Page 75 of Dare Me

But he held up a hand to stop her. “I just need some time to myself, okay? If you asked it of me, I’d give it to you. I’d respect your feelings. I need you to do the same for me.”

And before she could question just what exactly that meant, he was walking out the door.

Well, shit.

It was late and he was full of lasagna, but the only way he was going to get some of his frustration out was by going on a run. He trudged up the stairs to the bedroom loft and changed into a pair of shorts and put his sneakers on before grabbing his ear pods and heading out the door.

Hitting the pavement hard, Will took off through the parking lot and contemplated his route. On a typical morning, he andLiam would jog around a lot of the backstreets, then circle around to the park and do a couple of laps there before coming home through downtown, right past the pub.

Donovan’s Pub.

With a snort, he seriously considered jogging right over there and slamming his way through the doors and just blurting out that he and Arianna were dating and they were in love and just be done with it. Get all the damn drama out in one instant and let everyone take out their frustration on him. That way, they’d get it out of their systems before turning on Arianna.

He loved her, but man was he annoyed with her right now.

The one time he really would have loved for her to be daring and show no fear, and she goes shy and compliant and just nothing like the woman she really was. And he knew the woman she really was because he saw it from the get-go. Hell, he could see it in everything she does, why can’t her family? Why would they try to stifle that part of her?

He hit a good pace and quickly realized that he’d have to go directly to downtown because it was getting dark out and he wanted to be where there were streetlights and where drivers could see him. When he turned onto Main Street, he could hear the music blaring from the pub and only gave it a cursory glance. He’d talk to the Donovans, just not tonight. Tonight, his mood was foul and he’d only end up making things worse.

His Apple Watch lit up with an incoming text and he looked down and saw it was from a California number. After looking a bit closer, he realized it was his Aunt Maryann. She never texted. Hell, he didn’t even think she knew how to text. Slowing his stride a bit, Will took a moment to read her message and then cursed.

“So much for a relaxing run,” he murmured and turned to jog back home. Her message was vague and he knew the only way to truly understand what was going on was to go back and call her.

Fortunately, he didn’t run into anyone in the parking lot or on the stairs, and if Arianna heard him out in the breezeway, she certainly wasn’t interested in coming out and talking to him. Back inside his apartment, Will pulled out his EarPods, kicked off his shoes, and grabbed a bottle of water before picking up his phone.

“Oh, Will!” his aunt said when she answered the phone. “Thank you so much for calling back so soon.”

“No worries. What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she assured him. “There was a terrible storm here yesterday and there was damage to the storage facility you have your things in. They only had my number on file for some reason and they called to let me know that I need to come and get everything. They moved what they could to a temporary facility, but…”

“Okay, okay…so have you done anything with it yet? Have you gone to pick anything up?”

“I couldn’t,” she told him. “I don’t have a truck or any way of doing that myself. I’m so sorry. Just tell me what I should do. I know you can’t just hop on a plane and take care of it yourself, but…”

Actually…he could.

“So, is it water damage?” he asked as he walked across the room and picked up his laptop. He sat down immediately and began looking for flights. It would be the perfect distraction for him—to leave town for a few days and get some perspective. It would be good for him and Arianna.

“It was. The storm front was awful; so many trees came down and it was really just a freak sort of thing. I thought those units were built to withstand those kinds of weather conditions.”

So did he.

Unfortunately, it was an older facility that he had rented out early in his military career. When he was back in California lastyear, he hadn’t even thought to go there and check on anything because he didn’t need any of the things he was storing there.

“I’m so sorry to bother you with this, Will,” she was saying. “I know you’re very busy and I hate that I couldn’t just take care of it for you. I have no idea how badly everything’s damaged or where to move it to…”

“It’s okay, Aunt Maryann. Really. My schedule hasn’t gotten too crazy yet. I’m going to fly out in the morning and I’ll let you know when I land.”

“Oh, sweetie, you shouldn’t have to do that! It’s such a big expense and you have your job to consider and…”

“Honestly? This is a good thing. I’ve been procrastinating on dealing with all that stuff and now I’ll be forced to go through it and figure out what I’m keeping and what can go. And once that’s done, I’ll ship it all here.”

“So you like North Carolina? You think that’s where you’re going to settle down?”

He didn’t even have to think about it. “I do. This is exactly the kind of place I’ve always imagined myself living.”

“Where are you living? Did you buy a house or are you renting someplace?”

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