I’ve seen it all with her. Also, I am pretty sure that Wyatt Knight will bury me alive if I tell him I got anything to do with her after everything I told him from ten years ago. “I saw the pictures,” she finally manages to spit out in a breathy voice.

“Yeah? And…” I haven’t moved from my spot in the doorway. I can’t tell that she is dying to come in, but I am blocking her and she’s not sure how to go about it.

“Can we go in and talk?”

“No.” Such a simple word. I love the way it bothers her.

“I just,” she wastes some more of my time by looking at the floor, then pushing her hair away from her face and behind her ears. I used to think she was so cute when she did that. I was such a dumbass. “I knew you’d be upset once you broke up with your girlfriend. I thought I’d come by and make sure you’re okay.”

This is getting kind of entertaining now. I got a good comeback ready when I hear Bran’s heavy footsteps clumping down the hallway.

“Dude,” his gravely voice booms at me, and I grin in response. “Thank fuck you’re back.”

He steps around Brandi and forces his way inside my apartment. He is a couple of inches shorter than me, but he makes up for it in width. We’ve been part of the first line of defense on the New York Sliders for the past five years, and we became instant friends.

“You gonna stand in the doorway?” He finally notices that he’s in the middle of my living room all by himself.

“Yeah, I got an unwanted visitor here,” I grin at Brandi, and she has the decency to blush.

“Friend?” Bran peeks from behind me now as he is trying to assess the situation.

“Definitely used to be,” I chuckle darkly. “Not for a long time now though. Am I right, Brandi?”

“Brandi-with-an-i?” Bran’s voice comes out strangled, almost like he is trying not to laugh.

“One and only,” I don’t have a problem about laughing. I do feel a bit of remorse though when I notice that Brandi is now genuinely embarrassed. She burned me bad back in the day, but I am not the type to hold grudges forever.

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