Page 75 of No Place Like Home

This town had my back.

I had one week to get all my affairs in order, including Jess. The sex was great, but it wasn’t like I was in love with her. There was a level of trust and respect, and she was…there. I wouldn’t have called her easy, but she was convenient. And Jess didn’t do emotions. She was the perfect fuck buddy. All the best parts of a girl, but she wouldn’t get attached.

The first thing was to make a call.

Not the ones I needed to be making, but the ones I was ready for.

The phone rang, and I waited.

“Hello?” The voice was tentative.

The last time this asshole had seen me, I was having a breakdown.

“I'm better now, so don't worry about me.”

Gavin chuckled. “Most people say, ‘Thank you for not letting me die.’”

“Shut up. You don't do shit.”

“No, but I bet Jess did.”

I shook my head. I should have known he would have brought that up. If he knew we’d fucked, he’d have a field day.

“No, but for real, thanks for coming. You didn’t have to do that, and thanks for the food.”

The asshole had gone into town and gotten the owners to deliver me some groceries. It wasn’t hard to convince them, since the owners wanted to do their bit and help out.

“What are friends for? Had it been me, you’da been here in a heartbeat.”

He had a point.

“Nah, I’da let you wallow and then made a move on your wife,” I lied, and we both knew it.

I pulled the phone from my ear when he started to curse at me.

Once that was settled, I went to the backyard to get some fresh air. Spring was here, and it smelled like new beginnings.

My view was something, and I have taken it for granted here. It was time to pull my head out of my ass. A lone figure caught my eye, and even though I didn’t want to, I knew I needed to go toward it.

“Come on, Simba. Let’s go for a walk,” I called out.

The beautiful thing about animals was that they forgave easily. I heard Simba’s feet tap against the floor as he eagerly made his way toward me. His hair needed some grooming, and that would be my next stop.

He walked alongside me as we made our way to the trail.

“You can’t bite him,” I said to Simba.

Prescott noticed me right away, but didn’t say anything. He just analyzed me with that piercing dark glare of his. When I was younger, I’d idolized him. He was loved by everyone—he still was—had a whole-ass wife, and was still getting ass everywhere else. In my eyes, he was the man.

As I matured, I’d realized how fucked that actually was. I wouldn’t want my father to treat my mother that way—but hey, to each their own.

He was divorced and in second place for Sunny Pines’ most eligible bachelor. The first was yours truly.

“You’re here for another pissing context?” he asked once I was right in front of him.

And his comment grated me to the bone. I didn’t want Jess to be another score for him. Not that I thought she would go for it since he was Juliet’s brother.

“You know I was going to say sorry for being a dick, but forget it. I know the Lord said ‘love thy neighbor,’ but I’m good.”

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