Page 64 of Unexpected

It was the first time I’d seen him in several days. I worked long days, and he worked from evening until well past two in the morning at the bar. It was lucky if I saw him at all.

“Thanks. I’ll try that the next time they call, which will probably be in the next ten minutes,” I said as Josh put his empty dinner plate in the dishwasher and rinsed off his hands. “Everything good with you?” I asked before he could sprint out of the house. Based on the time, I knew he was running behind, but I wanted to check in.

“Yeah, man. All good on this front. Actually, I was going to ask, are we still doing Friendsgiving here this year?”

The annual Friendsgiving celebration had completely slipped my mind. It seemed since that stupid fucking Halloween party, Hazel had held most of my attention and thoughts whether she was around or not.

“Yeah, of course. I’ll send out a text to everyone with details soon.”

“You bringing Hazel?” Josh asked and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

I rolled my eyes and playfully shoved him in the arm. “Dude, seriously? Why do you have to say it like that?”

Josh shrugged as he tossed on his jacket and grabbed his keys. “I know you’ve got a thing going, so it was just a simple question. Don’t get all bent out of shape about it.”

“I don’t know if we have a thing going…” I muttered.

“Have you slept with her?”

I shook my head.

“There’s no way you haven’t at least kissed her though, right?”

I nodded my confirmation. Somehow words were escaping me.

“So, it’s definitely athing,” he said, using his fingers as air quotes. “Only a matter of time.”

He waved and was gone before I had a chance to roll my eyes again. But who was I kidding? The possibility of sex with Hazel was a thought that crossed my mind way too often and always at the absolute worst times.

I shook off the arousal and let Sadie out the back door. She happily trotted to the center of the yard, did her business, and then plopped in a spot where the last of the day’s sun was shining on the grass.

I refilled Sadie’s water bowl and filled her food bowl for when she decided to come back inside. I was watching her through the back window, moving as the sun moved around the yard and just finishing the rest of the dishes left in the sink, when my phone rang again with a call from the fucking unknown number.

It took effort to tamp down my anger and not go off on the prick again, but I successfully answered the phone and immediately hit the mute button.

I waited, irritated and tapping my foot on the tile floor in the kitchen as I stared at the phone on the counter. After thirty seconds had elapsed and I heard nothing on the line, I reached for the disconnect button just as a voice quietly said, “Shit, seriously?” before the call dropped.

My hand hovered over my phone, the screen going black, and a strange feeling washed over me. A feeling like I’d heard that damn voice before, but I couldn’t place it. The words were whispered and muffled, so it was possible that I had misheard the voice. But it didn’t feel likely.

Sadie pulled me from my thoughts as she pushed in through the back door. I shut and locked it behind her and started toward my bedroom for a shower when I noticed Hazel outside, walking back to her house. Chris watched her go with an unwavering intensity.

Hazel was wearing a long-sleeve workout top that only barely brushed the top of her high-waisted leggings. I stepped up to the front window and glared at Chris, whose stare was glued on Hazel’s ass.

Yes, the leggings hugged her muscular legs in all the right ways, but he didn’t need to openly gawk. He glanced around for a moment as Hazel got to the bottom of her porch and suddenly started walking toward her.

I couldn’t deal with any more fuckers fucking with Hazel. Without thinking past my immediate anger, I ripped my front door open, which effectively stopped Chris in his tracks. I stepped onto the porch and casually pushed my hands into the pockets of my scrubs. He was just past the end of my walkway, and I let him see the fire his behavior was stoking inside of me. The flames were lapping and ready to be released if he even took one more fucking step.

When I knew he wasn’t continuing his approach, I turned to give Hazel a small smile as she paused on her front porch.

“Good run?” I asked, keeping my voice light and friendly. And the exact opposite of what I was feeling at that moment.

She darted her eyes back and forth from me to Chris, who was still frozen midstep on the sidewalk.

“Yup,” she responded.

“Good. Have a good night, babe.” I added the pet name at the end for Chris’s benefit and it was worth it to see the hostility cross his face. I would have loved to beat the shit out of the fucker if he’d only given me another opportunity. The nice guy with zero anger issues didn’t have a chance when Hazel was around.

“You too,” Hazel said before throwing one last glance at Chris over her shoulder and walking inside her house. I couldn’t hear the click of her front door locking, but I didn’t doubt she’d immediately moved the dead bolt into place just as she stepped inside.

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