Page 50 of For Your Consideration

Crying wasn’t going to help. But here we were. Because I just needed a minute and Sophie had cried all day, so this was only fair.

My phone pinged as my tears slowed. I pulled it out of my hoodie pocket and wiped my eyes so I could see the screen.

Asher

Hope you had a good day.

That was it. A simple message. He did that often, just checking in. Usually I got a few throughout the day but today I’d only managed to reply to him once, just to avoid him thinking something was wrong. More tears streamed down my face as I clicked on his contact before I could overthink it.

“Sweetheart.” The low tenor of his voice was an instant balm to the anxiety that had been attacking me all day. Sophie’s crying had made me question my sanity.

“Hi,” I said. My voice sounded strained and I sniffled, which did nothing to help my tears.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, instantly on alert.

“How could you tell? I said one word.” I sniffled again.

“Your voice is very telling. What happened?”

“Nothing really.” I let out a sigh and rested my head against the back of the door. “Sophie just had a rough day and I haven’t eaten and I just…needed to hear your voice.”

I wasn’t even sure why, but there was something about his quiet presence that grounded me, and I felt closer to him after our conversation at the zoo, and all the texts. He was slowly becoming a really good friend.

I heard his sharp intake of breath as I braced for his reply. But almost like he knew I hadn’t meant to admit that to him, he moved on. “What can I do?” His voice was tense.

“Nothing. I probably just need to eat something. Although all I want is ice cream and wine, which isn’t very adult of me. And it doesn't matter because I don’t have either of those things.” I let out another sigh.

“Sutton—”

“Never mind. I’m sorry I called. I’m sure you’re busy and I need to go eat.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I’ll talk to you later. Bye, Ash.”

I didn’t bother waiting to hear if he would say anything else. Asher didn’t say goodbye.

Sitting there for another moment, I took a few deep breaths. Although the tears were still in my eyes, I wasn’t actively crying. I pulled myself off the ground, tiptoed out of the bathroom, and headed into the kitchen, ignoring the sink tap that had fallen off earlier today.

That definitely hadn’t helped my mood.

Instead of making myself food, I tidied up after myself and Sophie since I wasn’t able to do anything else today. After picking up the clutter, I loaded the dishwasher and then stood in the kitchen staring at the fridge. There was food, but nothing I wanted to eat.

Closing the fridge with a sigh, I was just about to head to my couch when there was a soft knock on my door. At first the knock threw me off. Iris was with Clint tonight. But then there was a fluttering of excitement.

I pulled the door open, but the man standing there with a bag in his hand was not who I’d hoped to see.

“Ms. Bennett?”

“Yes?” I replied hesitantly.

“This is for you.” He held the bag toward me.

“I didn’t order anything.”

“This is your name, and your receipt. I’ve got other deliveries so…” He wagged the bag a little. I didn’t want to hold the guy up so I took it from him.

“Thanks,” I muttered but the man was already down the hall.