Page 93 of Playing With Temptation

“And you still have him blocked on your phone.”

“Yeah.”

“Has he tried calling from a different number?”

“I wouldn’t know. I don’t answer calls from numbers I don’t have programmed in. So, maybe, but if he is, he’s not leaving voicemails.”

Jase went quiet again, but this was a different kind of quiet. Not the calm, tranquil kind he gave me when he knew I needed to think about something or process it. This was unsettled.

“Now that I’m no longer in Florida and he can’t just ‘run into me’ anymore, he’ll get bored sending flowers.”

“Or you’ve cut off access to his obsession and he’s stewing,” Jase rumbled.

“Jase—”

He gave me a squeeze. “I want you careful and alert always. Not just because of him, it’s just a smart thing to do.”

“I always am, but Jase⁠—”

Another squeeze. “I don’t want to freak you out or for you to be scared while you’re running errands or picking up kids. But people do crazy shit, Rainy. Crazy shit for seems like no reason. Trust me when I tell you, this guy is unstable. He’s entitled. He’s the kind of asshole who has no problem hitting on his wife’s best friend while she’s in the room. And he does it because he can. He lied and hid things from his wife and the longer he got away with it the more it emboldened him.”

“What else did you find out about him?”

“A lot and none of it was good.”

“Like—”

“Just leave it at that and trust me the guy’s a scumbag. He didn’t have anything to do with Zoe’s death but that doesn’t mean that while she was married to him, he didn’t do her dirty.”

I wanted to push for answers, but I trusted Jase. And really, Zoe was gone, there was nothing I could do with the knowledge. There was no rescuing her from a bad marriage or helping her through a divorce.

She was gone.

And the shitbag was still breathing.

Sometimes the universe was cruel.

“Okay. I’ll leave it, and thank you for having your friend check for me.”

He gave me another squeeze, this one affectionate.

“Something else we have to talk about,” he told me.

“You better make it quick. My stomach’s full of spaghetti, garlic bread, and cheesecake. I’m shocked I haven’t already lapsed into a food-slash-fuck-fest-coma.”

Jase chuckled and snuggled deeper.

“This morning on the way to Shay’s, Colson asked when you and Lucas were moving in. Which necessitated another talk with Shay on her porch after the kids went in. I didn’t want one of them saying something to her and for her to be taken off guard.”

Oh, shit.

“Was she pissed?”

“No. She told me that Colson’s old bedroom furniture is still in their garage if we needed it for Lucas.”

What in the crazy daze universe was this?

“She offered you furniture? For my son?”