Page 46 of An Unfinished Memory

The space between my ears echoed with my heartbeat. Who the fuck was Jennings? I faintly recalled the name.

“…I think I can just go and be like a wingman for her. I can be nice to the guy and leave it as not interested.”

“Except that you’ll be on a date with the other guy’s wingman.” And what if she was interested? Irritation was a pile of gunpowder behind my eyes, ready to explode into anger. “Who is she going out with anyway?” As if I’d know him.

“Dr. Jake.”

“No.”

“Wilder.” Her tone made it clear I had no say in her personal life.Goddammit. “She’s only going on a date because she hasn’t gone on a date in a long time, but she doesn’t want him to think she’s serious. She just wants a fun night. His brother’s in town, and they invited us out.”

“Have you met this brother?” Was the douche as slick as Dr. Jake? I didn’t know either guy, but it didn’t matter.

“No. I’m also not interested in dating, okay?”

Her words were reassuring but foreboding. We said we’d stop as soon as we met someone, but I wasn’t prepared for it to actually happen. This scenario was too close to the real thing. Way too damn close. The pressure inside my head didn’t abate. “When’s this supposed to happen?” Where? What time? Who was picking who up?

“I guess we’re going to dinner, and then?—”

“You’ve already said yes?” My balls tied themselves inknots. She’d made her decision. The notification was nothing but a courtesy call.

“She took me by surprise. I couldn’t exactly tell her that I’m having perfectly good sex with my ex-husband, so let me think about it.”

“The sex is more than perfectly good.”

“Wilder.”

The corner of my mouth hitched up at the exasperation in her voice. “Sorry, but it’s true.”

“Anyway, dinner and a movie. Coal Haven has a movie theater. I don’t know what the movie is.”

Sutton hated going to the movies. I’d noticed her fidgetiness on our first time going out and hadn’t taken her again, and she’d never asked. The flash of smugness chased away the growing panic in my chest. I knew her. Her not-a-date didn’t. “When?”

“Saturday.”

Fuck’s sake. Saturday was supposed to be my night off to get a decent night’s sleep after taking call for the week. I worked until evening, and then I’d come home to think about Sutton on a fucking date with Dr. Jake’s dickweed brother. “Okay.” I chewed on my words, but I had to be the bigger guy, or I’d chase her right into some unknown man’s arms. “Have fun, but I hope he’s an intolerable ass.”

“This is so messed up,” she said, resigned.

“I turned Carla down tonight, FYI.” I told her in case the news helped keep Sutton’s panties in place on Saturday. She wasn’t the type to jump in some guy’s bed—I wasn’t some guy, and my pickup wasn’t a bed—but I wasn’t exactly thinking rationally.

“She hit on you again so soon?”

“I don’t think she knows how not to hit on guys.” Ididn’t tell her what Carla had said. The statement would only hurt Sutton and make her more defensive.

I hated that a part of me also felt like Sutton had given up on me. Like Mama. The weightlessness, like I was coasting through life being myself, and it not being enough for anyone was all too familiar.

Ten

Wilder

I tucked my pen into my uniform pocket. “That’s all the information I need, Mr. McCormick. I’ll keep an eye out for your vehicle, and you stay home by the phone in case I call.”

I was in the McCormicks’ house after working with Delilah. I needed to talk Guy back inside before he careened all over town and caused an accident looking for the pickup he’d sold years ago.

“Thank you, Wilder.” Guy shuffled to the kitchen to wait by their landline. Delilah had kept the phone just for this reason. She’d said the more like the old days things were around the house, the easier it was for her to handle Guy when his mind dipped into the past.

Delilah pinched the bridge of her nose. “Can I talk to you outside?”

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