“Uhg, fine. Whatever.” Gritting my teeth so hardmy temples hurt, I ignored him and picked up the pace, smacking into the wall and feeling along until I found the opening that would lead into the hallway.
“Why did he design this fucking house like a maze?” I muttered to myself. The door was easy to find after that, and it wasn’t until I made it to the end of the street that I realized I hadn’t called for a car.
I found the curb with my cane tip, then collapsed down and forced myself to take a few calming breaths before opening the app. My finger hovered, my brain telling it to double tap to open it, but I was…
Shit.
I was afraid to walk away like that. I was afraid to leave Vanya thinking I hated his guts.
I opened my texts instead.
Me: Sorry for being a dick. It’s been a rough day.
I waited for some kind of answer, but I was met with silence—which I wholly deserved. I called for the ride, and luckily, there was a driver nearby willing to make the long drive back to Salem.
It wasn’t the worst day I’d had in my life, but it was one of the worst ones I’d had in a damn long while.
And I had no idea how I was going to change that.
CHAPTER SIX
VANYA
I didn’t stay longafter watching Micah get into the SUV and disappear down the street. It was clear he was hurting, but I had no idea why. He wasn’t going to talk to me, that much was obvious.
And he wasn’t really speaking to his brothers or his friends—at least, according to everyone I asked—so he was festering on his own. The worst part was that I knew the truth. I knew why he was hurting.
I knew who hurt him.
But if I was going to keep my promise to Micah, there was nothing I could do about it.
“Is King Dickhead gone?”
I turned to see Caleb leaning against the alcove wall, one arm folded over his chest, the other hand holding a glass of water. “He take an Uber,” I told him.
Caleb drained his glass in one go, then swiped his thumb over his mouth. “Cool. You want to fuck?”
My mouth dropped open. “Um…”
“As friends. I’m bored, you’re hot. You seem interested…”
If I hadn’t met Micah—if the two of us hadn’t done what we’d done—I might have considered it. I was more of a relationship person. At least, I wanted to be. But I wasn’t opposed to fucking for fun.
I liked having fun.
It was my favorite thing besides hockey, playing fetch with any animal that wasn’t a dog, playing fetch alsowithdogs, watching Micah laugh, and listening to murder podcasts.
But I wasn’t going to fuck Micah’s brother now that I’d tasted the man I wanted.
“Sorry. Ah…I don’t know how to be polite and refuse in English.”
Caleb snorted. “Just a no is fine.” He fell quiet for a second, then said, “It’s Micah, right?”
I blinked at him. “Is…Micah what?”
“The reason you don’t want to fuck me. You all but leapt over the fence to greet him today, and he got really weird when I told him you were flirting with me.”
My face went hot and tingly with panic. “You told him what?”
