Page 13 of Fierce-Hyde

He looked at his phone and saw the text from his mother just checking in on him.

He hadn’t talked to her in a few weeks. It’s not like they talked often but did have several texts a week since his family was close.

“Hi, Hyde,” his mother said on the first ring. “I didn’t expect you to call me. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I guess.”

“I guess doesn’t sound like it is,” his mother said. “What did you do now? Did you get in trouble at work again?”

He heard the humor in her voice. She was only laughing because his mother knew damn well that if he messed up here, Grant Fierce would kick his ass as if he was a step-in father.

Grant was aware he’d been terminated from his last job. He’d been honest with Ryder’s father when he interviewed. He didn’twant him to find out during a reference check and he didn’t want the Fierces to just hire him because of his past relationship with them.

But he didn’t tell them the exact reasons he was having personal problems either.

“No,” he said. “But I put my foot in my mouth a few times with someone.”

“At work?” his mother asked.

“No,” he said. He explained what happened a few weeks ago in the bar and then earlier today.

“Hyde James!” his mother said. “I thought you stopped drinking like that.”

He sighed. “I did. I have been good. I wanted a beer, but it was a bad day. It was the anniversary of Shana’s death. I don’t know. I got in my head.”

“At least you didn’t drive home,” his mother said.

“Never. I wasn’t that drunk. I knew what I was doing. I wasn’t even hungover. I went home and had dinner and went to bed.”

Even if he wanted to keep drinking when he got home, but he didn’t.

That didn’t solve a damn thing.

“That’s something at least. And to be honest, it sounds to me like you had everything coming to you from this woman. I’ve told you more than once to stop being rude when it comes to your phone.”

“I know,” he said. “I feel like shit about the whole thing. It’s like whenever I’m around her I just act like an asshole.”

There was a pause on the other end, and then his mother asked, “Why is that?”

“I wish I knew.”

He only knew he found her attractive.

In his past life, he would have been drawn to someone, but he thought he couldn’t have them because they wouldn’t like his history. That was before he changed everything about himself.

Changing didn’t seem to make much of a difference though and he felt as if he should just give up.

“There has to be something to it,” his mother said. “Does she remind you of Shana? That you feel you’ve got to protect her or something? Or maybe try to make up for what you think happened to Shana?”

He snorted. “Trust me, this woman can protect herself. She’s got a sharp tongue on her even if Raina says it’s not like her.”

“What’s her name?” his mother asked. “Stop saying this woman. That is rude too.”

He was getting his share of the lashes today. “Sorry. Her name is Tori. And I don’t think she needs anyone to protect her.”

“My only advice to you is if you see her again, apologize if for no other reason than to put your head on the pillow a little easier. If she doesn’t accept it, then she doesn’t.”

“I planned on doing it,” he said. “I feel like it’s hard to avoid her here. I work with her best friend. I’m best friends with her best friend’s brother-in-law. Which isn’t a big deal if she wasn’t in the same building as me.”

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