Page 123 of Wild Eyes
I chuckle as I walk across the floor toward the cage and flick open the door. “You like that one, huh?”
“Like it. Like it,” she repeats to me as she steps gingerly onto my hand. I pull her out and feel my lips twitch as she edges her way up to my shoulder. “Feed the horses!”
Yes. My nightly routine with Skylar has now become my nightly routine with Cherry.
“Yep, feed the horses.” I move toward the back door and head outside to the barn. Cherry bobs the entire way there and squawks with glee as I toss flakes of hay into every stall. And it’s not until I’m on my way back to the house that I quietly admit, “You aren’t so bad, Cherry. Like, for a bird.”
“Fuck you.”
I peek at her, secretly satisfied that she didn’t yell it at me like normal. She used a kinder voice, I swear.
Once I’ve filled her food and water, I finally take a shower and head to my computer wearing only the boxers I plan to sleep in. Skylar was on a morning show today, and I missed it because I had to work. I’m hoping they have video clips up now.
I find it easily. She’s on a stage, in the prettiest green dress, sitting at a table and talking with a bunch of women. Beaming. Glowing.Thriving.
God, I’m so in love with her.
It hits my chest hard, hollows me out. I press a hand against my sternum to rub the ache. And like I willed her into existence, my phone lights up with her name. I’m thankful we got her a phone before she left, even if she insisted on the lowest-tech one she could find. Though the texting and internet capabilities on the flip phone leave something to be desired, we talk every day. My hand darts out to answer it before the second ring can even sound.
“Sky.” I breathe her name like I need it to survive.
“Hi.” Her simple, breathless greeting feels much the same.
“Hi.”
“I miss you.”
“Fuck, girl. Me too. What are you up to?”
“Just got back to my old place after dinner with my agent.”
My old place. In my head, that sounds an awful lot like my house is her new place.
“How about you?” she continues.
I scratch my hand across my beard and consider skewing the truth, so I don’t come off as lovesick as I am. Then I decide I don’t want to hide the truth from her. “Watching the clip of you from this morning.”
“Oh.” I can hear the smile in her voice.
“If you needed proof of how much I miss you, there it is. Number-one fan and all that.”
She sighs on the other end of the line. “One more sleep. I booked a car service from the airport. No more Tesla. Coming straight to you as soon as I land.”
“And then you’ll be coming again when you get here.”
She laughs. “Speaking of coming, I was calling to tell you to check your email.”
My brows shoot up. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. In case you were wondering what I wore under that dress this morning.”
My dick thickens as I click open a new browser window. And sure enough, I have an email from Skylar.
I lick my lips. “I should open it now?”
Her laugh is soft and low. “That’s the idea, yeah.”
I click and my skin hums with anticipation.
