Page 62 of Finding Our Reality

I’m such an idiot.

She’s doing exactly what I wanted her to do. She’s found someone else. How can I be mad at her for that? It makes no sense.

It makes me hate her. And I have absolutely no right to do that.

And the really stupid thing? It makes me love her even more.

Turning on my heels, I walk away, muttering behind me. “Sorry, wrong house.”

Wrong house. Wrong life. Wrongme.

Turning the ignition in my truck, I sit for a few minutes, trying to gather my scattered thoughts. Dragging my hands down my face, I lift my head and reach for my seat belt when I see the guy walking across the driveway.

Great.

Now, the douche wants to know the real reason I showed up at his girl’s house. Does he even know who I am? Has she even mentioned me?

I can’t see his face through the shine of my headlights, but at least he has a shirt on now. Sighing, I turn off the truck and climb out.

I barely have the door shut when his hand shoots out. “Been a long time. It’s good to see you again, Crutch.”

What? Stepping forward, I study his face for the first time. “Ridge?”

Laughing, he shakes my hand and leans against my truck. “I know I was a little scrawny back then, but surely, I’m not completely unrecognizable.”

What the hell. Cullen’s older brother? Holt’s best friend? “You’rethe one dating Lulu?”

He frowns. “What? No, of course not. Ella’s not dating anyone. Well, not that I know of, I mean.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I just moved back to town. I’m staying here for a few days since Holt’s out of town. My apartment will be ready next week.”

I think back to everything Cullen told me. “You were living down at the beach, right?”

“Yeah, Gulf Shores.”

“And you just moved back?”

“Yeah, my first day with the department is Monday.”

“The fire department?”

He nods, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Let me ask you, did you and Lulu grab coffee the other morning?”

His brow furrows. “Yeah. Why?”

“And did you bring something to her at the station the other day?”

“Yeah, one of her notebooks about Carrie. She said she needed it for y’all’s investigation.” He pushes away from the hood of my truck, folding his arms across his chest. “What’s going on, Crutch? Something I should know about?”

I chuckle. That damn little minx. She let me think she was seeing someone, dating someone. “No, everything is fine.”

“Well, obviously you didn’t come here to see me. You came to see Ella, right?”

“Yeah. Will said she was sick. I wanted to check on her.”

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