Page 44 of From the Ashes
“Phoe,” the nickname rolls off my tongue easily as if we’re best friends or comfortable roommates. I don’t mean to say it, but it’s effective in making him stop for a second. “I’m not an invalid. If you don’t mind me rummaging through your fridge, I’ll find something. Hell, I’m good with cereal. You’re doingmea favor, remember? I don’t expect you to cook for me.”
“Right,” he replies, still keeping his distance by staying in the kitchen.
“Come sit down,” I command, as I stand up. “You’re making me jittery. I’ll find something to eat and then I’m gonna head tobed.”
Okay, so it’s going to take a little time to figure out how to orbit around each other, but we’ll get there.
Phoenix’s eyes stay rigidly glued to the T.V. while I heat up some mac and cheese, chicken thighs, and baked beans behind him. I wolf it down, hungrier than I realized. Once I’m done, I rinse my dishes, put them in his dishwasher, and move back into his line of sight in the living room.
“I’m going to head up. What time do you want to get started tomorrow?” I ask through a yawn.
“Why don’t you take the morning to get acclimated and heal? It’s just the three lazy girls out there until Sunday. I can handle it.”
“You don’t have to baby me, Phoenix. I’m here to do a job,” I argue.
“And when that job needs to be done, I’ll let you do it,” he fires back, fighting to keep all the control.
Our stare-down only lasts a minute before I nod, realizing it’s too soon for a pissing match and my chances of winning are slim-to-none because I’m so fucking tired.
“Okay, well, thanks again for letting me crash here…and for saving my ass in that ring today,” I tell him, moving for the stairs.
“I’m sorry your season’s over, but I’m glad it wasn’t your spine that was broken,” he says. This time, he looks at me over his shoulder and makes eye contact. “Goodnight, Walker.”
“Night, Phoenix.”
Upstairs,I carefully shimmy out of my athletic shorts, but I choose to keep my shirt and boxers in placebecause tempting Fate just seems stupid at this point. I manage to brush my teeth left-handed, plug my phone charger into the wall, and down a couple of Tylenol from my toiletry kit before landing in bed.
Of course, the sheets smell like him.
I still have one more harrowing thing to do before I can close my eyes and go to sleep though, so I don’t allow myself to go down that olfactory rabbit hole…even if my dick has already taken notice of the scent surrounding me.
Luckily for me, nothing kills a growing erection like having to call your ex-girlfriend-turned-baby-mama to discuss meeting your son for the first time.
She said her number’s the same, and some things you never forget. My heart hammers so hard in my chest as I type the familiar number into my phone that I suddenly have concerns about cardiac arrest. It doesn’t even ring a full time before she picks up.
“Walker…hi.” Her voice sounds small, unsure. Alexis was never a big personality. Most of the time, people didn’t even notice she was in a room, but that was their loss.
“Hey, Alexis. It’s good to hear your voice.”
Is it? I don’t know what the fuck I’m saying, it just sounded like the thing Ishouldsay.
She huffs the start of a chuckle. “You don’t have to do that, Walker. I know you’re probably really mad at me and?—”
“I’m not mad,” I say, cutting her off. “Shocked and a little scared, maybe, but not mad.”
“Okay.” She whispers the word and I suddenly wonder if Colton’s in the room with her.
“Is he…is he there with you?” I ask, not sure what I’m going to do if he is.
“He’s in bed, but our apartment is in the graduate student housing on campus, and the walls are pretty thin.”
My chest pinches. I can’t even begin to fathom how much she’s struggled. I thought that one night alone was as bad as it could get. Come to find out, she’s been on her own foreight yearsraising our child and putting herself through school. Alexis didn’t come from a great family, and it was pretty evident early on that she would never receive much help from her parents.
“Shit, Lexi, I’m so fucking sorry for everything.”
“We were kids, Walker.”
Kids.
