Page 82 of Pucking Around

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By the time I get back to my apartment, it’s nearly five o’clock at night. I drop my bags down in the kitchen, glancing around my tiny space. Jake buzzed my phone a few times this afternoon. And I had a missed call from Caleb by the time I finished up Ilmari’s physical exam.

I know I owe them answers about today, but I can’t give them. Ilmari is trusting me not to say anything. The guys will just have to understand.

Moving over to my little breakfast bar, I sit on the stool, pulling my phone from the high waistband of my leggings. I’m desperate for a shower, but I need to make a call first. I’m in over my head with this whole situation. I’m the only person Ilmari has trusted with his secret. I need to call the only person I can trust with mine. He’ll know what to do.

Flipping through my contacts, I pull up his name and take a deep breath before tapping the call button. To my eternal surprise, he actually answers his phone.

“Price? This is unexpected,” comes his deep voice.

“Hi, Doctor Halla. So sorry to call like this but…” I really wasn’t planning to speak to him directly. I had a voicemail all planned out in my head.

“Is something wrong?”

I clear my voice. “Umm…I need your advice on a course of treatment, actually. It’s…well it’s a complicated situation. Do you have a few minutes to chat?”

He’s quiet for a second. “Of course,” comes his reply. “Walk me through the case.”

I take a deep breath. “Well…where to begin?”

An hour later,I step out of my shower, wrapping a towel around my hair. Then I slip into a silky, emerald green cami and a pair of matching sleep shorts. The heat of the shower helped relax my muscles. I can’t wait to sink onto Jake’s couch with a glass of wine. Maybe he’ll give me one of those foot rubs he promised.

I’m not planning to move all my stuff over at once. I decided that in the shower. I’m too damn tired to deal with it all tonight. I’ll go over there, apologize for ghosting them all day, and hopefully scrounge up something to eat.

I snatch my phone off the vanity, checking my messages. Jake sent me his address earlier…and a picture of his cheat day sushi lunch. I think, in another life, Jakewassushi. I smile at the thought as I tap out a quick message, moving through my bedroom towards the kitchen.

RACHEL (6:17PM): Hey, leaving here in ten. Plz tell me you have something to eat.

My stomach may be empty, but screw it. Mama needs a glass of wine after this marathon of a week. I step into the kitchen and promptly scream, phone clattering from my hand to the floor. “What the fuck, Caleb!”

The asshole is standing in my kitchen, leaning against the stove with his arms crossed. “So, youarealive. Good to know.”

I bend down and snatch up my phone, checking for damage. Jake is already responding.

JAKE (6:18PM): YAY!!!! *confetti emoji*

JAKE (6:18PM): Pizza good? Preheating oven now

JAKE (6:18PM): Hey, I think Caleb was still over that way too. Maybe ride together

Heart racing, I glare at Caleb. “You breaking into women’s apartments now? How did you even get in here?”

He raises a dark brow, arms still crossed. “Seriously? Yougaveme a key, remember?”

Wow, I totally did. That feels like a lifetime ago instead of only a few weeks. I scoff, jerking open my fridge to take out my bottle of chilled chardonnay. “Yeah, but that was for emergencies. What’s the emergency, Caleb?”

“I was out of seashells,” he mutters, gesturing to the glass bowl on my breakfast bar.

I open the cabinet and pull down a wine glass, helping myself to a generous pour. “So, why all the cloak and dagger?” I say, taking a sip.

He’s still giving me that level look, arms crossed. “You’ve changed your mind.”

I pause, glass of wine halfway to my lips. “Is that what you think?”

He nods, his fuck-all-the-way-off energy simmering at a low boil. After the day I’ve had, Dragon Rachel feels ready to come out and dance a little. Jake would never give me the fight she craves, but Caleb is a whole other story. There’s a darkness in me that I see mirrored in him. Two jaded coulda-beens used to standing in the shadows of other people’s spotlights. Only we’ve both found we prefer the dark over anything we ever had sharing their light.

I set my drink down on the counter. I’m still wearing my towel wrapped on my head. My silky cami and shorts leave nothing to the imagination. I’m sure he can see all my curves. And he’s looking. I’m watching him do it, his gaze heating.

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