Page 32 of Feverburn

“I understand. If you’re not ready, you’re just not ready.”He nodded, taking his hand away from my face.“I mean, it sucks, but I wouldlovea fresh start in Pine Bluff. That’s not an option for me.”His tongue slid across his lips as if his wish left a bitter aftertaste.

“I guess the timing isn’t right,”I muttered, offering thepatheticexcuse. I lifted my chin for a finalkiss. When our lips touched, instead of feeling a zing, it was an empty ache of resignation. I opened the door to my loft as he grabbed his ladder, leaving without another word.

Chapter Fourteen

It wastortureknowing Rosie was living above me, working across the street, yet nowhere to be seen. She didn’t attend the pub quiz, and I never ran into her before or after work. Even worse, Kiszka would hang out at the bottom of the stairs, hoping to see her. Either she was outright avoiding me, or it was a case of two people working different shifts.

I didn’t see her for a week, and then, one day, she walked past my office with her mom. She was in town visiting and had some questions about Pine Bluff. She was funny and pretty, with a rocker chick vibe. I saw where Rosie got it from. They had this playful yet sweet connection. It made me wonder if Rosie would be like that with her future kids. Then the thought of her with a baby on her hip evaded my mind, and I had to distract myself with admin shit for work.

After that, she went back to ghosting me. I wasn’t outright avoiding her but wanted to give her space. I already came onstrongwith the bookmark and mural faerie. I wanted her to give me a sign before I resumed my hunt. She needed time and space, and I respected that. I might not be charming, well-liked, or persuasive, but if there is one thing I possess as a man, it’s patience. I would show her that. With everything life has thrown at me, patience was my superpower, and I knew it.

I let her adjust to her new life in Pine Bluff, hoping she’d come to her senses once she had some footing. I was playing a long game. Sure, asshats like Dane or Boyd might throw themselves at her, but I wanted a real chance. No woman made me laugh or feel lighthearted like she did. She was witty, well-rounded, and down-to-earth. I loved talking to her and missed that the most.

And the way she kissed me, fuckinghell, that was something. It rooted into my nervous system and created a chokehold ofyearning. I craved her softness and wanted to hold her again to forget about the world for a little while.

Eventually, she’d have to turn up. We weren’t over. It couldn’t end like this before it even started.

I tried to stay busy. But when I fished, the sunsetblazingon the lake made me want to see her lit up like a fiery faerie. I’d sigh as I poured my morning coffee, thinking it wastoxicsludge compared to what she made me. And when the weekend rolled around, I’d think about how much I wanted to take her out on a date, how something as simple as her across from me at dinner would make my chesttight.

I had to fight the impulse to leave a note on her door or visit her loft to push her down on the bed to taste her. I wanted to hear her moans echoing from the bricks of my store as her green eyes flashed to mine before she came undone.

But I was stuck waiting and another week stacked. Bear saw her with Kaylee one night at Yeti’s Spaghetti, sharing a pizza. I was too scared to ask Viv if she had seen her around; her meddling would ruin everything. When I helped Harley finish the pottery barn, I half hoped she’d be at the cabin with Kaylee, but she wasn’t. It was like she vanished. She was gone as soon as she appeared in my life.

In the middle of May, I got a text that would thaw the freeze.

Bear: Hey man, your girl is over at Tilly’sdirtydancing with Kaylee. She’s drunk off her ass. Hank is swatting them with a broom and making them dance to that Eagles song. Everyone’s laughing, even them.

Bear: Boyd is circling them like a buzzard. Get here quick.

I left Kiszka at my cabin and rage-drove into town. Stepping into the tavern, there she was, my fuckinggorgeousgirl, grinding with Kaylee in a scene that looked straight out of Coyote Ugly or some damn porno. Their legs open, scissoring down with the winding of their hips as they moved together chest to chest. Their hair swung while they threw their heads back in laughter.

Rosie was wearing a long slinky black skirt with a slit on the side and a hunter-green top that was all strappy and sexy. It showed off her back, and various tattoos filled her arms and shoulder blades, making me want tokissthe ink. She hooked a leg over Kaylee’s hip and leaned gracefully back in a dip while Kaylee ran a hand down Rosie’s chest between her boobs. Herbarethigh on full display across Kaylee’s hip made me groan. Both women disentangled with a fit of giggles and then held hands high above their heads while they shimmied their hips. It was then I saw Rosie’s ass shaking perfectly to thebeat, her hips rolling, her body moving in a way that was sohypnoticI had to blink hard to look away.

Glancing again, I saw Kaylee now in front of Rosie, swaying her butt into her while she bent over, twerking with a grin. I fished out my phone to text my brother.

Me: Kaylee’s twerking at Tilly’s.

He answered almost immediately.

Harley: On my way.

I side-stepped away from theentrance, hunting for Boyd. He was at the bar, unabashedly watching Rosie and Kaylee. Other people were dancing, so it wasn’t out of left field that the women were having a good time, but they were standing out. Either way, I didn’t like that he was enjoying the show.

I ensured the girls’ tab was closed, then went to Boyd. His sandy blonde hair receded, hanging on to his shiny forehead for dear life. He had a tiny upper lip, revealing overly white teeth that looked bizarrely out of place with the rest of his mediocre face. His hand gripped a Coors bottle with a conveniently missing wedding ring. Bear saw where I was going and met me beside Boyd, each of us taking a stool on either side.

“Hi, Chase,”I said mockingly.

“It’s Officer Boyd.”

“It’s Chase. You pissed the bed at scout camp,”I said.

“You jacked off in the showers the first day of gym class sophomore year,”Bear added, tipping his drink back with the burn. I nodded that it was a good one.

“What do you want?”Boyd asked, looking between us, curling his upper lip over his blocky teeth.

Bear sighed.“We want you to stop being a creep.”

“And to stop circling anything with a vulva in this town like a vulture,”I added.

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