Page 40 of Time to Bounce

And the entire city was amazing.

The entire trip, I sent photos of my days to Maven, sharing all the special places with her as I went.

I also managed to stop myself from asking her about Gable, or the jerk, Madman.

I enjoyed myself so much that I decided to stay another week and had Maven text her father-in-law and let him know that I would need more time.

Which he’d agreed to immediately and said he would handle it on his end.

After promising I’d be home in a week, I went back to enjoying my vacation.

But not once in all my exploring did I stop thinking about a certain grumpy Carter.

Wake up, you gorgeous badass. (Positive vibes only)

—Text from Athena to Gable

GABLE

I looked for her when I knew she should be home.

For three nights in a row.

Each night she didn’t show, a sick feeling in my gut started to take root. It was growing.

And festering.

On the fourth day, I went by her house to find a For Sale sign in the yard, along with a realtor’s lock on the door.

I leaned into the door and looked through the parted curtains.

Everything was cleaned up, but her belongings were still there, just more presentable.

When had that happened?

With nothing left to do, I called Maven.

“Hello?” Maven answered, sounding flustered.

“Hey,” I said. “Where’s Athena?”

There was a pause, and then, “Japan.”

I felt my eyelid twitch. “How long is she staying? She was supposed to be back three days ago.”

Again, with that long pause before she said, “You know you hurt her, right?”

I closed my eyes and rolled my neck on my shoulders, trying to relieve the tension that never seemed to leave. Once again, I kicked myself in the ass for reacting out of fear, and saying things I didn’t mean.

Oh, and not going with her.

“She came to a biker bar where they were abducting women and using them as prostitutes,” I told her bluntly. “When I told her not to come back, she did. On the day we were conducting a raid that would arrest the sick fucks. I can’t say that I handled the situation well, but she scared the hell out of me, Maven. If she’d walked in during the middle of that, every last member of that club would’ve used her by any means necessary. And even worse, one of them, who is utterly obsessed with her, got away. Now that we have him in custody, I can admit that I was scared, and worried about her. Now, when is she supposed to come home?”

Maven sighed. “I don’t know that she has any immediate plans to come home.”

“So she’s selling her house?” I asked.

“It’s Gavrel’s house,” she murmured. “That’s what this trip was about. Letting him go.”

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