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I spent the next few hours working diligently in the apartment, packing until dawn. Getting everything I needed into neat piles for when the stores opened, so I could go out and buy more boxes to put everything in.
Fuck.
I couldn’t stay here another minute knowing Drake might come back. And hewouldbe coming back, there was no doubt about that. As much as the place was mine, I also knew in my heart I couldn’t legally keep him away. Sharing it with him — and possibly the bimbo from the Christmas tree lot — was entirely out of the question, which left only one option for me:
I had to get the hell out.
The problem was I had way too much stuff and nowhere to go. Lynne would certainly put me up if I asked, but the last thing I wanted to do was impose myself on her and her new fiancé. My parents were in Florida. My sister in Colorado. Neither of those things helped me.
I made coffee at dawn, then sat there drinking it miserably as I decided on a course of action. I’d have to rent a truck, then move everything into storage. My equipment, my tools, my sculptures… the cold weather might be bad for some of them, so I’d have to rent a climate-controlled unit. That would cost even more money.
“Drake you asshole,” I snarled into my mug. “Why can’t you just fuck off and find your own place?”
A real man would’ve done the right thing. Unfortunately Drake wasn’t a real man. He hadn’t even seemed angry I might be seeing someone else, and his lack of anger pissed me off even more. He’d been mentally and emotionally checked out a long time ago, and for some reason I hadn’t even seen it.
It only showed how stupid I’d been.
By eight o’clock I was hopped up on my third cup of java and fidgeting with my keys. I’d planned on spending my Saturday working here, in my home studio. Finishing and then prepping the smaller pieces I’d selected for the show. Instead I had to pack my life into a U-haul truck and then try to find an all-new place for it. All without sleep, without food, without—
BZZZZZT!
My phone rumbled against the table as a text-message came through. I reached for it and a smile cracked my face for the first time in hours.
Hey midnight ninja! You there?
I stared at the message for a moment, realizing it was from three different numbers and not just one. The guys.
You should probably answer.
Otherwise we’ll have to go on the
assumption you’ve been abducted.
The guys knew how to make me laugh, that was for sure. At least I had one good thing going for me today. I thought for a moment, then hammered out a response:
Not abducted. Definitely plundered, though.
In all the best ways, of course.
I felt a new spark of life as the message went through. It felt good to flirt. Good to continue down the fun little path we were on, wherever the hell it seemed to be leading.
Yeah, well you left before breakfast.
We make some pretty mean eggs.
They taste the best after sex, by the way.
My stomach rumbled as I responded:
Sorry, I should’ve stayed. Not sure
what the hell I was thinking. I could
definitely use breakfast, too.
It was the truth, actually. I was regretting leaving. I could’ve spent the rest of the night in Valerio’s arms, and maybe the early morning doing something even more fun. Instead I’d come back here to find my dipshit ex-boyfriend drinking my beer and—
My phone rang this time, from one of the numbers I didn’t recognize. I picked it up.
