Page 130 of Fluke
Tears fill my eyes as soon as I get in my truck. I give her apartment a long look before flicking my bracelet … and pulling away.
29
JESS
“How many T-shirts does one man need?”
I pull a tote out from under a shelf in my closet. Sitting on the floor in the middle of the walk-in, I sort through a stack of shirts I didn’t know I still owned.I thought Banks ran off with all of these.
On his five-foot-seven frame.
Despite my bleak mood, I chuckle.
Cleaning out my closet isn’t something I thought I’d be doing at ten o’clock on a Friday night. But being here alone wasn’t what I thought I’d be doing either. And that whole thing pisses me off.
Fuck her parents. Fuck her brother. Fuck them all.
How can people be so selfish and self-centered to make a person afraid to fall in love? How is that a thing? And how did Pippa turn out to be such a warmhearted woman after being raised in that toxicity?
I pause, holding a blue shirt in my hand.Because she’s amazing.
I reach over and tap the bracelet. Then I toss the shirt in a giveaway pile.
“Fuck my life,” I say, sighing.
A purple Tennessee Arrows shirt that used to be a favorite one of mine peeks out from under a misplaced hoodie. I reach across the tote to grab it when a shadow crosses the doorway.
Eyes glued to the opening, I slowly move into a crouch.
“Hey,” Banks says, poking his head around the corner.
I grab a shoe and chuck it his way. He laughs, easily missing it, so I throw another one for good measure.
“One of these days, you’re going to get killed walking into people’s houses,” I say.
He winks. “Nah, I knew I was safe here. I went through all your shit while you were gone.”
Bastard. “What do you want?” I ask, falling back on my ass.
“If I had known you were gonna throw shit at me, I wouldn’t have brought you pizza.” He holds a plate covered in foil. “You didn’t come to Moss’s, so I brought you leftovers.”
Damn you, Banks.
I lean back on my hands and blow out a long, tired breath.
“Brooke said she texted Pippa, and Pip said she wasn’t feeling well.” He frowns. “I suck at math, but I put two-and-two together. Sorry, man.”
This is his saving grace. This is the reason Banks can pull off the shit he does, but we all still love him.The guy has a heart of fucking gold.
“Thanks, Banks.”
He flinches. “No Sparkles?Wow. You must be fucked up.”
I grab another shoe and toss it toward him again. This time, he doesn’t move, just laughs, and it falls a few feet in front of him.
“You wanna talk about it?” he asks. “If not, I’ll put the pizza in the fridge and go … somewhere else.”
I don’t want to smile, but I do.
