Page 92 of As The Shifter World Turns

I put my head on the desk and closed my eyes, trying to shut out memories of Ryder didn’t work though. There were days I thought I was over him, and other times, he was in my head. Didn’t help that we lived in the same building.

The phone dinged. I didn’t look up. It was a video call not a message as I recognized the ping. Neil or Archer? Or both of them. I took a peek. My boss. The man who’d had his cock in me. The same alpha who couldn’t let go of his maybe-ex.

As Ryder was my boss and paid my salary, and I refused to be in the same room as him and worked from home, I couldn’t ignore the call. Well, I could but if I wanted to keep my job, it was best to answer it.

“Yeah.” There I’d answered. There was no law saying I had to be pleased about it but I was inspecting my hands and refusing to stare at the screen.

“Hi.”

“Is this about the invoices you wanted me to send?” I asked. “All done.”

“Nope.”

“Have you signed the contract I forwarded?”

“Yes.”

I could run down my to-do list and not get into anything personal.

“Can we talk?”

“Fuck no.” That wasn’t the way to talk to your boss but his question had veered into the personal arena.

“I kicked Kellan to the curb.”

“Hope he has bruises,” I blurted out.

“Not literally.”

“Shame.” I wasn’t giving an inch.

His sharp intake of breath had me glance up at him. “It was a couple of weeks ago. I told him I had found someone else and had moved on. That there was to be no more communication between us.”

That was a huge admission. “Doesn’t mean he’ll pay attention. He never does.”

“I’ve blocked his number and email, changed the locks at the office, and told him Daire had installed a security camera on the Sunshine Manor porch.

Except Daire rarely checked the footage but it was something.

“And,” Ryder continued. “I heard from a friend of a friend that Kellan is seeing someone else.”

That asshat had seen a lot of someones while living with Ryder but I didn’t point that out. “Okay, that shows me he’s moved on, but what about you?”

“I’ve done a lot of thinking lately. Me not wanting to admit to making a mistake has been a big hurdle to overcome. But I think I’ve done it.”

“Been doing a lot of jogging, have you?” His blank expression had me clarifying, “Hurdles. So hurdles and jogging. Never mind.” My voice trailed away.

“Would you consider?—?”

“A date? A night at your place? Nope. I need more than empty words. But as Kellan can no longer waltz into the office, I’ll work there again as long as you pay for a rideshare. I don’t have time to hang around at the bus stop.”

“Of course. See you tomorrow.”

I cut the call. Not sure being in the same room as him was a good idea.

34

POTTY TIME

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