Page 55 of Duress
“Oh my god; I’m so sorry.” Ulysses’ owner comes and pulls him off of me, recusing me from accidentally going to second base with a dog. “Bad dog, Uly! We don’t jump!”
When I get my bearings, I realize the woman crouchedin front of me, scolding the dog-sized woolly mammoth, is Everly.
“Ever?” She jerks her head up, eyes wide with shock, just as surprised as I am. Why is she in front of Serena’s house? Why does she have a dog the size of a small pony?
We haven’t talked in a few weeks. Our texting relationship has drifted apart, replies becoming more sporadic and infrequent. I assumed that she was pulling back because she realized I wasn’t who she wanted after all. To keep my mind off of that prospect, I threw myself into work. Serena and I have had our hands full with a new case, and I started teaching self-defense classes twice a week to college students.
“Dane, hey. Sorry about that; we are still learning our manners. Aren’t we, Uly?” Everly’s face lights up with a genuine smile, and I’m momentarily stunned by how beautiful she is. She still has the asymmetric bob, but the shorter side has grown out enough to cover her scar. It’s also dyed a bright magenta. A color I know Bryce never would’ve approved of.
I’m speechless as I take her in. She’s a little softer-looking now, less hollowed out, like she’s finally getting a chance to enjoy life and indulge in her favorite treats. There’s a flushed glow to her cheeks that reminds me so much of how beautiful she looks when she’s coming around my cock. I have to look away before I get a boner and she thinks it’s for the dog.
I’m not sure what to say next. It doesn’t look like she’s upset to run into me, or in a hurry to leave. It seems like she’s genuinely excited to see me. “Uly? You got a dog?” Ithrow out the most neutral thing that comes to mind, instead of what my heart is dying to scream out to her.I miss you. I’m drowning without you. Please come back to me.
“One of the residents who just moved into Whispering Pines adopted him a few months ago, thinking he was going to be a mini version of a Bernedoodle. Uly is over the pet size limit for the apartments, so they had to re-home him. I offered to take him, since I know what being re-homed is like. I thought maybe Uly and I could be good for one another.” Her lips turn up in a half smile, and my heart swells with pride at how well she seems to be doing. Then my brain remembers the other half of the equation that was confusing me.
“What brings you and Uly here? You coming to game night?” I try to mask the hope bubbling up. I don’t want to assume this is more than it is.
“Oh, Uly and I were just on a walk… I, uh…” She trails off, her eyes glancing down to the ground, like she’s guilty of something. “I live two streets over now.”
Oh god, did she meet someone? Is she living with him now? Is that why she stopped texting? I swallow, trying to fight the bile rising in my throat. I only want Everly to be happy, and if she found someone else that does that… I honestly didn’t think a future where we weren’t together was possible. The thought of her with another man is like a gut punch. When she looks back up at me, her eyes go wide in horror, like she can see the devastation written all over my face.
“I bought a house! Two months ago. It’s just me and Uly.” She rushes these facts out so fast it takes my brain asolid thirty seconds to process them.She bought the house. It’s just her and the dog.I blow out a slow breath, trying my best to calm my racing heart. Her soft hand cups my cheeks as she forces me to look her in the eyes.
“Dane, are you okay?”
“You…you didn’t tell me. I thought maybe you decided it was better to move on.”Forget about me. Find a man who won’t remind you of your dead husband.
She grants me a sad smile as she shakes her head. “No—well, yes. It was time to move on. That’s why I bought a house. I was ready to finally start my life for real. I wanted to make sure I was fully happy with my life. With myself. I wanted to know I could do it on my own. I had to know I was capable of being all I would ever need. I can’t ever let myself get back to a place where I rely solely on a man.”
Her words sting, being lumped in the same category as Bryce, but I know she’s got every right to set that standard for herself. It isn’t about me; it’s about her knowing what she’s capable of.
“I’m sorry; I should have said something, but I was afraid of giving you false hope for something that might never happen, and I didn’t want you to feel like you had to keep waiting for me. You deserve to be happy, Dane. You didn’t deserve to have your life put on hold while I worked through my shit. I thought if we were meant to be, we deserved to have a fresh start on the universe’s terms.”
“Are you?” The question comes out in a raspy whisper, my heart racing now for an entirely different reason.
“Am I?” Everly tilts her head to the side, browsfurrowed in confusion. She looks adorable, and I can’t fight the grin that wants to break free.
“Happy?”
Her face breaks into a smile that mirrors my own.
“Yeah, I am happy.”
It feels like there are fireworks going off in my chest.
“Well then, I think Uly here is the universe giving us our fresh start.” At the sound of his name, Uly jumps up and once again assaults me with his tongue. Everly bursts into laughter and leaves me to my fate, but I’m okay with it, because I have a feeling there are going to be a lot more sloppy dog kisses in my future. Hopefully a few from Everly as well.
“Do you and Uly want to join us for game night? He can play with Archie in the backyard.” I know Serena has been inviting Everly to every game night, so she won’t mind. In fact, it might piss her off that I’m the one who finally brings Everly back into the fold, and the thought of being able to hold that over her head is delicious.
Everly only thinks on it for a moment before bobbing her head in an enthusiastic nod.
“Yeah, we’d like that.” She hooks one hand into my offered elbow, and we let Uly drag us up the sidewalk to Serena’s front door.
CHAPTER 51
EVERLY
The clatter of metal hitting tile causes my whole body to jerk in surprise just as I am applying one last swipe of mascara. The mascara wand jabs my eyeball, and it immediately begins to well up with tears. “Shit!” Within seconds, my left eye is a watery mess. Red and irritated with black running down my face, making me look like a sad clown.
