Page 17 of Bravely Yours

JAY

Spendingthe evening next door had become a ritual I looked forward to. I was done fighting my attraction to Sarah, and I enjoyed spending time with Nora just as much as I did with her mama.

As a young guy living in a one-bedroom apartment with a job that had crazy hours, I didn’t have a lot to offer. But something about her kept pulling at me, and I wasn’t one to shy away from going after what I wanted. I’d always lived by the motto that it’s better to try and fail than never try atall.

Unfortunately, that plan would have to wait a couple of days. I was working the night shift for the next two nights, but then I’d have two days off.

“You in or not?” Kyle’s voice brought my attention back to the game of rummy we were starting.

I nodded.

When I realized that I’d be on shift with Kyle tonight, I was determined to broach the subject of Sarah. Specifically, if he knew anything about these random text messages she’d been getting. My gut was telling me something wasn’t right. Scammers didn’t typically send texts day after day like she’d been getting over the last week.

“How well do you know Tina’s assistant, Sarah?”

Kyle straightened and narrowed his eyes at me. “Why?”

“Just curious how much you know about her.” I shrugged.

“Huh, I’d like to ask the same question.”

“He’s her neighbor,” Owen chimed in from his spot next to Kyle.

Beside me, Logan chuckled. I shot a glare his way, then turned back to Owen, who was doing a shit job of covering up his smirk. Both of these assholes had been giving me shit for weeks. At first, they teased me about being so bent out of shape about the baby crying all the time. Over the last week, they’d been razzing me about spending so much platonic time with the beautiful blonde who lived next to me.

“Shut up, ass,” I mumbled.

“Wait…” Kyle angled forward and cocked his head to the side. “You’re the baby whisperer?”

My heart thudded in my chest.Did she call me that?

I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face.

“Yeah, asshole’s already got more experience with babies than me, and I’m the one with one on the way,” Owen teased.

“She has enough to deal with. Leave her alone,” Kyle grumbled, throwing down a pair of aces.

That was the problem, though, wasn’t it? She was alone and needed help.

With a shake of my head, I cleared my throat. “She’s been getting weird texts. She says they’re nothing, but…”

Kyle leaned back in his chair and frowned. “Ask her about her ex. It could be him.”

“Drew?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Ask her what happened when she was pregnant with Nora.”

His eyes went hard as he spoke, making it obvious that whatever it was hadn’t been good. I opened my mouth to ask what the hell had happened, but he shook his head and cut me off with his next words.

“Not my story to tell. But I could talk to Dylan over at the police department about the texts. Have him look into it.”

Dylan Gray had recently been promoted to lieutenant, and from what I understood, he was looking to take the detectives’ exam sometime in the next year.

I nodded. Hell yeah. I needed to know she was safe. Nora too.

From there, we dove into our game and the conversation shifted, but my focus stayed on the two blondes who seemed to be always on my mind lately.

Chapter Thirteen

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