Page 55 of Broken: Taylor

Chapter 23

Tori grinnedwhen opening the door to find a half-dazed Allison. “Sorry I’m so late returning the car.”

“No worries girl. Hope you had fun.”

“Umm hmm.” Allison didn’t look her in the eye, but instead held out the keys. “I filled it up.”

Moving aside, she gestured for Allison to come inside. “Wanna come in and have a glass of wine?”

The only light in her living room came from the television. She’d been watching a superhero show and it was on pause. “We can stare at Captain America.”

Allison shook her head. “No thanks. I better get home. Going to Billings early in the morning to look at cars.”

“Okay I’ll watch you from here.” Tori walked to the edge of her small yard to keep an eye on Allison until the lights came on upstairs.

By the sheen in her friend’s eyes, she held back a steamy secret. Tori chuckled as she settled back into the couch. She’d give her a day, then armed with wine and chocolate, every single detail would be coaxed out.

Her cell buzzed. It was certainly a busy time for it being almost eleven at night.

“Hello.” Tori’s eyes widened when Captain America’s broad chest filled the screen. Not wanting another distraction by the form of her mother or sister calling, once again, she paused the movie.

“Hello?”

“Hey. You talk to my brother?”

Tobias. Great. Tori scowled at the phone. “What the hell are you talking about Tobias?”

There was a stretch of silence. The sound of shuffling came next. Afterwards it was as if bedding moved and then a clearing of the throat.

“I didn’t mean to call you. Thought I called my sister.”

Right. The man was usually pretty creative in finding ways to antagonize her. This one was pretty lame.

“Whatever.” She wanted to hang up, but curiosity got the best of her. “Is something wrong with Luke?”

“Like you give a damn.”

Her eyes narrowed. “About Luke, yes I do. About Taylor too. You on the other hand, not so much.”

“Good thing the feeling is mutual.” Tobias didn’t hang up. She could hear his breathing.

Tori’s finger hovered over the red button on the screen. “Are you going to answer my question?”

“Luke’s okay. He had a small episode, but Leah helped him through it. My sister found out some information about a center that is getting good results from a treatment they’re doing.”

Although she didn’t care much for Tobias, at one time she would have died for him. Luke on the other hand, had always been distant and reserved. Now since returning from several tours to war zones, he’d developed into an outright intimidating man.

The hulking muscular handsome Luke had been through hell and survived. Every inch of him exuded a silent “barely there” restraint.

“Ok. Glad to hear it.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Taylor said something else, but Tori didn’t hear it. She’d moved the phone away from her ear.

“Kiss my ass,” she called out and this time Tori did hang up. It was best to do so than to try and have any kind of civil conversation with Tobias.

Yes, she was aware she’d been a bitch when she’d broken it off years ago. Although just a teenager, even then, she should have had more decency than to break up with her fiancé the way she’d done it. At this point, it was water under the bridge, for her at least. Hell, twenty years had passed since the breakup. And both had been married and divorced in the time since. One would think a person would have dropped the resentment issue.

For Tobias, the entire situation seemed to grow worse with each passing year. It was almost as if he resented her more and more. Some days she considered that perhaps it would be best to move away. The blame was hers after all. All of it.