Page 77 of Take Hold of Me

Laughter follows his remark, but once the cake is consumed, people start dropping and doing push-ups. Impressive.

As the party winds down, Wills takes the opportunity to make our exit, as smoothly and silently as we walked in. He is quiet on the drive back to his flat.

“I really loved Complete, Wills. Everyone was so warm and friendly. And they listened to David and paid for their cake with push-ups. That was pretty amazing.”

“Yeah.”

“Zak is cute. He made me laugh, and I can tell he is good at his job. You have a wonderful team.”

“Sorry I couldn’t spend more time with you in there.”

Maybe this is the reason he is so quiet. “Oh, I understand. I had fun.”

He turns toward his apartment complex. I am unsure of the cause of his silence, but I hope I did not cause it. “Again, I am sorry I made us late for your party.” Monday. Monday I will have a long talk with my attorney. I will make my friends and loved ones a priority.

He waves his hand off the steering wheel. “The party waited for us.”

Wills parks his Jeep in his designated spot and helps me out of the vehicle, walking across the parking lot with his hand on my lower back. “Talk to me. What is wrong?”

He says, “Nothing’s wrong.”

The increasing pressure on my lower back, though, tells me just the opposite.

---