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Walt
Ilickmylips with a hum low in my throat. I can still taste her. She looks back to glare at me before she runs off and I take Coco’s leash.
“I’ll take her out.” I’m sure the dog has to pee and I need a moment, so I won’t grab her little ass and make her finish what she started. Everie keeps going, leaving the dog behind.
I turn to find Whit is fighting amusement and Moonlight is trying to analyze me without making it look obvious. It kills some of my erection. While I’m not as nosy as Everest, living with a thrupple made me really good at minding my business, I heard most of what was said. Originally, I thought it would be funny to scare Everest but something about the scent of her hair made me pause. She was so engrossed in someone else’s business that she didn’t notice me when I sniffed her hair. I closed my eyes, trying to see if there was a connection, nothing.
Now, my ex-girlfriend plays with the hem of her shirt while my brother watches me with low-level guilt. I feel bad for them. I see the way they are together and maybe she’s right. If I don’t remember anything about her, maybe I just liked her. Again, I don’t have answers for them, so I’ll let it drop for the night.
“Goodnight, you two,” I tell them on the way out.
I was gone for four years. I have bigger things to worry about like why did the shortstack jump me and why did I pull her hair and like it. I’m not saying my brother’s love life is insignificant. I just don’t have a role in it. Who would come back four years later and call dibs on a woman he doesn’t recognize? Not me, it doesn’t feel natural.
A few shutters click and I know the paparazzi is creeping around the exterior but can’t get through the gates. I stop walking and tilt my head. How do I know that? Coco runs in a circle for a bit then pees like a good girl. Her owner and I need to have a talk.
The house is quiet when I reenter. Everyone has retired to their respective places, just leaving me to roam freely. Coco’s paws tap against the floor as she maintains her stride next to mine. She runs up the stairs and I follow. She smells her way to Everest and I see her door closing before I make it. I head into my room and knock on the adjoining door.
“We need to talk.”
She makes no effort to open the door and just says, “Not right now.”
Her voice sounds small and a little shaky, which reminds me why we’re here in the first place. We’re both victims of attacks that have left different internal scars; I can’t remember much, and she’s skittish.
Pushing my fingers through my hair, I cuss under my breath, mad at myself for forgetting how she’s easily spooked. My pacing changes to stalking as I try to comprehend who’d want to hurt such a sweet woman? About thirty minutes later, I still don’t have an answer.
“Walt,” I hear her whisper from the other side of the door. “Are you awake?”
“Yes.” She sounds like she’s sitting on the floor. I try to open the door, but it’s still locked.
“Talk to me through the door.” I would have argued if she didn’t sound so… defeated?
I slide down and sit on the floor with her. “Why did you kiss me?” Only to run and leave me wanting more.
“So that your brother wouldn’t think I was eavesdropping.”
“But you were.”
She’s quiet for a moment, then I hear her again.
“I get it, you know?”
“Get what?”
“Returning to a familiar place, but still feeling like a stranger.” It’s true, I don’t quite feel like myself, but I’m more worried about how she knows this feeling. “How are you doing?”
Her question makes me sigh because kissing me, then hiding just to ask me how I’m doing, are a lot of changes in gears.
“Fine for now. I have to take it a moment at a time.” It’s such a basic thing to say, but that’s where I’m at right now.
“I get it,” she says. “These things take time. It’s not as easy at first because so many people are in your face and there’s so much coming at you, not giving you the chance to breathe.” There’s a pause there and then she continues, “but, you’ll get there. Trust me.”
Trust is a crazy thing, but I get what she means. It’s hard to accept that she knows this feeling. “And what about you? How are you doing?”
“Me?” She asks, surprised that I’m asking her. “I’m okay, I guess. Why?”
I smile because I can think of a lot of things to call her, but ‘okay’ isn’t one. “Well, let’s start with me sitting on the floor talking to you through the door.”
“It’s better because then you’re not staring.” She pauses again, as if handpicking her next words. “Why do you look at me like that? Is it because I hit you with the door when I walked into Tucker’s office?”
