Page 57 of Not a Strong Enough Word

The only problem is that I’m not only concerned for myself. Now that I have Ryan again, I’m worried about him, too. And us.

Chapter 26

Ryan

“What’s going on with you?” Casey suddenly appears at my office door. Or maybe he’s been standing there for a while. Honestly, I have no idea. I’ve been so consumed by Scarlett’s words on my screen that I’ve lost track of the outside world.

I blink a few times and push my glasses up on my forehead to rub my dry, screen-tired eyes.

“What do you mean?” I hedge, though I have a good idea what he’s asking me about.

Casey takes that as permission to enter my office, and he folds himself into one of the chairs facing my desk. With a few forceful blinks, I try to make myself transition out of the fictional world Scarlett has created and back into the land of the living. If he’s sitting, this is going to take a while.

“I haven’t seen you that engrossed in something for a long time.” He smirks as he crosses an ankle over his knee and settles in.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had something to be engrossed in,” I fire back.

“Mm-hmm.” He nods as if that was also what he was thinking but doesn’t say anything else.

“Did you need something?” I ask. “Because if you didn’t, I’m really swamped.”

Casey uses his chin to indicate my computer screen. “What are you working on?”

I narrow my eyes at him and rest my palms on my desk. “Scarlett’s manuscript. I’m almost done with this pass.”

His smirk widens into a smile, and I pinch the bridge of my nose. This is starting to get really irritating.

“Say it, Casey.”

“We haven’t talked in a while, is all. You’ve been…busy.” The way he says it has me bristling. “I wanted to see if you have anything new in your life.”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” I say. His eyebrows tick up with curiosity. “And I have you to thank,” I continue.

He removes his ankle from his knee so he can lean forward and rest his forearms on his thighs. “Yeah?” Casey has always been an insufferable gossip. I’m not surprised he’s interested, but it is way too easy to get him excited.

“Yeah.” I eye him across the desk to draw it out a little longer. “For kicking this manuscript to me. It’s really great, man.”

Casey leans back in his chair so violently that I’m surprised it doesn’t tip over. “Come on, Ryan. I know you’re seeing Scarlett again.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

That gets him flustered. His eyes widen slightly, but he recovers and clears his throat. “I have my sources.”

“Who?”

“I can’t disclose that.”

I glare at him over the top of my glasses. “This is a publishing house, not a newspaper.”

“And either way, you didn’t deny it.” He’s changing the subject, but I can see I won’t get his source out of him anyway.

Sighing, I nod silently. This must be all the confirmation he needs, because he chuckles darkly and shakes his head.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he asks, wincing.

I frown. “A second ago, I thought you were excited.”

“I don’t know how to feel about it. And it’s not really my feelings that matter. You’re the one who got your heart crushed so badly that it fundamentally changed who you are as a human being.”