Page 27 of Wild Side
She winces. “No. Everyone can find out about Erika when I’m good and ready to tell them. The gossips in town will say mean shit about her, and I’m not ready to hear it whispered when I walk past.”
Fuck. She hasn’t toldanyone? It seems as if she might be just as alone as I am. A subject I don’t like to dwell on. So I forge ahead, getting down to the nitty-gritty.
“I need to head back to Florida.”
Her expressive brows pop up on her forehead. “K.”
A single syllable. It annoys me. But only because I don’t like carrying conversations.
“In about two days.” Her hand flies to her throat, face contorted in pain, as she rocks back as though I’ve struck her. Her reaction is visceral. It’s hard to watch. And I put her out of her misery quickly. “I won’t take Milo with me.”
Her shoulders sag as an audible rush of air breezes from her lips, relief personified. “Thank you.”
I grimace because she might not be thanking me after what comes next. “For now.”
And sure enough, ire flares in her expressive eyes. “What does that mean?”
It means I’m invested in her, though for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. I rationalize that Erika—if she could see the way her sister cares for Milo—would want this. I rationalize that if Erika was lying about her sister, then giving this setup time to shake out is the only mature, logical way to handle it.
Milo’s well-being comes first. That’s my real job as his guardian.
“It means I’ll be back in a few weeks.”
Her cheeks turn pink, dark eyes dancing. “Oh, so this is a test? Are you going to grade me? Who made you the fucking judge, jury, and ex?—”
“Tabitha. I. Don’t. Know.” That shuts her up. “You were right, okay? I don’t know anything.”
Her mouth pops open and then closes again.
“All I know is that the stories your sister told me don’t fit with what I’ve seen today. All I know is that Milo’s mom is gone, and I want nothing but the absolute best for him. All I know is that he’s talked about tabby cats for the past fucking year, and I’ve told him over and over again that I’m allergic.”
Her features go blank at the last part. And it’s true. I was wondering why he was more obsessed with tabby cats than dinosaurs. It never made sense. But it does now.
Her lips finally quirk, and she softly asks, “Really?”
“Yes.”
“Are you allergic?”
Good lord, this woman will talk about anything but the issue at hand. “Sort of. I’m not a cat guy.”
She scoffs and gives me a knowing smirk. I’m tempted to tell her she’s reading into that all wrong, but I bite my tongue.
“Listen, this is a tremendous responsibility, one I take seriously and was not prepared for in the least, so can we just lay our swords down for a minute?”
“I don’t like you.”
I take an absent sip of wine and stare off at the massive industrial fridge. “So I’ve gathered.”
“I love my sister. I don’t know what she told you. And I don’t mean what I’m about to say cruelly, but she never told me you were involved with Milo either. Just told me how hot you were and that you liked your privacy, so it would be better if I didn’t visit her there when you were in town.”
My brow furrows. “You visited?”
Tabitha’s eyes widen in astonishment. “Of course. Dude, are you kidding me? I’m still paying off the debt I have from sending her to the best rehab facility I could find. I swooped in often to take care of Milo so she could have a break. She told me she had a boyfriend but didn’t want to bring him around yet. I always assumed it was you.”
What the fuck?
My head spins from Tabitha’s account. Every time I think I know what I’m doing, Erika blindsides me from beyond the grave. I don’t know what game she was playing, but it’s starting to look like I got played for a fool by a woman I genuinely cared for. It’s hard to accept and even harder to understand.
